Some injured officers must repay pensions to the county

Jim Fahrman served 27 years with the county Police Department, ascending to lead a special operations team. Then a fall at the county's academy forced him to take a disability retirement in 2003.

Two back surgeries later, the 53-year-old former lieutenant was anxious to do something with himself. While he was still in some pain and unable to sit for long periods of time, his doctors cleared him in February 2004 to take an $89,000 contract job to train Iraqi police in Jordan.

He thought he'd found the perfect job. The pay was great. He could travel and still cope with his chronic back pain. Between it and his pension, Mr....