October, 07 2021, 10:02am EDT
Color of Change Releases First-of-Its-Kind Report Exposing Police Foundation Ties to Fortune 500 Companies, Corporate Mega-Donors
Coca-Cola stepped down from Atlanta Police Foundation’s Board of Trustees in response to report findings
WASHINGTON
Today, Color Of Change released a new first of its kind report in partnership with LittleSis (Public Accountability Initiative) examining the 50-year history of police foundations and the corporate donations and partnerships that enable police violence nationwide. The report, Police Foundations: A Corporate-Sponsored Threat to Democracy and Black Lives, marks the most extensive study to-date on the financial ties between police foundations and corporations, identifying ties to at least 55 Fortune 500 companies. This is the largest known study identifying the acute threat that police foundations pose to Black and Brown communities and democracy. The full report is available here.
As a result of Color Of Change's findings and ongoing conversations, Coca-Cola, one of the Atlanta Police Foundation's largest corporate donors, has stepped down from the Foundation's Board of Trustees.
"Corporations bankroll police foundations, and then police foundations use that support to attack common sense reforms, spread misinformation about reformers, and defend the most outdated, violent and racially biased practices of police officers," said Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change. "Only cutting ties with police foundations will show that corporate leaders are serious about protecting Black lives and bringing our police departments into the 21st Century."
"Police foundations are effectively public-private partnerships through which major corporations fund and legitimize police forces, all with little to no public oversight on how funds are spent," said Derek Seidman, a research analyst with LittleSis and a contributor to the report. "This report shines a long overdue spotlight on corporate America's role in propping up and normalizing police power through police foundations."
"The NYC Police Foundation, also known as the NYPD's slush fund, has built tremendous power under a cloak of secrecy in the last 50 years that has directly contributed to the NYPD's systemic violence against Black, Latinx, and other New Yorkers of color," said Kesi Foster (he/him), spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform. "The NYPD has exploited loopholes to avoid reporting on the Police Foundation's spending, allowing donations to act as a piggy bank for unregulated NYPD operations in New York City as well as in other
Color Of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
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