Laurie Roberts

opinion columnist

The city of Phoenix has finally done right by one of its police officers.

In death, the city treated Officer Craig Tiger as it should have treated him in life.

With respect and understanding. With the help that he desperately needed.

Tiger killed himself in November 2014, a year after the city he served for 12 years fired him.

Some background is in order.

Tiger was involved in a fatal shooting in June 2012 and shortly after that, he began drinking and suffering from nightmares. Though he had dealt with depression and alcohol problems previously, Phoenix Law Enforcement Association officials reported the problems got worse after the fatal shooting.

Despite that, he was quickly cleared to return to duty.

On the first anniversary of the shooting, Craig was stopped for DUI as he headed to his family's cabin in Payson. That stop saved his life as Craig intended to kill himself that day.

That stop also ended his career.

As a result of the DUI, Craig was diagnosed with PTSD. But Phoenix police have a zero tolerance policy for cops who drink and drive.

Tiger pleaded his case to then-Police Chief Daniel Garcia, pouring his heart out about what had happened and why.

Then Garcia fired him. The reasons Tiger was drinking didn't matter – not to Chief Garcia anyway. A little over a year later, on the day he lost custody of his children, Tiger killed himself.

Tiger’s family has applied for disability benefits.

The Phoenix Pension Board questioned whether Tiger’s children are eligible for help, given that their father was fired. But an independent medical examiner determined that Tiger's PTSD should have been considered an accidental disability, one that left him unable to do police work.

I would guess the medical examiner considered the final words written by Officer Tiger, words he left for Garcia right before he pulled the trigger.

“You and the city of Phoenix failed me, plain and simple,” he wrote. “Police work is hard. I've seen everything – every way a person can die, I've seen. No excuse! Just not as strong as I thought I was."

The Pension Board on Wednesday approved disability benefits for the Tiger’s children, both of whom are under 12.

It was the decent thing – the only thing – to do.