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Board Member and Past-Chair
Michael Malone discusses the purpose and highlights the successes of the Foundation.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

OUR MISSION & VISION

The mission of the Seattle Police Foundation is to foster
community support for the Seattle Police Department.

Our vision:
To promote public safety by supporting and providing resources for the professional development of Seattle’s Police Deparment employees and creating community partnerships that encourage citizen participation in enhancing the safety of Seattle.

HISTORY

Following 9/11, united by a desire to publicly support Seattle’s law enforcement professionals, a group of distinguished leaders from Seattle's business, civic, religious and academic communities identified a need and launched the independent, non-profit organization in January 2002. The Seattle Police Foundation (SPF) was founded to assist the police department enhance relationships with the community, improve officer training, recognize officers who protect the public, provide equipment and technology to ensure their safety and enhance the service they provide our community everyday.

THE ROLE OF THE FOUNDATION

SPF recognizes that the Seattle Police Department, with more than 90% of its annual budget going to support personnel costs, has very little flexibility to seed new programs and encourage innovation. The role of the Foundation is not to displace funding for basic law enforcement, or to reduce in any way the responsibility of the City of Seattle to commit the necessary funding for law enforcement services for its citizens. However, as modern law enforcement tasks continue to become more complex, the Seattle Police Department, similar to police departments across the country, has increasing needs to stay current in training, technology and equipment, and communication and partnership efforts with the community.

The Foundation utilizes the generous contributions of our fellow citizens to enhance the Seattle Police Department's efforts in three vital areas:

• Community Partnerships-Programs that enhance relationships between the community and the Seattle Police Department

• Employee Development-Advanced training and employee recognition programs

• Police Service Enhancements-Cutting-edge and specialized equipment and technology

By supporting innovative projects in these funding areas our public-private partnership allows the Seattle Police Department to launch innovative and experimental projects and further its ability to serve Seattle’s public safety needs.