PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- For more than seven years, Providence Police Lt. George Smith has been collecting his annual salary of $111,279 tax-free -- making him by far the longest case among more than a dozen city officers currently drawing injured-on-duty benefits.

Smith's extended absence underscores the mounting costs and operational challenges created by Rhode Island's IOD law, which guarantees public safety personnel their full salary tax-free if they get injured on the job.

With 13 officers on leave as of Sept. 9, the Providence Police Department has been forced to rely on overtime and callback shifts to maintain minimum staffing.

"The impact is there," Col. Oscar Perez told Target 12. "We have to replace those officers, which creates a strain for those officers that are here wor

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