Just got a phone call allegedly from the Fraternal Order of Police asking for donations to the widows & orphans fund.

It was my understanding that these associations never solicit by phone?

Felt like telling him I'd donate $100 of he could get Gore & Lansdowne to retire.

The FOP doesn't do the call themselfs, they hire out some call center to do it for them.
Plus I wouldn't give them a penny considering their stance on 2nd Amendment issues.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

The question you should always ask is, are you a professional organization? They are required to answer. If they say yes, I tell them I donated directly to my local police , sheriffs and fire department, which I do. Professional organizations get permission to use names like the FOP, problem is the FOP gets about 5-10% of the money and rest goes into the organizations pockets as profit. It's a scam. Or just hang up when they fess up.

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Dick

I didn't actually talk to him...

What I believe is that these outfits hire phone people who are also scammed into believing they are doing something legit. In Florida, there was a very thorough campaign by some of the major Police Organizations that was very specific in stating that they NEVER use phone solicitation. I had a conversation with a phone solicitor several years ago that brought me to this assumption.

Yeah, be extra careful. there was a big scam that got busted a few years ago in the bay area of an outfit claiming to be FOP or some type of police widow and orphan group.

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

Well... they're back then. Caller ID said 'San Francisco."

I gave to one of these "organizations" several years ago and before long every "police" and "fire department" organization in AZ was calling me. They would all call every winter and then during the summer they would all start calling again. If you asked them if they were actual police or firemen they all said no they were groups paid by the police, etc.

Well I have no problems giving to my local civil servants and really appreciate their service to the community but I don't give anything to someone who just works for an organization that claims to be taking up money for someone else. Even if they are real too much of the money is going to someone other than the ones it is being taken up for. I'll just keep giving to my local folks and the others can call someone else.

All phone calls wanting money or wanting to sell me something are hung up on. If I want to buy something or give money away I will do it on my own. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

Back in the '90s they called wanting money.

I asked the Kelly Bundy clone who called, "Does your organization support the Brady Bill and 'assault weapon' ban?"

She replied, "We support the officers!"

I again asked, "Does the FOP support the Brady Bill and the "assault weapon" ban?"

She again replied, "We support the officers!"

I asked her again, finally causing her to break script.

Befuddled, she said that she didn't know. She then perked back up and said, "I can ask somebody!"

I said, "That would be good."

There follows a long pause.

A male voice comes on the line, "How can I help you?"

I ask again, "Does the FOP support the Brady Bill and 'assault weapon' ban?"

He asks me, "Are you in the NRA?"

I replied, "That's neither here nor there. You called ME, asking for money. I'm entitled to know how you're going to spend that money."

There's a pause and he replies, "The FOP supports the Brady Bill and 'assault weapon' ban."

I said, "See how easy that was? I'll never give ANY money to ANYBODY who supports gun control. I'll be telling everybody I know who feels likewise. Have a nice day."

Between that and the Chicago lodge's public statements on firearms and domestic violence, I will NEVER give the FOP a penny, and encourage everyone I know to do likewise.

Every six months or so they call me and when I tell them no thanks they get kind of huffy about it. I remember once the guy told me that I had no idea how hard these officers have it. After I informed him of what I do for a living I told him that most of the brass I always knew did do a job that I wasn't familiar with, shining a seat with their butts!

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Vaya con Dios

I have belonged to the FOP for 40 years now and have never known of any lodge in my state to solicit funds from the public. FOP members pay their own dues and associate members pay a lesser fee for a dissimilar emblem and member card. The FOP may at times hold local periodic fund raisers for, say, a member or an immediate family member in financial distress due to medical problems for example but I have never known them to make phone solicitations. Since retiring and moving out of state I get numerous phone solicitations from "The FOP" and "State Troopers Association". I ask that they show up at my door for a face to face contribution but they always decline for some reason. I consider them to be scams and my suggestion to you is hang up or decline to contribute.

Thanks Eminence.

When I was a Sr. in Highschool got a call at the House, wanting donations to the FOP scholarship fund for children of Law Enforcement Officers. I asked how I could apply for the scholarship. The caller told me I had to be a child of a LEO when I informed them I was, and I would love to have more information on the scholarship... they hung up on me.


I never did find out how to get a scholarship from the FOP

I have investigated these solicitations many times in the past. I would get calls in my office several times a year from citizens who received these calls asking me whether my department sanctioned them, needed money, etc. Unfortunately a lot of people especially the elderly feel compelled to donate. The truth is, agencies DO NOT sanction these solicitations. It is the unions (FOP and PBA as well as others, generally at the state level, not local) who contract with solicitors to raise money for the union. The unions will tell you that they have instructed the solicitors not to tell the people they are calling that they represent the agencies but they do it anyway. I got one of these calls in my home when I was chief and listened to the solicitor blow smoke about how the funds would be used to help pay for police cars and ballistic vests etc. My next call was to the media and it caused a scandal. The unions generally get about 10% of the take and the solicitor gets the rest. The unions use the money to cover their overhead and/or to pay lobbyists. There is no benefit to the officers. In my book that's a scam. Don't give them a nickel. If you want to support Law Enforcement and Firefighters and Paramedics donate to the Gold Shield Foundation, created by George Steinbrenner, which has very little overhead and provides direct benefits to the survivors of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics who are killed in the line of duty.

I used to get calls in Jacksonville all the time soliciting funds for the FOP. I can't remember who was the head of the FOP at the time but he could be counted on anytime the anti-gun crazies needed a "dancing chicken." I always told the caller that when the FOP changed it's stand on gun control and fired the head of the organization, I might consider donating but until that time, I would make my donations to the local Police Athletic League. Most of the callers didn't even have any idea who I was talking about or that FOP National was anti-gun. I think I finally got a little rude with one or two of them and I guess my name got off their list.

CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

I used to get a lot of calls like this, including from that particular organization. Eventually I got on the Do Not Call list and things got better.

FINALLY, PEACE AND QUIET . . .
About three years ago it all ended, I'm pleased to say! My answering machine on my land line finally died, and my two land line phones (both wireless) also died. END OF PROBLEM!

I still have a land line, since I've got my internet through the phone company, and I guess that phone number still rings, but I'll never know!!!

I've kind of liked it a whole LOT ever since then and my wife and I just can't bring ourselves to get another phone just to get badgered during dinner! LOL

Yep, our family, friends and employers all know our cell phone numbers, and that's good enough for me! LOL

My experiance with the FOP is that it's just another quazi union entity with a boss telling the membership how they ought to think.

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- Change it back -

The PBA members around here hate them, they sell shields to anybody.

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Back to back World War Champs.

And what of the PBA? I have supported then but oft wondered whether they were another FOP.

Can't recall ever being contacted by Professional Bowlers...

Thanks to caller ID, I don't answer the phone unless it's a call from someone we know. The answering machine is set to pick up on the 2nd ring. If you want to talk to us, be prepared to talk to the machine first. That said, in the rare instance they make it through the screen another rule goes into effect. We never, never donate to ANYONE who is soliciting via telephone and we tell them that. I don't care how good the cause is...it's not good enough to offset the invasion of privacy.

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

The National FOP has a standing resolution, passed in 1993, to support the assault weapons ban as passed in 1994.

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Dennis
He's got a gun!

The Police Benevolence Association is a professional association, funded by membership dues and citizen contributions, provides legal, disciplinary and other representation to officers who are members. It's mainly a legal support entity for LEO members.

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- Change it back -

I think the important question is: what's the PBA's stand on gun control?