Benefits for Auxiliary Cops

New York, NY —

City officials have said the families of 2 slain volunteer police officers could receive a nearly $300,000 federal survivors' benefit. But the families still have to prove to the Justice Department that auxiliary ffficers Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Todd Pekearo qualify for the award.

The daughter of the last New York City auxiliary officer killed in the line of duty says her family fought for the benefit for years, but got nothing. Federal officials ruled that Milton Clarke's death did not qualify for the federal money. Clarke was fatally shot in 1993, as he chased a gunman who had critically wounded a man. But a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg says city officials "feel there is a compelling case" for benefits for Marshalik and Pekearo.

In the meantime, their families have been granted $66,000 in a city benefit.