{"id":507656,"date":"2026-10-25T17:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T17:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507656\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T17:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T17:42:31","slug":"police-fundraising-calls-raise-questions-about-fullerton-police-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507656\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Fundraising Calls Raise Questions About Fullerton Police Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Fullerton residents who receive calls or messages asking for donations in the name of local police organizations should verify the requests before giving money, according to warnings from the Fullerton Police Department and records involving police associations.<\/p>\n

The Fullerton Police Officers\u2019 Association (FPOA) is the union representing the city\u2019s police officers. A related organization, the Fullerton Police Benefit Association, also appears in federal tax records. The benefit association is classified as a local employee association, and donations to it are not tax-deductible, according to ProPublica\u2019s nonprofit database.<\/p>\n

The distinction matters because the existence of a legitimate organization does not establish that every call or message using its name is authentic.<\/p>\n

The Fullerton Police Department warns that scammers may impersonate officers, manipulate caller ID and use the names of real officers to make fraudulent requests appear legitimate. The department says it does not solicit donations by phone.<\/p>\n

Police associations in other California cities have also warned residents about fundraising impersonators. In Manhattan Beach, the Police Officers\u2019 Association said it raised money through brochures mailed to residents and did not solicit donations by phone, according to a report by Easy Reader News. Martinez and Oakland have issued similar warnings.<\/p>\n

Some police associations also use professional fundraising companies. Such solicitations may be legitimate, but donors should ask how much of their contribution will go to the organization and whether the donation is tax-deductible.<\/p>\n

Residents who receive an unexpected fundraising call should not provide credit card numbers or other personal information. Instead, they can independently contact the Fullerton Police Department at 714-738-6700 to ask about a solicitation or report a suspected scam.<\/p>\n

Those wishing to support local officers can ask the department or the association for verified information about how to contribute directly.<\/p>\n

Benefit association\u2019s financial records<\/p>\n

Federal tax filings provide a separate look at the Fullerton Police Benefit Association\u2019s finances. The association may not be the same legal entity as the FPOA, the officers\u2019 union.<\/p>\n

According to the available filings, the benefit association reported approximately $395,000 in revenue and $304,000 in expenses in 2025. It ended the year with about $464,000 in assets and no reported debt.<\/p>\n

The filing listed no compensation for officers, including the president and benefits coordinator, and reported no salaries or wages.<\/p>\n

From 2015 through 2024, more than 80% of the association\u2019s annual revenue was generally categorized as \u201cprogram services\u201d income. For an employee benefit association, that category can include payments for services or benefits provided to members. Outside donations generally accounted for a smaller share.<\/p>\n

The 2025 filing categorized nearly all revenue as contributions. The available summary does not establish whether this reflects a change in the organization\u2019s income or simply a change in how it was reported.<\/p>\n

The records also show that the association paid approximately $36,000 in professional fundraising fees in 2022, about 13% of its expenses that year. The corresponding expense was reported as zero in most other years reviewed.<\/p>\n

The filing indicates that the association used a paid fundraiser at least once. It does not, by itself, establish whether a particular solicitation residents receive is authorized by the association.<\/p>\n

Political activity and endorsements<\/p>\n

The FPOA also participates in local politics through endorsements and public advocacy.<\/p>\n

In August 2026, the Fullerton Observer reported that the police union sent mass text messages urging residents to oppose a recall effort, citing costs that the union would not document, according to the newspaper\u2019s published report.<\/p>\n

The union has also endorsed Fullerton candidates. Mayor Fred Jung\u2019s 2024 ballot statement said he had the full endorsement of the city\u2019s police officers and firefighters.<\/p>\n

In the 2024 District 4 race, an Observer opinion column identified the public safety unions\u2019 endorsement of Jamie Valencia over Kitty Jaramillo as a surprise. The column also reported that Valencia received the maximum contribution from the police union two weeks after speaking at a City Council meeting in favor of a pilot program involving a \u201classo\u201d restraint device. Those assertions appeared in commentary, rather than a straight-news report.<\/p>\n

A 2006 ballot statement for Fullerton City Council candidate Leland Wilson also listed the FPOA among his endorsers.<\/p>\n

The union has weighed in on other public safety issues. In 2018, when the City Council considered appointing Bob Dunn permanently as police chief, the FPOA president praised Dunn\u2019s work as acting chief.<\/p>\n

The union has also supported retaining a city-run police department, placing it at odds with local activist Tony Bushala, who has advocated considering a contract with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department. Broader claims linking the union to particular council coalitions or proposed tax measures should be distinguished from independently documented actions and attributed to their original sources.<\/p>\n

For residents, the central question remains whether a particular fundraising request is legitimate. The names of established police organizations, their tax filings and their political activities do not, on their own, verify an unsolicited call or message.<\/p>\n

Sources: Fullerton Police Department, Phone Scams<\/a>; ProPublica, Fullerton Police Benefit Association nonprofit records<\/a>; Fullerton Observer, Police union texts residents to block recall, citing costs it won\u2019t document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from Fullerton Observer<\/p>\n

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fullerton residents who receive calls or messages asking for donations in the name of local police organizations should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,195958],"class_list":["post-507656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-police-fundraising-calls-raise-questions-about-fullerton-police-groups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}