Editorial: Former Greensburg cops squandered pensions with drug crimes

A pension is different from a retirement fund.

With a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA), there is a simple mathematical transaction. It may have a few more strings than a checking or savings account, but the basic elements remain the same. An account is opened. Deposits are made. Eventually, money is withdrawn.

A pension, on the other hand, invests more than dollars and cents.

A pension is a retirement plan, yes. It provides money to employees who have left the workforce.

But where another account is just about deposits and withdrawals, a pension generally binds an employee to a specific industry or employer. While it includes contributions from both the worker and the employer, the nature of a pension depends on longevity in a way a retirement fund that can be transferred or rolled over when changing jobs does not.

A pension is also an exchange. It takes the loyalty of the employee and invests trust in return.

And that is why Greensburg’s police pension board did the right thing Monday when deciding to suspend benefits for two former police officers.

Regina McAtee, 52, of New Kensington, has been collecting her pension since mid-2023. So far, she has racked up more than $110,000 in payments.

The problem is McAtee is now serving a 36-month probation sentence for federal drug charges. She was suspended before her retirement began, was charged in March 2024 and entered a guilty plea more than a year ago. For two years, she has been taking pension payments.

Shawn Denning was Greensburg’s chief. He isn’t anymore. He was arrested in 2023 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine in April 2024. He is now serving a 15-month prison sentence that will be followed by supervised release.

It is not simply that Denning and McAtee committed crimes. Their crimes were woven into the fabric of their jobs. Greensburg depended upon the police to protect the community from drugs. Denning didn’t even confine his actions to federal lawbreaking; last month he was sentenced to probation in connection to drugs missing from police evidence.

The two former officers may have the pension money they deposited themselves, but not the city’s portion.

This makes sense because by violating the law in this way, they have already withdrawn their loyalty to their community and recklessly spent the trust invested in them.