NEED TO KNOW

• Three Riverside officers with 100% VA disability ratings face termination over legally issued plates
• California DMV is required by law to accept VA certification; employment status is irrelevant
• The Riverside City Council rejected a proposed settlement before termination notices were issued

RIVERSIDE, CA (TDR) — Three Riverside police officers who served in the U.S. military, received 100% disability ratings from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and were issued disabled veteran license plates by the California DMV now face termination from the Riverside Police Department — because the department contends the plates amount to a false claim about their physical limitations. The case has exposed a fundamental collision between three separate government systems that do not speak the same language: the VA's disability rating process, California's DMV licensing rules and local law enforcement's internal conduct standards.

Three Systems, Three Different Definitions

The officers, Timothy Popplewell, Raymond Olivares and Richard Cranford, all joined the Riverside Police Department in 2019 after separate military careers. Popplewell served from 2008 to 2011 and went on to work in the department's SWAT unit. Olivares served from 2013 to 2019 and was a member of the department's Honor Guard at the time of his suspension. Cranford served from 2010 to 2014 and also served as a SWAT officer. All three held 100% VA disability ratings, the highest classification the department assigns, and each was certified eligible for disabled veteran plates under that rating.

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10

That is where the systems diverge.

The VA's disability rating calculates the degree to which a veteran's service-connected condition affects their overall health and earning capacity. It explicitly does not determine whether someone is physically capable of working in any particular job. A veteran can be rated 100% disabled for PTSD, a respiratory condition, a hearing impairment or a combination of conditions that are real, service-connected and compensable, while still being fully capable of physical employment.

"Their disability ratings are not the same as saying, 'You are disabled for work.' The VA considers several illnesses, injuries and mental health issues in calculating a disability rating." — Matthew McNicholas, attorney for the officers

California's DMV disabled veteran plate program operates on a separate legal track. A veteran qualifies for the plates when a licensed healthcare provider certifies a severe mobility issue, loss of a limb, permanent blindness or, crucially, a 100% VA disability rating. The DMV does not consider current employment. Per the DMV's own published guidance, it is legally required to accept VA certification for plate eligibility. The decision to issue the plates takes current job status into account in no way.

What the Department Is Claiming

Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez issued termination notices to all three officers on Feb. 27, 2026, after the department suspended them in May 2025. According to a discrimination lawsuit filed on the officers' behalf in July 2025, the department's stated basis for the suspensions was that the officers had made false claims about their physical limitations to obtain the plates.

Gonzalez declined to publicly detail the reasoning behind the termination decisions, telling reporters only: "I tell them, 'Tell me something I don't know that I didn't read in the investigation.'" The department also has not explained what internal policy it believes the plates violated. One published account from Law Officer, a law enforcement trade publication, reported that the department pointed to an internal rule restricting disabled veteran plates to official vehicles used for disability-related duties, a restriction that does not appear in California DMV or VA guidelines.

"They're saying, because I've seen the paperwork, that these guys must have lied in order to get the disability rating from the VA, which of course is nonsense." — Matthew McNicholas

A Lawsuit and a Rejected Settlement

The officers' discrimination lawsuit argues that the suspensions and now the termination notices violate state and federal protections for disabled veterans in the workplace. The Riverside City Council was presented with a proposed settlement before the termination notices were issued. The council rejected it. Days later, Gonzalez handed the officers their discipline paperwork.

The officers remain on paid leave and are entitled to a Skelly hearing, a procedural step in California public employment law that allows workers to review and respond to evidence before a termination becomes final. Attorney Saku Ethir, representing the officers' union, met with them outside department headquarters when they received the notices and declined public comment.

The Broader Question

The case has drawn attention from veterans' advocates and legal observers because it illustrates a recurring problem: government systems designed to recognize and compensate military service-connected disabilities operate with different definitions than the institutions that employ veterans in civilian public service. A 100% VA rating that legally entitles a veteran to a parking placard and reduced DMV fees does not translate, in any of those systems' formal rules, into a claim that the veteran cannot perform their job. Treating it as one redefines what the rating means, and potentially what the benefit is for.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE THE DUPREE REPORT

McNicholas said the department's position fundamentally misreads how federal veterans' disability law works, and that proceeding with termination on that basis exposes Riverside to significant legal liability.

The Riverside Police Department did not respond to requests for additional comment beyond Gonzalez's published statements.

If the three systems responsible for certifying, licensing and employing disabled veterans cannot agree on what a 100% VA rating actually means, who is responsible for resolving that conflict before it costs a veteran their career?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from the Press-Enterprise, Orange County Register, FOX 11 Los Angeles, Law Officer, the California DMV, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10