WHY is “The Police Protective Fund” in Virginia phoning my cell phone? Are they phoning to make me aware that it is dangerous to use a cell phone while driving? Who knows, as when I attempt to return their calls, I get an answering machine that tells me to leave a message in their “full” mailbox.

This is the number they ring me from: 804 225-9092.

If this is another one of those police scams to get me to donate to their police union, I am NOT buying. I pay enough taxes to support my various police departments. In addition to paying their police salaries and benefits, why would I be stupid enough to pay their unions to lobby me, the taxpayer, for more pay and benefits. The automobile unions have already driven the car industry into the dirt. What next, police departments? Many of those who are phoned end up donating, as they assume the caller to be a local police officer and they feel intimidated.

This phone number has been reported to “Who Called US?,”where other victims of telephone harassment report that their identity is “the polprotect” and that they use the following numbers to harass the public they are supposed to serve and protect: 804-225-9092, 800-225-9092 and 217-483-9596.

The Police Protective Fund has a web site where they identify themselves as a part of PoliceUSA.com. Check out that Charity Navigator gives them a “ZERO” rating and lists the salaries of their leaders. Here is what the Better Business Bureau reports about the Police Protective Fund:

“On July 24, 2007, the Missouri attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Court against Police Protective Fund (PPF) to stop misleading and harassing calls from the organization. According to the Missouri attorney general’s office, telemarketers working for PPF have made numerous calls into Missouri, representing that donations will help the families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty through PPF’s $10,000 “Line of Duty Death Benefits” program” (BBB.org).

Don’t bother reporting them to the National Do Not Call Registry. They do not cover “charities, political organizations, and telephone surveyors.” Cute, eh? At least Montgomery County, Maryland has issued a warning to its citizens about this “police charity scam,” as they label them.