Abstract

Private philanthropic support for government agencies continues to expand into different areas of public services, especially at the local level where libraries, parks and recreation departments, and police departments have benefited. The resources generated by a dedicated government-supporting nonprofit can play a significant role in enhancing the work of government, not only through resources, but through community engagement. In this article, we focus on police foundations, registered 501(c)3 nonprofits that exist to support police departments. Using NCCS nonprofit data and data collected from organizational websites, we create a database of 243 police foundations that identifies their mission statements, websites and activities, and the characteristics of the communities in which they are found across the U.S. In doing so, we argue that, rather than government failure or inadequacy to meet the needs of communities, police foundations are the result of isomorphism among professionalized police departments seeking to enhance their work and connection to the community. While funding for additional equipment and training are the most common activities of police foundations, the similarity in programs serving the community gives some indication of the proliferation of best practices in public safety.

摘要

对政府机构的私人慈善支持继续扩展到不同的公共服务领域，特别是在地方一级，图书馆、公园和娱乐部门以及警察部门都从中受益。由专门的政府支持的非营利组织产生的资源可以在加强政府工作方面发挥重要作用，不仅通过资源，而且通过社区参与。在本文中，我们重点关注警察基金会，即注册的 501(c)3 非营利组织，这些非营利组织旨在支持警察部门。使用 NCCS 非营利数据和从组织网站收集的数据，我们创建了一个包含 243 个警察基金会的数据库，该数据库确定了他们的使命宣言、网站和活动，以及他们在美国各地发现的社区的特征在这样做时，我们认为, 警察基金会不是政府失败或不足以满足社区的需要，而是专业化警察部门寻求加强其工作和与社区的联系的同构的结果。虽然为额外设备和培训提供资金是警察基金会最常见的活动，但为社区服务的计划的相似性在一定程度上表明了公共安全最佳实践的扩散。