Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund: Anyone Heard of this Organization?

Self | 11/03/03 | Wayne_Shrugged

[wayne_shrugged]

Has anyone heard of or had experience with the Law Enforcement Defense Fund, 400 West Service Road, P.O. Box 16129, Washington, DC 20041?

I received an appeal for a financial contribution from this organization which was from Alice Mohr, mother of a law enforcement agent whose K-9 dog restrained an illegal who was trying to escape police. He apparently sued her daughter, the officer in charge of the dog, on the basis that his civil liberties were abused because he was restrained from escaping. She's serving 10 years in prison!

If true and legit, I would give a contribution but I've never heard of this organization.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Ole Okie]

Being a defendant in a civil suit nets her 10 years in prison?

I think this isn't possible.

[John Jorsett]

With just those facts, I wouldn't give anything. If I were contemplating a donation, I'd be asking:
A) The name of the agent
B) What law enforcement agency she was a member of
C) What she was charged with
D) The court that convicted her
E) What prison she's serving time in
F) What court she's being sued in
G) What damages are being demanded
H) What media coverage this has received (an agent convicted and sent to prison has to have attracted some reportage)

If she was on duty when it happened, her agency would be the logical entity to sue civilly, since it's going to have far deeper pockets than she would.

Maybe this is for real, but there's enough scams out there that I'd approach it with caution.

[millefleur]

hi Okie, I also received that same mailing just about a week ago. I have no idea if this story is legit. I am still on their mailing list because once I did send money because of an earlier story that had actually been in the news. This was the cop who was accused of not coming to the aid of the Haitian (?) who had been abused in a NYC police precinct. I think there was a website mentioned, but I have thrown it away now.
This current story, if true, seems unbelievable except that we all know the illegals are favored by the media.

[John Jorsett]

I forgot the most important one: if a donation is made, what percentage of it gets to the recipient? Even otherwise-legitimate causes are sometimes coopted by scammers who end up taking most of the money for their "administrative" cut, leaving a pittance for the subject of their appeal.

[wayne_shrugged]

Thanks for your input. Most of the letter was an emotional appeal from her mother on behalf of this organization. A lot of references to her being in prison while her infant son is at home with the father -- motherless.

On the back, it says, "[t]he Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible. A copy of our latest financial report is available from our national office (1815 H Street NW, Suite 1001, Washington, DC 20006)..."

[Orange1998]

Sounds legit to me.

http://www.leldf.org/Mohr.gif

[Moosehead]

There is a website called "law enforcement legal defense fund", but I haven't found anything else. The mailing address is different, so it likely isn't the same. Sounds like a scam to me.

The website address to Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund is www.leldf.org; you might want to do some digging there to see if that is the one.

[Wacka]

There is a Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund in DC but NOT at the address listed above.

Also the woman is named Stephanie Mohr.

here is a link to the incident on their web site:

http://www.leldf.org/fall2001-p4.html

This was 2 years ago.

I don't know how it ended up. I personally think the mailing you got may be a bogus organization and using an old incident to get money.

[wayne_shrugged]

Thanks for your post.

I was a bit suspicious when something is so emotional and light on details...

[Atlas Sneezed]

Why donate to anyone associated with government employee unions?

If they unionize against those that pay for them, why support them?

[ampat]

Good point, and how true. I remember when I was in the Navy in the mid 70's and the annual Combined Federal Campaign (gubmint form of United Way Campaign) was in full swing. We were given a list of agencies to contribute to along with data on their overhead for administration. There were a few organizations that had 5% overheads. I always gave to those. I doubt you'd find any 5%'ers these days. Their CEO's or presidents have somehow justified six/seven figure salaries.

[malia]

turn this over to the fraud unit in your area.

[archy]

Being a defendant in a civil suit nets her 10 years in prison?

I think this isn't possible.

It may be someone's confused the Criminal penalties of Title 18, Section 13 of the US Criminal Code with the civil provisions. See the details of a similar case in the Pittsburgh area for an interesting comparison.

Title 18, United States Code, U.S. Criminal Code; Section. 242:
Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law,statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death