By Rich Pollack
It’s not unusual for residents of Highland Beach to approach Police Chief Craig Hartmann and ask how they can show their support for the Police Department.
“We had people who wanted to help financially, and we didn’t have a vehicle to accept contributions,” Hartmann said.
That changed in July with the creation of the Highland Beach Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization led by a five-member board of residents that will work with the Police Department to determine how money collected from the community will be spent.
“Typically, money donated to foundations like this is used for one-time purchases not included in the town’s budget,” Hartmann said. “The money we receive will help our department stay current, and it will help us enhance the service we provide to the community.”
With the majority of the department’s budget going to salaries and benefits, the money raised can have a significant impact on the purchase of new equipment and tools that can be used to keep the town’s residents and police officers safe, foundation president Greg Babij said.
“This is really needed in Highland Beach,” said Babij, who has lived in town for four years with his wife, Tami, and their two young children. “It can make a huge difference.”
Hartmann says foundations supporting police departments are common throughout Palm Beach County as well as throughout the country.
Locally, the towns of Palm Beach and Ocean Ridge have similar foundations, as does the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the cities of Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.
In Ocean Ridge, the Department of Public Safety Support Group has been operating for at least 20 years, according to Police Chief Christopher Yannuzzi. He said money collected from the community has been used for everything from digital cameras for crime-scene photos to automated external defibrillators for police vehicles.
Yannuzzi said that the Ocean Ridge Public Safety Support Group is comprised mostly of police officers and reserve officers who vote on what items will be purchased for the department.
Contributions to the support group, a separate entity from the Police Department, have no impact on how the department enforces the law or provides services to residents, he said.
“I haven’t received any feedback that residents who are contributing expect more service or special treatment,” Yannuzzi said.
In Highland Beach, there are no police officers serving on the foundation board, other than Hartmann, who, along with foundation counsel Robin Caral Shaw, will be a non-voting member. As a result, officers will not be involved in soliciting donations or in final decisions on how money collected from the community will be spent.
“The foundation is set up as a corporation working toward the benefit of the Police Department,” Shaw said. “By definition, it is separate from the Police Department.”
Hartmann says that the new foundation is now making it possible for residents to target their financial support directly to public safety instead of to the town’s general operating budget. “There are a lot of people in Highland Beach who are philanthropic and who want to support the Police Department,” he said.
Among those is resident Richard Shusterman, a member of the foundation’s board, who is paying for the cost of setting up the group as a nonprofit organization.
“This is all being done at no cost to the town,” Hartmann said.
The foundation, according to Hartmann and Babij, is planning to send a letter to residents soon that will include additional information about the organization. Ú
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