Police Group Seeking Honorary Members

The 200-member Police Officers’ Assn. is soliciting $100 annual honorary memberships from businesses and individuals as a way to raise money for charities.

About 100 have joined so far, said association administrator Terry Orosco.

Apart from covering expenses such as plaques for the new members, the money goes to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, California Special Olympics, the March of Dimes, local school athletic programs and other charities the union supports, Orosco said. Last year, without the honorary memberships, the union donated about $25,000 to charity, Orosco said.

The Anaheim Police Assn. has operated a similar program since 1979. The $100 annual dues to the Anaheim Police Officers’ Honorary Assn. supports the group’s fund for widows and orphans and its scholarships for officers’ children.

Bob MacLeod, general manager of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said that most police associations, including his, don’t have honorary members.

“We have businesses call us all the time to do things jointly with us, but we don’t have the time or manpower to do it,” he said. Instead, the association suggests they contact charities directly, such as the Adam Walsh Foundation or Child Abuse Recovery Through Education.

Barrett Garcia of Barrett Valuation, a property-tax consulting business in Huntington Beach, said that he signed up as an honorary member because he’s been in the city 21 years, knows members of the association and wanted to help.

“It’s totally voluntary,” he said. “From my point of view, it’s just something to show support.”