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Lynn Police Dept - 300 Washington Street Lynn, Massachusetts 01902

Police Solicitations

Information about “Police” solicitations

There are several local and national fund raising organizations presently attempting to solicit money from the Citizens of Lynn and other local communities. Many of these organizations use “Police” as part of their organizational names, although may not have any connection to any law enforcement agency.

These organizations must be registered with the Office of Public Charities at the Massachusetts State Attorney General’s Office to legally solicit funds in this state. Some examples are “Police Protective Fund”, “Police Activities League of the Bay State, Inc.”, and the “Fraternal Order of Police”.

These organizations must also file a Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax form. These tax documents detail the fund raising activities of the organization, the amount of monies raised, and where the money was spent. All of this is public information, on file at the Office of Public Charities, and available to anyone upon request.

Although these organizations are registered with the State of Massachusetts and comply with Mass. State Law, most of the monies raised, are paid out to the telemarketing companies hired by the organizations to conduct the fund raising.

These telemarketing companies are said to use high-pressure tactics in order to get people to pledge money to these organizations, under the belief that the money will find its way to the local police officer or police department.

The telemarketing companies can pay to have access to huge demographic marketing data bases, detailing such personal information as telephone number, address, age, and lifestyle preferences in order to target their efforts towards more susceptible individuals willing to contribute.

Most of the Lynn residents that have called the Lynn Police to inform us of these solicitations, are older and retired persons, who are concerned that a possible scam is being perpetrated against them.

The next largest slice of the total funds raised are paid out to the employees of the organization in the form of salaries and benefits. The funds raised also go towards paying for, payroll taxes, printing and publications, postage & shipping, contract labor, equipment, rent, legal fees, travel, telephone bills, and other operating expenses.

Finally there is money left to pay for benefits and materials that may be used by law enforcement agencies.

As an example, the “Police Protective Fund”, located at 1114 West 7th Street Suite #3 Austin, TX, states in its solicitation letter, that the organization pays $10,000.00 to the families of every ‘enrolled’ law enforcement officer who is killed in the line of duty.

The “Police Protective Fund” reported to the Office of Public Charities, in it’s Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax document for year ending 2001, that this organization raised $2,880,615.00 in total funds across this nation.

This organization then paid $2,525,271.00 to the All-Pro Telemarketing firm of 277 Fairfield Rd. Suite #308 Fairfield, NJ to perform the fund raising activities.

According to the tax document, “Police Protective Fund” paid out $20,573.00 in benefits to its ‘enrolled’ members.

We at the Lynn Police appreciate the public for its support and their efforts to help us, but the Lynn Police have not hired anyone to solicit funds on our behalf. The Lynn Police Department, nor does any individual Lynn Police Officer derive any benefit from any of these or other “Police” fund raising organizations.

We request the public to report any mail or telephone solicitation, directly making reference to the Lynn Police, or suggesting the Lynn Police will benefit directly from any solicitation, as no organization has been given the permission, to use the name of the “Lynn Police”, in connection with any fund raising campaign.

When reporting these solicitations we ask that public provide as much information as possible including the name of the person calling, the name and address of the organization, and any telephone numbers provided.

The solicitations can be reported to the Lynn Police by calling
(781) 595-2000 or by sending an email to [email protected].

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