FLEOA: Case Study
For this project I have chosen to detail the Federal Law Enforcement Officer’s Association (FLEOA), of which I have been an active member since 2009. FLEOA is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C., which acts to provide overall support to federal law enforcement officers and their families in time of need.
The original basis for FLEOA was to provide, 24 hour legal services to its members during a time of need for line of duty related incidents. This service provides the members with direct access to the legal team any time that they may need it in order to protect themselves from legal or disciplinary recourse against them. These services are provided free of charge to the members and are used quite often.
Along with the legal counseling services available to the 22,000 active and retired members of FLEOA, the Association also acts a sort of union, in the way that they keep the members informed of anything going on Washington that may affect them in the performance of their duties or their home lives. FLEOA is also heavily involved in the lobbying and legislative process, in order to fight for the rights and improve the overall conditions for both the active and retired members.
The FLEOA Foundation is also there for the families of slain officers who are need of assistance. Within 24-48 hours of the duty …show more content…
related death of a member, a FLEOA representative will be in contact with the family of the fallen officer and provide any support possible, including donating money to the family in order to help them cover their expenses until the fallen officer’s insurance pays the family. The Foundation also provides a scholarship program to the families of local, state, and federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
Another function of the FLEOA Foundation is to provide financial assistance and aid to those members who have suffered catastrophic losses which are not covered by medical or other insurance policies. This was the case here in New York, during hurricane Sandy, where many officers’ homes were damaged and families were left without power or basic resources, while the families of these officer tried to cope with their own issues, the officers were gone often for much longer days then normal to help out, keep people safe and help to rebuild infrastructure that was taken out during the storm. During this time period families were sent checks and there was also a network setup that allowed those who were displaced from their homes and had nowhere else to turn, a way to find other families that had extra space and were able to take them in.
In the most recent federal form 990 that I was able to locate (2012), the Federal Law Enforcement Officer’s Association, took in a gross total of $2,870.601. Of that amount $497.992 was left over at the end of the year as unspent revenue. The most astonishing figure to me is just how much was actually spent on the legal fees ($1,309,357) of the members and how much was distributed to families.
The FLEOA Foundation boasts fights to maintain as low of an operating cost as possible, with its 80 voting members and board members all doing their jobs on a 100% volunteer basis.
From legislating and fighting for the rights of the members, to providing support, morale boosting events and putting on the semiannual FLEOA national conference at which many issues are discussed and voted upon by the members. The FLEOA Foundation claims a 93% ratio of money spent on what the charity was actually setup for with only a 7% operating cost, most of that being travel, the bi monthly publication sent to the members, and the cost of setting up
meetings.
Perhaps being a federal law enforcement officer myself I am a bit biased, but having been involved with this charity for the last 5 years, even before I had started working as a federal agent, I have come to know the amazing and selfless members who give up to 30 hours a week to this organization and care more about their members and those member’s families than I ever thought possible.
The original basis for FLEOA was to provide, 24 hour legal services to its members during a time of need for line of duty related incidents. This service provides the members with direct access to the legal team any time that they may need it in order to protect themselves from legal or disciplinary recourse against them. These services are provided free of charge to the members and are used quite often.
Along with the legal counseling services available to the 22,000 active and retired members of FLEOA, the Association also acts a sort of union, in the way that they keep the members informed of anything going on Washington that may affect them in the performance of their duties or their home lives. FLEOA is also heavily involved in the lobbying and legislative process, in order to fight for the rights and improve the overall conditions for both the active and retired members.
The FLEOA Foundation is also there for the families of slain officers who are need of assistance. Within 24-48 hours of the duty …show more content…
related death of a member, a FLEOA representative will be in contact with the family of the fallen officer and provide any support possible, including donating money to the family in order to help them cover their expenses until the fallen officer’s insurance pays the family. The Foundation also provides a scholarship program to the families of local, state, and federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
Another function of the FLEOA Foundation is to provide financial assistance and aid to those members who have suffered catastrophic losses which are not covered by medical or other insurance policies. This was the case here in New York, during hurricane Sandy, where many officers’ homes were damaged and families were left without power or basic resources, while the families of these officer tried to cope with their own issues, the officers were gone often for much longer days then normal to help out, keep people safe and help to rebuild infrastructure that was taken out during the storm. During this time period families were sent checks and there was also a network setup that allowed those who were displaced from their homes and had nowhere else to turn, a way to find other families that had extra space and were able to take them in.
In the most recent federal form 990 that I was able to locate (2012), the Federal Law Enforcement Officer’s Association, took in a gross total of $2,870.601. Of that amount $497.992 was left over at the end of the year as unspent revenue. The most astonishing figure to me is just how much was actually spent on the legal fees ($1,309,357) of the members and how much was distributed to families.
The FLEOA Foundation boasts fights to maintain as low of an operating cost as possible, with its 80 voting members and board members all doing their jobs on a 100% volunteer basis.
From legislating and fighting for the rights of the members, to providing support, morale boosting events and putting on the semiannual FLEOA national conference at which many issues are discussed and voted upon by the members. The FLEOA Foundation claims a 93% ratio of money spent on what the charity was actually setup for with only a 7% operating cost, most of that being travel, the bi monthly publication sent to the members, and the cost of setting up
meetings.
Perhaps being a federal law enforcement officer myself I am a bit biased, but having been involved with this charity for the last 5 years, even before I had started working as a federal agent, I have come to know the amazing and selfless members who give up to 30 hours a week to this organization and care more about their members and those member’s families than I ever thought possible.