The telemarketing and fund-raising tactics of a national deputy sheriffs’ group are more than just an evening nuisance, a suspicious and angry Lawrence couple say.

“I can’t tell you how many times they called,” said Doug Tong, referring to the American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn.

When the first call came in late September, Tong’s wife, Cindy, answered and agreed to look over information and consider making a donation to the nonprofit organization.

After all, she said, the caller told her the association provided equipment such as bulletproof vests to sheriff’s officers who couldn’t afford them. The telemarketer also wanted her to mail a $30 donation back to him within 10 days to simplify bookkeeping after looking over the material.

But Cindy Tong said she also was told the organization had an office in Topeka. A check of the address showed it to be a post office box at a Mail Boxes Etc. store.

“It was kind of a strange call and I thought something was wrong,” she said.

The Tongs decided against making a donation. But they still get calls — and pressure to return the materials they received and to donate.

But they are not the only ones suspicious of the association, which continues to use telemarketers in Kansas and across the nation.

“We get quite a few calls about them,” said Darrell Wilson, director of the Kansas Sheriffs’ Assn. “We’re not associated with them.”

Doug Tong holds an invoice requesting 0, mailed to him and his wife, Cindy, by the American Deputy Sheriffs' Assn. The Tongs recently received multiple phone calls from the American Deputy Sheriffs' Assn seeking donations. Some people confuse the association with their local sheriff's office, which is a mistake, because the organization gave only about 12 percent of its earnings last year to law enforcement agencies.

Levels of involvement

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office gets two to four calls a week from people inquiring or complaining about a sheriffs’ agency that has called them, Lt. Ken Massey said. He said he didn’t know whether all those were from people called by the American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. or similar organizations.

“We aren’t involved with them,” Massey said. “We advise people not to give to these organizations. If we need bulletproof vests and stuff, we have other avenues to do that.”

During the past few years some sheriffs’ offices around the country have issued news releases advising the public not to donate to the association. Some of those releases accuse the organization of passing itself off as representing local sheriffs’ offices and being involved in phone scams.

The American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. is not listed with the Northeast Kansas Better Business Bureau, which covers the Lawrence and Topeka areas. A national listing in Washington, D.C., had no complaints. But the association has an unsatisfactory history with the Northeast Louisiana Better Business Bureau because of unanswered complaints. The bureau’s file also states the organization does not meet 10 of 23 standards for charitable solicitations.

Formed to help county law enforcement personnel by providing equipment, training programs and benefits to member officers, the association is based in Monroe, La. Membership is free, as it relies on money raised from telemarketing.

Scripted calls

Tom Buchman, the association auditor who oversees fund raising and telemarketing, defended the organization and its telemarketing contractor, Public Awareness Inc. of Eau Claire, Wis.

“I wish I could get my hands on more contractors just like them,” Buchman said. “They are so professional it’s scary.”

¢American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn.¢Kansas Sheriff’s Assn.¢United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn.¢ Firefighters and police rethinking telemarketing (9-30-02)¢ Sound off: I got a call from someone raising money for the Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. Is there such an organization? (5-5-03)

The association uses different telemarketing contractors for different parts of the country. Buchman said they don’t mislead the people they call. Callers simply read from a script, he said.

Nevertheless, Buchman said he knows that some people who get the call automatically think it is their local sheriff’s office. Then, if someone calls the sheriff’s office, they are told the office has never heard of the American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn.

“It gets blown out of proportion,” Buchman said. “The newspapers hear about it and then we’re a scam. We’re not a scam.”

As for the Better Business Bureau, he said, the association doesn’t send information to all of them because there are so many and each require a fee.

If someone changes their mind about making a contribution, Buchman said, callers are trained to try to salvage some amount of contribution. They also ask for the printed forms and decals to be sent back because of the high cost of making and distributing the material, Buchman said.

Buchman said the association gets about 20 percent of the money its telemarketers raise. But a statement on file with the Kansas Secretary of State shows it gets 12 percent.

Telemarketing calls are recorded and if there are complaints, those calls can be reviewed, Buchman said.

He also noted the association has to compete in telemarketing with find-raisers from local and state fraternal orders of police, sheriff and highway patrol organizations.

“I wish I had a better way,” he said. “I wish we could just send out mailers to everybody. But then it’s considered junk mail and everybody just throws it away.”

‘No telemarketing here’

Michael Croft resigned his position as the association’s president and left in August to start his own deputy sheriffs’ organization. In an interview, he said he thought the American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. was a good organization but that he disagreed with the board of directors about its use of telemarketers.

“You might say I was telemarketed out,” said Croft, who is retired from the Coffee County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department, where he had been a captain.

Croft started the National Organization of Deputy Sheriffs and is building from the ground up. So far it has 100 members, but soon packets will go out to all sheriffs’ offices in Kansas as well as other states, he said. Members will pay dues.

“There’s no telemarketing here,” Croft said. “If telemarketing was the way to go, 50 million people wouldn’t be signing up for the national no-call list.” But the association is considered a charity in Kansas and is allowed to continue making telemarketing calls.

Telemarketers also are used by the United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. in Houston. Calls are only made, however, to businesses, said President Steve Van Dyke.

“We don’t hammer people,” he said.

The American Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. claims a nationwide membership of about 20,000. An employee at its office said there were more than 60 members in Kansas. She said the record she had didn’t show how many officers were from a particular county.

During the past year, three Kansas counties received assistance from the association. According to ADSA news releases, in March it helped Atchison County replace bulletproof vests. News releases issued Wednesday stated a donation was made to Trego County for equipment for its police dog and for bulletproof vests for Rooks County.