Police Foundations: Where do We Find Them? How do They Fundraise for Government?

• In Event: Poster Session: Public Administration & Law and Courts
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: New Research on Public Performance and Management

Abstract

Recently, police foundations have proliferated. They perform various functions, from providing technology and training for current officers, to engaging community youth, to operating food pantries. In this paper, we ask where police foundations are more likely to emerge. Using data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics and from foundation websites, we conduct statistical analyses to determine whether certain city characteristics (e.g. population, budget, demographic makeup, political orientation of citizens) are associated with the presence of police foundations. We further consider police foundations’ fundraising orientation as nonprofit organizations. Are these foundations fundraising for programs or services meant to enhance community relations (complementary role) or for policing supplies and resources (supplementary role)? Although rarely studied, such organizations may have important implications for democracy as they carry out their nonprofit role. Like foundations for public libraries or parks, they are typically created by and for a governmental entity to generate private funding for public activities. What does an influx of private resources mean for police departments’ public legitimacy and accountability? We argue that this increasingly popular model of “government-supporting nonprofit” departs from collaboration models studied in the nonprofit literature (such as government contracting and cross-sector partnerships) and merits closer examination.

Authors

• Kandyce Fernandez, Arizona State University

• Joannie Tremblay-Boire, University of Maryland School of Public Policy