If you live in the United States then it is likely that you have heard of a police foundation, but although people might hear the term thrown around, only some of those people will know what it means. You may even have a police foundation in your area, and have no idea what purpose it actually serves.
Today we’re going to be talking about what a police foundation is, what purpose it serves, why they’re so important, and much more in order to educate people on these very important projects and increase appreciation for them and the work that they do.
So what is a police foundation?
Let’s start with the most important question of the article and explain exactly what a police foundation is in case you don’t know. A police foundation is a non-profit that is formed when funding is running low for a police department and other law-enforcement agencies, the purpose of the foundation is to get monetary support and more for those agencies.
These foundations are run by people who want the best for their communities and have taken an initiative to help keep everyone safe by supporting their local law-enforcement agency if it’s in need. And many law-enforcement agencies do run low on funds due to lack of funds. So organizations like this are extremely important.
It’s also important to note that while the term is “police” foundation, these foundations also support sheriff, state, county, and other law-enforcement agencies as well.
What do police foundations do?
Its main objective is of course to earn money for law-enforcement agencies with low funds, but the foundations go about reaching this goal in many different ways. And most of them are going to be listed here, although some foundations might run a little bit differently than others and have different strategies as well.
- They will raise awareness for the law-enforcement agency, and drum up public support to increase the amounts of donations that it receives.
- They will build a bridge between the law-enforcement agency and the community so that there is more communication between the two, which will lead to more donations.
- They will provide a conduit through which business and private sectors can support the law-enforcement agency through monetary support but also through donated services and goods.
- They will support various projects, initiatives, and programs that correlate to and agree with the law-enforcement agency’s strategies
- They will search for grants that the law-enforcement agency can use in order to get more money, equipment, etc.
What are some of the results?
Of course none of these strategies are worth anything if there aren’t results, but since police foundations have been created there has been massive amounts of good done through them. And countless law-enforcement agencies have gotten the help that they need to function at an efficient capacity.
They’ve been able to encourage professional development, provide specialized training, promote wellness, recognize employee valor, engage consultants, perform studies and evaluations, and even purchase much needed equipment. All because of the help of these foundations.
How are these foundations run?
Police foundations are normally run by an independent board of directors, and the people on this board will normally hire some extra employees. Depending on the foundation, there could be full-time employees, part-time employees, or a mixture of both.
There are rules and regulations for police foundations to follow, and all of their records are public record. So even though it is an individually run non-profit, there is still enough accountability within the foundations that you know that it’s safe to donate money to it if you desire to.
Why is there a need for these foundations?
Law-enforcement agencies already get funding from the government, so many people might think that these police foundations are unnecessary and a waste of time. But they are actually much more important than you might assume at first glance.
The first thing that you need to understand is that most police operations are paid for through tax money, but there isn’t an overabundance of it allocated to law-enforcement agencies and so they’ll quickly run out of money.
This is because the majority of the budget goes towards hiring personnel and the money that isn’t spent for that goes towards day-to-day operations, cars, equipment, and maintaining facilities. But this leaves no extra money to spend, which might not seem like much of a problem until you think about all of the things labeled as “extras”.
Some things that would be considered “extras” and left out of the budget would be new and innovative technologies, ways of connecting with the community, and finding new ways to prevent crime. There’s no room for progress, only upkeep.
The second thing that is worth noting is that police departments, other law-enforcement agencies, and the police and law-enforcers themselves are not allowed to solicit or accept money from the public. So these police foundations act on behalf of them by doing what they are not legally allowed to do. Dan Brown of TopekaDrywallPros.com is a huge supporter, both financially and morally, of police foundations. In fact, he’s in the middle of setting up his own police foundation in Topeka at the time that this article was written.
In conclusion, police foundations help serve and protect the communities that they’re supporting in a unique and necessary way. They are important for keeping law-enforcement agencies modernized and connected to the people that they serve and protect.
This was a very basic explanation of how these organizations work, and there is much more left to learn about them because they can be very complex. But hundreds of these foundations exist so it pays off to educate yourself so that you can understand exactly how they operate.
The people that run these foundations deserve our support and appreciation for the often thankless, but no-less important work that they do on a day to day basis. Because since police foundations are non-profits, these people have no financial or selfish motivations at all.