#Bellevue PD Report

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Big Cop's corporate armorers

US cities spend 20-45% of their budgets on policing on but cops run foundations that solicit millions from large corporations, which then take tax breaks for their donations.

The money goes into a slushfund used to procure off-the-books military and surveillance gear.

A pair of illuminating reports from Littlesis detail how these foundations turn corporations into deep-pocketed secret armorers for the largest, most violent police forces in the nation.

First, who gives and what is spent:

https://news.littlesis.org/2020/06/18/corporate-backers-of-the-blue-how-corporations-bankroll-u-s-police-foundations/

Houston PD: "SWAT equipment, LRAD sound equipment, and dogs for the K-9 unit"

Philadelphia PD: "long guns, drones, and ballistic helmets"

Atlanta PD: "a major surveillance network of over 12,000 cameras."

LAPD: "surveillance software from Palantir" ("by having the foundation purchase it for them, the LAPD was able to bypass...public meetings and approval from the city council")

Who gives:

BoA: "$200,000 to NYC Police Foundation, $51,250 to Atlanta Police Foundation, $25,000 to Boston Police Foundation, $10,000 to Los Angeles Police Foundation; smaller donations to the Yarmouth MA, Sarasota, Abilene, Duluth, Bellevue, and Sacramento & Glendale CA"

Goldman Sachs: "$250,000 to the Los Angeles Police Foundation in 2018, as well as $15,000 to the NYC Police Foundation."

Wells Fargo: "'partner' and donor to the Seattle Police Foundation, and it sits on the Atlanta Police Foundation’s board and sponsored its Blue Jean Ball"

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock: "co-chaired the NYC Police Foundation’s annual gala in 2017, 2018, and 2019"

SunTrust Bank:  "$3 million to the Atlanta Police Foundation"

Commerce Bank of Washington: "partner and donor to the Seattle Police Foundation"

Target: "major contributions to police foundations across the country, including the NYC, Atlanta, and Seattle Police Foundations..$200K from Target helped the LA Police Foundation purchase sophisticated surveillance equipment"

Starbucks: "active donor to the Seattle Police Foundation and has a representative on its board. The company also recently donated $25,000 to the NYC Police Foundation"

Coca Cola: "long time donor to the Atlanta Police Foundation and pledged to give $2 million"

Walmart: "donates to the Washington D.C. Police Foundation"

Amazon: "sits on the executive committee of the Seattle Police Foundation’s board and is a partner and donor, but it donates to police foundations across the U.S. through its charitable program, AmazonSmile"

Motorola: Board seats on police foundations for Seattle, DC, Detroit; donor to Chicago foundation, and "profits from selling body cams, radios, and other products to police departments"

Verizon: Donor to Chicago and NYC foundations, "a board member of the Detroit foundation," "Platinum Partners of the National Sheriff’s Association, a law enforcement lobbying group"

Facebook, Google, and Microsoft: "partners and donors to the Seattle Police Foundation"

AT&T: "a deep-pocketed donor to the NYC Police Foundation"

Chevron: "has a spot on the Houston Police Foundation board"

DTE Energy: "donor to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation board"

Also implicated, sports teams:  NFL’s Lions, NBA’s Pistons, MLB’s Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and NY Mets

This "giving" doesn't just arm cops, it also helps corporations avoid taxes. Many of these same companies appear on an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy list of notorious tax-dodgers, including profitable firms that nevertheless pay NEGATIVE taxes, getting cash subsidies.

https://itep.org/corporate-tax-avoidance-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-tax-law/

Littlesis makes the connections between dark-money arms and cyberweapon purchases and corporate tax avoidance:

https://news.littlesis.org/2020/06/24/from-amazon-to-starbucks-corporations-avoid-billions-in-taxes-while-funding-police-foundations/

[newingtonnow]

Armed, Dangerous Man Wanted for Questioning in Hartford Murder: PD

Hartford police have released the identity of a man who is wanted for questioning about a murder that happened on Monday night. Police said they are looking to talk to 25-year-old John Satkunas after a deadly stabbing on Bellevue Street. Officers were called to Bellevue Street around 5:30 p.m. after getting a report of a man down in the building’s... from Local – NBC Connecticut https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/armed-dangerous-man-wanted-for-questioning-in-hartford-murder-pd/2218729/