By Steve Pomper
The forces that comprise the radical anti-cop left are not content to defund or abolish only the police. Harassing and attacking police unions, officials, and members is also not enough. No, the left-wing extremists are now targeting police foundations.
Police foundations are charitable organizations that exist to provide moral, material, and financial support to police departments. They sponsor fundraisers to address police needs such as by soliciting corporate donations and holding charity auctions. For example, Seattle police officers are the beneficiaries of the Seattle Police Foundation (SPF).
I recall many Thanksgivings and Christmases where I and my fellow brother and sister cops had to work on these important days. As anyone can imagine, it’s tough to not be with family and friends at these times of celebration. However, it’s an expected part of life for law enforcement officers.
Well, on many occasions during my career, I benefitted from a bit of solace provided by the wonderful folks at the SPF. This fine organization provided Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas feasts for the cops who had to work these holidays. While it’s not the same as being with loved ones, it is a kind and generous gesture the officers truly appreciated. And the food was always delicious and plentiful, dished out by people who voluntarily give up a portion of their holidays with their own families to come and serve the police officers who serve them.
More recently, the SPF is raising funds to purchase 1,500 pair of special glasses, like these, to provide every SPD officer with protection from criminals shining lasers at them. These devices are necessary to defend against BLM and Antifa members, trying to blind them by shining industrial grade lasers in the cops’ eyes. Reportedly, they’ve also been known to shine them in the eyes of mounted unit horses and at police helicopter pilots.
These are the kinds of police support organizations that radical leftist groups like Color of Change (COC) are calling to defund. COC is leaning on large corporations and banks to cease their support of the police through police foundations.
COC’s senior director of criminal justice campaigns, Scott Roberts, told Politico “If the police foundations existed to raise money for the families of fallen police officers, we wouldn’t say we need to abolish police foundations. It’s the specific type of work that they’re doing that we object to.”
The “work” that COC “objects to” police foundations for providing “surveillance technology, SWAT team guns, armor, drones and K-9 dogs.” You’ll notice they even include an officer’s body “armor,” which is specifically defensive to protect cops from serious injury and death.
Essentially, the COC and like-minded groups oppose arming police with tools and weapons that can help keep officers alive and their communities safe. Sadly, some clay-footed CEOs and corporate boards are vacillating in their support for police foundations in the face of anti-cop leftist intimidation.
Unfortunately, Politico also says some corporations are listening to this unreasonable defund police foundations movement. “Wells Fargo says it has paused donations.” Also mentioned was Goldman Sachs apparently agreeing to negotiate with these anti-police intimidators.
So, what does the dichotomy of support for raising funds for fallen officers and opposing providing technology, equipment, and arms to police officers really show? It demonstrates groups such as the COC don’t mind if police foundations help cops after they are dead, but they mind terribly if police foundations help cops by providing equipment that will help keep them alive.