If there’s anything I hate more than cops, it’s phony police charities. I just received a fraudulent mailing from the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens, here is a quote from their mailing:
Across the country, the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens provides much-needed support to spouses, children, and other family members of police officers killed in the line of duty. We provide funding for grief counseling, scholarships, direct emergency financial assistance and other programs to loved ones left behind.
Except it’s all a lie. This organization isn’t a charity for the families of dead cops, it goes to the American Police Hall of Fame, a tiny “museum” in a shabby industrial building in Florida. The AFPCC’s main goal seems to be the promotion of the the Death Penalty and private ownership of handguns, they even claim to be a local militia
What We Stand for:
1. We are a strong, powerful and professional organization on the side of law enforcement.
2. We believe that all law-abiding citizens have the right (if they so select), to own firearms for self-defense and sport. We are also ready to serve as a standing “militia” during any disaster or national emergency, as part of civil defense preparedness.
3. We support swift punishment for career criminals.
4. We favor the death penalty and are determined to achieve drug-free schools and communities.
I have contacted the Iowa Attorney General to make sure they have filed the required financial disclosure forms. If they’ve filed, I expect that over 90% of the donations go to “administrative expenses” and less than 10% to actual charitable work. That’s how these frauds work, the charity’s officers keep all the money and give a tiny amount to the people they raised money for.
There is nothing more despicable in the post-9/11 world than scamming money in the name of dead cops. I may hate cops, but I hate fake cops raising money for fake charities even more.
Update: I located AFPCC’s records through the California Attorney General’s office. It is slightly worse than I suspected, they only give 9% to their charity, and keep 91% for themselves.
I GOT A THING IN THE MAIL FROM THEM – SUPPOSEDLY THEY DISTRIBUTE 59% OF FUNDS TO PROGRAMS ACCORDING TO ‘CHARITY NAVIGATOR’ BUT RATE ‘NO STARS’ ON THEIR SCALE…
WITH A NAME LIKE THEIRS, I COULDEN’T HELP WONDERING IF THERE WASN’T A UNION AFFILLIATION…THE BBB CHARITY SITE LISTED NONE, BUT THEY ARE LISTED AS AFFILLIATED WITH POLICE CHIEF’S ASSN. –
THE WAY THE PIECE WAS ADDRESSED, LOOKS LIKE THEY MIGHT HAVE BOUGHT THE ‘SECURITY GUARD LICENSE LIST’…THAT’S HOW I FOUND MY WAY ONTO GOOGLE WITH THEIR NAME……….
BSET WISHES, ‘DBD’
I decided to revisit this issue, and located the latest financial reports for the AFPCC. Guidestar has their IRS 990 report for 2005, that is the most recent document available. They report 2005 fundraising of $3.2 Million, and spent $521,000 on charitable works. That is about 16% of their funds spent on charity. This is an improvement over the 9% figure for 2002, but it is still pathetic. The American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens is a despicable scam.