In Dobbertin v. Town of Chester (292 AD2d 382, 738 N.Y.S.2d 688 [2d Dept 2002]), a police officer was called to a residence to investigate a report of a possible intruder.

After inspecting the premises, the officer was walking back to her parked vehicle at which time she slipped and fell on ice and snow and injured her hand.

Following the denial of her application for benefits pursuant to 207-c, the officer brought a petition to challenge the determination.

The Supreme Court affirmed the determination to deny benefits and the officer appealed.

The Second Department reversed, finding that:

The denial of the petitioner's application for benefits under General Municipal Law § 207-c was arbitrary and capricious. We disagree with the Supreme Court that the petitioner, who was still at the site of the investigation when she fell, was not engaged in "special work related to the nature of heightened risks and duties." The petitioner was not spatially or temporally removed from the 'special work" she had been dispatched to perform, and she was injured in the performance of her duties within the meaning of the statute. (Dobbertin v. Town of Chester, 292 AD2d at 384, supra.)