Seattle Police Foundation

The Seattle Police Foundation raises support and awareness for the Seattle Police Department, and provides resources for police officer initiated projects.

To promote public safety by supporting and providing resources for the professional development of Seattle's Police Department employees and creating community partnerships that encourage citizen participation in enhancing the safety of Seattle. To provide grants for officer requested projects.

Following the tragic events of 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 to support the brave men and women who serve and protect our community, thus launching the independent, non-profit organization that would become the Seattle Police Foundation in January of 2002. The Seattle Police Foundation (SPF) was founded to assist the police department enhance relationships with the community, improve employee development, and assist in providing the latest in equipment and technology to ensure officer safety and enhance the service they provide to our community every day.

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, nor 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 and funding partners 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, officer initiated, projects in these funding areas, our public-private partnership allows the Seattle Police Department to launch innovative and experimental projects that further their ability to serve Seattle's public safety needs.