Law enforcement departments across the nation are boosting their dependence on donations and unusual fundraising techniques as they continue to get hammered with budget cuts.
"The environment calls for you to be crafty," said Fred Wilson, director of operations for the Virginia-based National Sheriffs' Association.
Among the more creative fund-seeking law agencies is the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Tom Allman sells advertising on his booking log website and is seeking tax-deductible donations through the click of the mouse.
Many big-city law agencies are supported by private, non-profit foundations, but Wilson said he's never heard of a sheriff's department that solicits ads or direct contributions online.
Most law agencies use foundations because raising money directly raises ethical questions and can create the perception that law enforcement can be bought. Laws governing donations varies from state to state, Wilson said.
Mendocino County supervisors recently adopted an ordinance allowing public contributions to all departments but limited
their value to $10,000 per donor.
The advertisements, featuring bail bond companies and lawyers, earns only between $200 and $400 a week for the department, but it has growth potential, Allman said.
"We get between 9,000 and 11,000 hits per day on our booking page," Allman said. The site includes photos of people who are arrested.
Online donations reached about $500 in February, the first month solicitations were posted, said Norman Thurston, who oversees the department's budget.
"Please consider donating whatever you can and help me provide the necessary resources to this county so public safety is not compromised," Allman pleads online to those who click on his photo on the main booking page.
Donations to the department are not new. The department overall has received $27,865 in donations since July, the beginning of this fiscal year, Thurston said. They're often dedicated to specific causes, such as the police dog program.
An Anderson Valley group has raised $17,000 to buy a police dog for one of the area's two resident deputies, but are holding onto most of the cash until they're certain that deputy's position won't be eliminated, Allman said.
Since 2008, the department has reduced its staff - including jail and patrol - from 164 to 149 employees as its budget was reduced frm $19.9 million to $18.5 million. The actual expenditures were higher because of overtime, a source of contention between the sheriff and county supervisors.
The number of field deputies remains at 42, but further cuts to the budget could take deputies off the streets, Allman said.
Deputy positions were saved by using drug seizure money for overtime and implementing another unusual endeavor - permits for medical marijuana growers. Some 46 growers have promised to sign up for permits at a cost of $6,000 each, Thurston said. The office also sells $50 medical marijuana identifying zip ties for each pot plant.
While he lauds fundraising creativity, Wilson said he frowns on issuing permits for marijuana because of pot's
dubious legality.
The sheriff soon should have another funding source.
The tentatively named Mendocino Public Safety Foundation is expected to gain non-profit status and be up and running in a couple of months said Ross Liberty, one of its founders. It's expected to focus first on the Sheriff's Office but later include other agencies, he said.
Foundations in large cities like New York and Los Angeles raise millions of dollars for their law agencies. Projects range from funding counterterrorism units to horse mounted patrols.
Allman said he's willing to consider more unusual funding means to keep his department effective.
"I don't want to fold up shop," he said.
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