The International Association of Chiefs of Police claimed millions of dollars in coronavirus relief loans as part of the government's Paycheck Protection Program, data published by the Small Business Administration shows.
According to SBA data, the IACP, the self-proclaimed "largest and most influential professional association for police leaders" in the world, raked in anywhere between $2 million to $5 million dollars in PPP money.
The loan was approved on April 27 through the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, according to the SBA. Therefore, it would have been granted nearly a month before widespread protests calling for police to be defunded launched across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.
In the wake of the protests, the IACP, which has more than 31,000 members in over 165 countries, has pushed against calls to defund the police, branding them "misguided" and "shortsighted" to "achieving the change that we all seek."
"Promoting community policing; embracing systemic reforms; and improving police training, policies, and procedures will require both dedicated resources and an enduring commitment from police leaders, community members, and elected officials," the IACP said in a press release amid calls to defund the police.
"All that 'defunding' and shifting resources away from the police will accomplish is to further reduce the ability of police leaders to enact the positive change that is required," it said. "Now is not the time to further limit the capacity of police agencies to connect with our communities and to provide services to those who are most in need of assistance and protection."
While the IACP said it "agrees there is a need to provide additional resources to social services, education, and mental health services, fulfilling this need should not come at the expense of police funding."
"By the very nature of the profession, the police remain the only entity of government that consistently and constantly responds to every situation where immediate help is needed. In an already underfunded profession, resources should not be taken away from the police, but rather, additional resources given to these areas," it said.
Newsweek has contacted the IACP for comment on its need for PPP funding.
The millions granted to the IACP, however, are not the only PPP relief funds dedicated to a business or organization related to policing.
The Police Foundation, based in Arlington, Virginia, was approved for $350,000 to $1 million in funds.
Meanwhile, the Houston Police Officers' Union claimed somewhere between $150,000 to $350,000.
Newsweek has contacted both groups for comment.
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