And horrible public relations. An excellent article in today’s Providence Journal ‘Spas are regular contributors to police organizations’ details how professional fundraisers, identifying themselves with various police organizations, extort money from small business owners.
The emphasis in the article is on the unsavory targeting of, and thus association with, massage parlors and spas, but this entire fundraising system should be stopped. One solicitation letter cited in the article comes from the Providence Police Association and reads in part “This is a major source of funds for the death and sickness benefits that are paid to our association members and their families”. No it isn’t — police widows are not out on the streets selling pencils I assure you — the benefits package for these taxpayer-supported public servants is quite good compared with the private sector.
The most common reaction by business owners to the solicitations is “If I don’t give money, then if I ever need the police, they won’t come.” While targeting the Korean spa owners is particularly loathsome, the whole thing is a shakedown and should be ended now. [Complete disclosure:the writer is a former Providence police officer.]
They can have my FOP badge when the pry it from my cold, dead car. Wherever it is now, since it got towed.
Yeah, she was. Quadruples our credibility. You should start telling more stories, Beth — ie, the garbage strike.
You were a cop?!
You know it’s a shakedown when the cops don’t even do it themselves, there’s a group of, in my opinion particularly scummy fundraisers that do this. With an admitted 60/40 split in favor of the fundraisers, one has to wonder what exactly is the money used for? I agree the benefits for the survivors of, disabled and retired police officers are already funded by either the officers or the municipalities(read taxpayers) that employ them. Does the money subsidize the “after hours” FOP?
How much really goes to the charitys?
Me.
Who was a cop, you or the writer from the projo?