Despite how shady and sneaky the union and it affiliates are with obtaining more and more money, they dont do a very good job of hiding it. In fact, there are numerous reviews and complaints regarding the NPSF on both the BBB and consumer review sites such as Yelp. Check it out today. (It is not necessary that the audit committee be a separate committee. They reported contributions in the amount of $703,307. Our analysts check the charity's website to see if the organization has a donor privacy policy in place and what it does and does not cover. But the groups file financial disclosures with federal regulators under only a handful of names. Not to mention the poor publicity this brings to the law enforcement world. Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund has earned a 94% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. Are you starting to see a pattern develop here? This is just one example of how fundraisers can look and sound. Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund cannot currently be evaluated by our Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization. The IUPA and the relief fund also uses almost 80% of its donated funds to pay telemarketers to obtain even more funds. Dividing a charity's average administrative expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. You can find her on social media @leahmsanaya or at www.leahanaya.com. (See image below.) Sarasota, FL 34233. Within months, the union began contracting with three new telemarketing companies, according to tax returns. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal. The union holds an annual golf tournament in Venice, Florida, and come September 2020 will host its 22nd international convention in Key West Florida, at the Waldorf Astorias Casa Marina, where attendees will enjoy 1,100 feet of private beach area. It turns out, I am not the only person who has had to do this. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020, Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. All the latest Law Enforcement Today news, updates and alerts delivered straight to your phone or inbox. The two are among only four men listed on their 2019 Form 990 in the area listing directors, officers, and trustees. About $1.8 million went toward the salaries of union officials, including $199,700 for Cabral, the president. Oh, they also dont mention on the phone that the bulk of their contributions came fromwait for it. The Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund is there immediately to support our public safety officers in their greatest time of need. Everything I have found on this organization is negative! Its four-star rating from Charity Navigator is a testament to its high level of accountability and transparency. and family members of the law enforcement community.". Duane Collins, an San Francisco Police Officers Association board member shot back that they already paid dues. This organization received multiple star ratings within this fiscal year, due to an update to its Accountability and Transparency data and/or the receipt of an amended Form 990. Three of them have been negative subjects in similar investigations from Public Integrity. But the unions 2018 tax return said it represents about 23,200 union members, down from 50,400 in 2006. It is beyond disgusting that such a prominent and wealthy union group designed to assist our law enforcement communities and their families would see so little of that money going to those who need it. Simply enter the organization's name (Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund) or EIN (521095066) in the 'Search Term' field. But before the process was complete, IUPA closed its phone room and laid off all 75 employees. I was suspicious of the call from the very beginning. If you wish to donate, please refresh the page. Before that, she was an intelligence analyst in the US Army. In this quarter, they contributed $772,716 to themselves. They have been contacted by the BBB and have not cooperated. This overall score is calculated entirely from a single beacon score, weighted as follows:100% Accountability & Finance. About $5.5 million of the $8.8 million in the groups expenses that year was spent on fundraising. The solution, the letter says, is clear: Give our law enforcement officers the crime prevention tools they need. That same tax year, the International Union of Police Associations gave 10 students pursuing advanced degrees in law enforcement an average of $2,500 apiece. LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS RELIEF FUND INC SARASOTA, FL 34233-1556 | Tax-exempt since Feb. 2009 EIN: 26-3338776 Classification ( NTEE ) Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash) (Human Services . Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. You read that correctly. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Police officers and their families most definitely need and deserve to be supported when tragedy strikes. The best charities that support law enforcement are the National Police Foundation, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and Concerns of Police Survivors. Founded in 1978, NAPO is the strongest unified . The Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund is a non-profit charitable corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal revenue Code. Sincerely, In this case, we deduct 15 points from the charity's Accountability and Transparency score. The contributor in question lists an address of 2331 Mill Road, Suite 100, Alexandria, VA. Ironically, that is the same address of the group filing the 8872, NPSF. In 2004, state officials in New York banned Gelvan from fundraising in the state, in part because his solicitors impersonated police officers when they asked for donations. Numerous sources list NPTA as a scam, and a recent report from the Center for Public Integrity (which is a self-described nonprofit newsroom that investigates betrayals of public trust) reveals just how much of a scam it really is. The culture of the organization is one that accepts complacency and allows individuals to get away with fireable offenses. Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From Related Parties, Audited Financial Statements Listed on Website. We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charitys success. $10,000 to a Florida-based organization that helps handicapped children and a $10,000 to a golf sponsorship for the Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund . At the time of this writing, the relief funds website was no longer functioning. Three other IUPA executives earned more than $100,000 apiece during fiscal 2017-2018. According to tax records, only a small fraction of donations made to the organization actually support law enforcement officers. On behalf of the Law Enforcement Community, we would like to thank you for your continued support. The reporter approached Cabral in a meeting room, but he declined to comment and escorted her out into the hallway. She worked there for about a year. The websites even share layouts, color schemes, photographs, and fine print. Please refresh the page With so much stuff happening in the world on social media, its easy for things to get lost. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organizations overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned. The Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund is a nonprofit charity that says it provides "specialized relief when, tragically, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line-of-duty." The union does not count these expenditures as fundraising expenses. (Readers may recall the bizarre case of Bobby Thompson, among a number of others.) Every penny they have spent are itemized as operating expenses. The IUPA itself has a D- rating from the Better Business Bureau which also provides reviews of its own fundraising tactics, complaining that the callers front with appeals for individual officers while really attempting to raise money for lobbying. We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn. Cabral wasnt at the unions 10,000-square-foot office overlooking downtown Sarasota from atop the PNC Bank building, and he did not respond to a message left for him. S.O. This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies. At the time of this writing, the relief funds website was no longer functioning. Make sure you click following and then click see first so you dont miss a thing! $708,206. The same membership figure was repeated in the unions re-election endorsement of President Donald Trump in September. We support and defend the law enforcement profession and those law enforcement officers who have devoted their lives to upholding the Constitution and serving the United States and its citizens while enforcing its laws. Yet not a single document reveals that they spent a single dime on law enforcement groups or lobbying on behalf of the men and women in uniform at the local, state or federal levels. It was found that only 2.7% of donations to the relief fund actually went to the families of fallen officers. These include two FTC actions against alleged sham non-profits and the telemarketers who made deceptive claims about these so-called charities. But by 1981, IUPAs relationship with the San Francisco Police Officers Association had soured, leading to a petition to withdraw. The FOP has a Disaster Relief Fund which does have information for donations (it asks donors to text (615) 640-1317, and states contributions ARE tax deductible). Others they use are The Fundraising Group, Grassroots Fund Group, LLC, and United Support LLC. Part of our goal in rating the financial performance of charities is to help donors assess the financial capacity and sustainability of a charity. The vice president of the union, Michael Crivello, was also the founding treasurer of Law Enforcement for a Safer America. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. I have personally received this call more times than I can count from a man claiming to be with the NPTA. (Less). Public Integrity doesnt have paywalls and doesnt accept advertising so that our investigative reporting can have the widest possible impact on addressing inequality in the U.S. Our work is possible thanks to support from people like you. The Federal Trade Commission was investigating whether Zeitlins Courtesy Call and Donor Relations companies were engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices, but the agency dropped the matter in the fall of 2018, citing an ongoing grand jury investigation in Florida involving the two companies. Did Giving Tuesdays High Results Miss You or Include You? The groups website clearly states that it is: A grassroots political organization that is committed to aligning the interests and needs of police officers with the publics issues and concerns within the national political process.. Our goal is to lessen the immediate financial hardship and provide assistance due to the result of disaster, violence or any other calamity. A union-backed police charity spends just a sliver of its money on those it purports to serve, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), The casket of Jersey City Police Detective Joseph Seals is carried out of the church during his funeral in Jersey City, N.J., on Dec. 17, 2019. "The Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund was established to provide support and resources to officers The association is listed as affiliated with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA). The only quarter they were in the black was Q1 of 2018, netting $10,561, which they managed to lose over the next three reporting periods. Is the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund a legitimate charity? The organization once ran a phone room in Lakeland, Florida, about 80 miles northeast of Sarasota. The IUPA has several red flags of its own, according to Public Integrity, as well as other sources. Those companies were paid for tech support and data security compliance.. She served for three years at the Oakland Police Department, and just under five at the Vancouver Police Department in Washington State. That leaves a total revenue of $79,009. IUPA is one of about 70 affiliates of the national AFL-CIO and touts itself as the only union for law enforcement officers.. has the highest rating on all of the watchdog groups. They are using other telemarketing firms, such as Residential Programs, Incorporated, who currently sport an F rating from the BBB. Your Name (required) Your Email (required) Subject. How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs: We were unable to operate our simulator program to the public due to stay at home orders. Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59. The AFL-CIO, with which IUPA is affiliated, did not respond to requests for comment left in voicemails, emails and a message left in person at the unions headquarters in Washington, D.C. An upbeat 1979 column in The San Francisco Policeman the newsletter of the citys police association heralded the newly minted IUPAs drive to unionize (the) nations 400,000 police officers. IUPA quickly signed up 51,000 members, affiliated with police forces in major cities and successfully lobbied for passage of a landmark labor law. Now it is the time to help them. The Policy on Legal Assistance and Indemnification applies to individuals appointed pursuant to legislation or a statutory authority who, as public office holders, have an employment relationship with the Crown. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't talking to live people; the answers all sounded scripted . But two people who run unrelated political action committees that also contract with Zeitlins technology and data companies have said Zeitlin is still fundraising for them. The organization supports officers critically injured or their immediate surviving family member if killed in the line-of-duty. AOCs Tax the Rich Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase, Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires. This man also tried to get my credit card information, but I refused. Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic: When our simulator program came to a halt, we were able to create an online version of this called Decision Points. If the problem persists contact us. In September 2020, the union plans to host its 22nd international convention at the Casa Marina, a Waldorf Astoria resort in Key West, Florida, with 1,100 feet of private beach. These charities honor members of law enforcement for their dedication to protecting communities and ensuring public safety. If you call the number, you will be connected with an answering service. She is now a stay at home mom living with her husband, who is still serving as a police officer, and their three children.
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