You want to know what's scary? I just got this phone lined hooked up and two hours later, I get a call from this number. I wasn't here to answer it but they did leave a message. WTF???
I did some fundraising for the Louisville and Jefferson County FOP some years ago, I'm almost certain nothing has really changed in terms of how things work financially, except for the owners. I believe 3 different invididuals have ran the fundraising end of things since I worked there. None of them were in any way associated with the police, but they do have a contract with the FOP, so it's not illegal per se. However, that doesn't mean it's ethical either. It should also be noted that if someone calling you for money identifies themselves as a police officer, or a member of the FOP, that person is lying and should certainly be reported! The people who call you are paid, so if they deny that they are lying as well. Use common sense, you should always assume that anyone who calls you claiming to be raising money for any charity is getting paid, no one would ever do that kind of work for free. It's brutal and thankless work and no one in their right mind would do it out of kindness.
I called this number and I'm almost certain it's the State FOP, not the Louisville and Jefferson County. There is a voicemail box that is set up so you can leave your name and number, to be put on their DNC list. Not surprisingly, the mailbox is full. At any rate, there is not much of a difference between the local in state FOP in terms of how they raise their money.
The Louisville and Jefferson County FOP have a professional fundraiser who raises money for them, it's a 52/48 split, meaning, the fundraiser takes 52 percent, the rest goes to the FOP. How the FOP deicdes to spend that money is at their discretion. Programs like Shop With a Cop are legit, I've seen them take hundreds of kids shopping at Christmas time but I would not give to any other programs, I'll leave it at that. If you are called for widows of slain officers, camps, drug and crime prevention, or child ID, don't give a dime! Since I only worked the phones during the fall (Shop With a Cop) I never raised money for other programs but I questioned whether some of these programs even exsisted, is was a reasonable question which was never answered to my satisfaction.
These donations are NOT tax decuctible, neither the state or local FOP is a 501-C3 charity. The people who are calling you are most certainly getting paid, usually 25 percent (in their pocket) of what you donate. What they are doing is not illegal unless they lie when you ask them a direct question, such as "are you a police officer?" Or, "does 100 percent of the money I donate go directly to the police?" Ask for the breakdown in writing. Again, I have not been associated with the FOP for 9 years now but I am certain nothing as changed.