Caller - identified as Fraternal Order of Police - this guy calls EVERYWHERE. He's called at the office, and at our home almost every day at different times of the day. When you ask "is this a recording" the program says "Oh, do I sound that bad" - depending on how you answer, the algorithm has an answer... or not. I said "I'll repeat my question" - he says "allright" - me: "so this IS a recording" and the thing gets stuck in a loop and doesn't know the answer to that question. Caller ID shows a Los Angeles Number (323) 284-7689. I'm just so tired of this idiot calling. They are NOT fundraisers. The Fraternal Order of Police is a union. Why is the FTC NOT stopping this? It has been going on for years!
Follow-up to my previous message. IF the Fraternal Order of Police "fundraising" isn't a for-profit endeavor - I don't know what is. The California Attorney General's summary of results of charitable solicitation by commercial fundraisers from December 1999 (available through the AG's website) shows that Telcom Services out of DelRay Beach, FL - brought in $1.7 million in fundraising on behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police. Out of that haul (identified as cash) only 22.43% actually went to the organization. A more recent report (hand written and also available on the AG's website http://oag.ca.gov/charities/cfr-search) indicates they pulled in $1.5 million in 2010 with $99,000 in misc expenses and over $600k in salaries. How much went to the actual charity for the support for families and scholarships of fallen police? A whopping 20% at $301,219.
Consider this - you are donating to someone's salary. If you want to make a donation to benefit the work our Police Departments do... look up your local Police Athletic League and make a donation to benefit the youth programs in your local community. Let's put Telcom Services out of business.
But wait! They are not the only company fundraising for the Fraternal Order (again, remember - this is a Union not a non-profit - your donation IS NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE). Civic Development Group out of New Jersey brought in $655,831 in 1998 and netted the Fraternal Order only $102,757 - only 15% of the haul. In 2005 Civic raised $1.9 million dollars and gave the Fraternal Order $380,830 - 19.7% of the haul.
This adds up to tens of millions of dollars that are falsely and relentlessly solicited from unsuspecting big-hearted individuals - that NEVER get to the represented purpose. Gee... and I thought the objective of the police was to serve and protect. ...