My note to COPS (CA).

[El Rojo]

I got a phone call a few days ago asking for support for the California Organization of Police & Sheriffs. I tend to just say yes to some of this crap because I don't mind getting the tax deduction and I tend to be a giving guy. At the end of the conversation the telemarketer says thank you for my donation that is not tax-deductable. That sort of irked me because I wanted to write it off. Oh well.

I get the letter for the pledge and sure enough it says it is not tax-deductable. The I start looking and really this appears to be the lobbying wing of the PRK police forces. I read where they are a non-profit organization, but I can't deduct the amount. Then I start to thinking, I bet these are the liberal administrative schmucks that most of the rank and file cops hate and don't have anything in common with.

Well I don't feel like honoring my pledge much anymore, but more importantly, I need a reason. I go to their website and find just what I need to cancel my pledge.

CA AB 50
Koretz (D)

.50 Caliber BMG Rifles
Extends laws making it an offense to commit an assault upon the person of another with a machine-gun or an assault weapon to .50 caliber BMG rifles. Extends laws making it an offense to commit an assault upon the person of another with a machine-gun or an assault weapon to .50 caliber BMG rifles. Includes tracking the possession and ownership of .50 BMG rifles in the Prohibited Armed Persons File database. Extends laws making it an offense for any person to manufacture or cause to be manufactured, import, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale or possess any .50 BMG cartridge.
Client Commentary: Deals with high velocity ammunitions.
Position: Support Subject: Weapons

I should have known. So my note to them reads,

"After visiting your website and seeing that your organization supported AB50, I cannot support your attack on the 2nd Amendment. Please remove my name from your list. I will find other organizations that support our Bill of Rights, not destroy it."

It will cost me .37 cents for them to get this note, but I think it is worth it to let them know why they are losing my money. What I ought to do is wait a few months and then send this note so they can spend some more money trying to get my pledge before I finally tell them to shove off. Nah, I will be nice though they don't deserve it.

 

[Pilgrim]

If the California Sheriff's Association hits you up for money, you can remind them they killed the last big effort to make California a "Shall Issue" state.

Pilgrim

 

[727 torqueflight]

oh my god you have cops where you live,in joshua tree the one cop doesnt do anything,and if i was in that position i would back out of that pledge due to the fact that they support 50 caliber ban and i havent seen any cops doing anything where i live

 

[727 torqueflight]

literallyy theres only one cop in joshua tree,if anything happens you have to wait forever for police to arrive from yucca vally

 

[El Rojo]

727 Torqueflight, COPS is an achronym for California Organization of Police and Sheriffs. I don't literally mean the police, I mean the organization COPS. Think of them as a police officers advocacy group. Rank and file law enforcement are generally good guys and gals who like liberty and freedom. The big whigs at COPS only like their member's dues and staying in power and using their influence.

 

[Shovelhead]

I get those calls all the time after Wifey donated one time a couple of years ago. :banghead:

Most of those "Law Enforcement" solicitations come from telemarketing agencies that usually keep a majority of the money raised.
Several, in fact asked "contributors" to place the check inside an envelope, addressed to their "charity", taped to the door instead of dropping it in the mail to (I'm guessing) avoid Mail Fraud charges.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

If it'll make you feel any better, the C.O.P.S. organization will probably only see a dime out of every dollar you pledged. Professional fund raising for non-profits is a huge racket. The telemarketers in general only return about 10% to 15% to the organization -- "administrative costs" and "overhead" seem to chew up the rest.

 

[bogie]

Yeah, more than a few of the folks who sell "support the cops" stuff are more than a little crooked - you think your advertising money, whatever, is going to the cops, but if they're lucky, they'll see a few percent.

Not just cops either - Lions, Jaycees, etc...

 

[Phil Ca]

Several years ago we were still in Napa County and I was home sick one day. My wife answered the phone and I heard her say something about how "we support the firefighters" and I asked what was up. She said that a guy called from Calistoga on behalf of the county firefighters, many of which are volunteers. She had agreed to have a check ready when the guy came by. I figured that this was a scam since our county firefighters did not solicit that way.

I called up the CDF in St. Helena and they said contact the office in Calistoga. That worthy upon answering the phone said it sounded like a scam as well. I then called the county SO and asked for the fraud detail. Someone there sid they already had some calls but took my information. I told them that if the guy comes to pick up the check I would have a hidden video camera that could get his voice on tape and a clip of the person and the vehicle. At first the deputy was enthusiastic and I told him I was a reserve in an upvalley city and would take adequate precautions. he still sounded positive and said he would get back to me.

After a short period of time I got a call back and the deputy put my "sting" operation on hold. I figured that once the department honcho he worked for knew who I was he would want it to be strictly a county operation. Why allow a member of another department especially a reserve who was a treasury officer besides get the chance to catch a crook??? The sheriff and I were on speaking terms for many years and I believe had he known about it would have let me go through with my plan.

Later in the day I got a call saying that they had caughjt the two brothers running the scam. One would call people and the other would go by motorcycle and pick up the cash and checks. Oh well, I doubt if "COPS" (the TV COPS) would have aired it anyway!

The volunteeer firefighters in the Napa Valley usually held a dance and sold tickets and had a raffle beside.

 

[Ryder]

Cops will tell you they don't have anything to do with making laws. But then they also claim to have no obligation to tell the truth. Only thing you can be sure of is that they will get your money (or is it their money?) one way or another.

Not sure which smiley icon is appropriate here... There's just soooo many to choose from.

 

[Art Eatman]

The worthwhile charitable or "do-good" organizations run 20% or less overhead. That's the best way to tell if it's worth donating to.

I'm not sure if it's a majority or not, but certainly many of these outfits run 80% to 85% overhead.

I've not looked, but I imagine there's a URL with this sort of info...

Art

 

[USP45usp]

I used to give to the local Sheriffs office here (since the election, I'm still trying to get a "feel" with the new guy that he will do as he said and support the 2nd with no infringement) but I WILL NOT give to the troopers or the local police due to they are against the shall issue, they are for an AWB for the state, and they don't like "civilians" having the right to carry guns (which is why the Sheriff issues them).

Wayne

 

[c_yeager]

I support the police everytime I buy something with sales-tax on it. I don't really understand why a public agency requires 'donations' of any kind.