What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: 'Police Benevolent Association' Calls

You’ve probably gotten a call like this a dozen times: An authoritative voice announces: “I’m calling on behalf of the [YOUR TOWN] Fraternal Order of Police…” followed by a heartstring-pulling beg for donations to help the families of injured or killed police or firefighters, as well as a suggestion of special consideration from authorities in exchange for money.

Many Americans like and respect the police, so they donate to show their support, to help the families of slain officers, or in the hopes of getting out of traffic tickets. Others are scared of cops or feel they have some obligation to give. No matter why people donate, gifts to these kinds of “charities” are a sham.

Few telemarketing operations are are good, but people who make money appealing to the better angels of law-abiding citizens are particularly egregious. They’re particularly difficult to stop, too—they’re often working with police associations, and no one wants to target cops.

The lies of police and firefighter charity schemes

Fly-by-night boiler room telemarketing operations, usually after making a deal with local or state police and firefighter fraternal organizations, target the ignorant using tactics that fall just shy of outright fraud—and they can be very convincing unless you know what to look for. Here are some of the many lies behind these morally bankrupt schemes.

You are not talking to a police officer

Despite the practiced “cop voice,” that person who called during dinner is not a law enforcement officer. They are a telemarketer, and usually their only connection to authorities is that the telemarketing company they work for paid a police or firefighter’s organization to use its name.

According to Max docu-series Telemarketers, these companies don’t mind hiring ex-convicts, so you’re actually more likely to be talking to a former felon than a cop. That’s if you’re talking to a person at all—recently telemarketing firms have started using recorded voices and soundboards to make calls instead of humans.

LEO fraternal or benevolent organizations are usually organized as 501(c)(3) corporations, aka tax-exempt charities. Charities can legally farm their fundraising out to third parties, but in order to avoid outright fraud, telemarketers can’t impersonate officers or lie to get money. They can come close, though. That’s why the sales-pitch phrasing usually goes something like, “I’m calling on behalf of” a fraternal organization, instead of “I’m calling from” that organization. It’s why they try so hard to sound like police without saying they’re police. If you ask “are you a cop?” they can’t legally say yes—but sometimes they do anyway.

In recent years, some maybe-scammers have organized themselves as PACs (political action committees). A PAC may solicit donations like a charity, but it’s not overseen by the FTC like a charity, so they have little oversight—they don’t even have to comply with “do not call” lists. These “scam PACs” operate in a legally murky gray area where the protection of political speech meets fraud. While scam PACs might have names like “Support The Police and Sheriff’s Coalition,” they don’t need an agreement with an actual law enforcement agency to ask for non-tax-deductible donations, and none of these organization have suffered legal repercussions for employees falsely identifying themselves as police officers yet. In short: Regardless of what anyone tells you on the phone, the local police aren’t making fund-raising calls from the station.

Hardly any of the money you donate may go to police officers or firefighters anyway

The fraternal organizations that hire telemarketing companies generally have already been paid. They usually accept a flat amount from call center operators to use their name, as long as they return some small percentage of the donations received. Almost all of the money donated through these schemes is kept by the call center owners. They don’t keep 100%—some cash has to flow back to the charity to keep things legal—but the amount that goes back to the parent organization might be as low as 10% (or nothing if they’re a PAC).

The money police charity organizations receive may not go where it’s promised

Raising money for the widows and children of police officers killed or injured in the line of duty is a time-honored money grab, but even though telemarketers often name real officers who have been injured or killed in their pitches, the amount of much money that goes to them or their families may be only a token to keep things legal. For instance, before it was shut down by the FTC, The Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation raised $9.9 million through telemarketing, almost 95% of which went to the director of the organization and the fundraisers he hired.

The sticker doesn’t mean anything

While there are actual window decals and “courtesy cards” that lead to better treatment from some police (which is its own kind of scam), they are generally given out to family and friends—not to you. The stickers you get in the mail for donating to a fundraising company is extremely unlikely to matter to a police officer for any reason. But if you really want one, there’s nothing stopping you from getting an image from Google, printing it on some sticker paper, and slapping it on your car.

In any case, we are supposed to have a system of equal justice in the United States, so paying money to cops will not make them treat you with extra courtesy or respect. Not everyone is clear on the concept, though. Among the many infuriating details in Max’s Telemarketers series is that victims of police and firefighter telemarketing schemes are often new immigrants to the U.S. who own small businesses. They seem to be donating because they believe the cops won’t help them unless they pay—like a protection racket with neither a threat nor any protection.

Police officers and firefighters don’t work for donations (and don’t really need your money)

Cops and firefighters are almost all members of powerful unions, earn competitive salaries, and enjoy generous benefits packages provided by you, the taxpayer. They don’t work for donations or tips.

While it varies by location, law enforcement office and firefighters are usually provided with free life insurance. The widows and children of slain law enforcers also usually receive lifelong survivor’s pension benefits, health insurance subsidies, and more.

What to do if you’re called by a telemarketer on behalf of law enforcement

If you are called by any telemarketer, you should hang up immediately and go on with your day.

To be fair, many police and firefighter charity organizations and benevolence associations (particularly larger ones) don’t fundraise through telemarketing—many even warn against telemarketer on their facebook pages. Instead, they raise money in other ways, like holding pancake breakfasts or smuggling fentanyl, so if you want to donate to a PBA or firefighter’s local, google it, check charity navigator for legitimacy, and contact them directly. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take your donation (but they might not send you a window decal).