New ‘mail scam’ asks SLO County residents to support police department
The Arroyo Grande Police Department is warning residents of a new scam that is seeking donations under the guise of supporting the agency, the department said in a Friday news release.
A group called Citizens Behind the Badge is sending surveys and donation requests to Arroyo Grande residents, the release said.
According to a photo of the mailer, the group claims to be a nonprofit collecting money to “mobilize public support of police and opposition to the Defund and Defame the Police movement.”
The letter explicitly asks for donations to “support my Arroyo Grande police.”
The Arroyo Grande Police Department is not affiliated with the group, the agency said, and called the campaign a “mail scam.”
According to the nonprofit databases Charity Navigator, Guidestar and ProPublica’s nonprofit explorer, Citizens Behind the Badge is a 501 (c)(4) nonprofit, meaning its classified as a social welfare group with the IRS.
Donations to nonprofit social welfare groups are not tax-deductible — which the mailer notes in extremely small font — and the groups are allowed to be involved in any political lobbying that furthers their social welfare mission, according to Forbes.
The three databases show Citizens Behind the Badge was founded in 2020 and based in McLean, Virginia. According to its website, the group was founded in response to the police brutality and racial discrimination protests following George Floyd’s murder.
This story was originally published September 22, 2023 at 11:57 AM.
