The New York City Police Foundation was established in 1971 as an independent, non-profit organization to promote excellence in the NYPD and improve the quality of police services across New York City. For 50 years, the Foundation has funded numerous initiatives to help safeguard the city and strengthen all of its communities.
Highlights of our work over the decades include:
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation provided urgently needed protective equipment to police, coordinated meal deliveries to precincts, and provided hotel rooms for officers who needed to live separately from their family members in order to reduce exposure.
The Foundation is working with the Community Affairs Bureau to host a series of town hall meetings throughout the city to give New Yorkers a voice in stopping gun violence.
The Police Foundation expanded the Options virtual reality curriculum and established the Options Learn to Earn program which gives Options participants valuable job skills and practical work experience.
The Foundation is sponsoring the training of 125 NYPD instructors in the ABLE Project, which trains first responders to intervene when necessary to prevent their colleagues from causing harm or making costly mistakes.
With the support of the Police Foundation, 100 management teams within the NYPD conducted a bottom-up review of Department operations which led to the 2015 Plan of Action that reorganized Department priorities and increased focus on Neighborhood Policing.
The Foundation provided the first body cameras to the NYPD for a pilot study of that technology.
The Foundation purchased new ballistic plates for added protection in new bullet-resistant vests.
The Foundation worked with Police Officers and young people to develop the Options virtual reality curriculum which uses new technology to teach emotional intelligence and conflict resolution skills.
The Gun Stop anonymous tip program has led to the seizure of over 5,500 illegal guns since the program's inception in 2001.
The Police Foundation provided the seed money for the Real Time Crime Center which modernized the Department's data management practices.
The Foundation supported the creation of the International Liaison Program which stations NYPD Intelligence Officers in police departments around the world where they can gather information to help keep New York safe.
The COPE program was established after 9/11 to offer free post-traumatic stress counseling for all members of the NYPD.
In 1993, the Police Foundation provided the first computers for CompStat, a crime analysis program that helped to reduce murder rates to levels not seen since the 1950s.
The Foundation helped develop a series of outreach initiatives that stressed cultural sensitivity training, youth leadership, and dialogues with clergy and community leaders.
The Foundation supported the development of a suicide reduction training program to address the high number of officer suicides in the Department.
In 1982, the Police Foundation received a $1 million grant to produce an award-winning series of Constitutional Law films to train the Department on legal issues such as Miranda Laws, Search and Seizure, and Stop and Frisk.
Citywide health screenings led to the development of NYPD Fitness Centers and the Hypertension Program.
In 1983, the Foundation took over the Crime Stoppers reward program, ensuring that tipsters would remain anonymous. To date there have been over $2.7M in rewards approved for tips which led to the arrest and indictment of violent felons.
The Police Foundation was established in 1971 to support unique initiatives that the NYPD could not readily fund.
The Foundation provided the first bullet-resistant vests to 18,000 members of the Department when the City could not pay for them.
When financial hardships threatened the NYPD Mounted Unit, the Police Foundation stepped in and donated every horse for the next 20 years.
The Foundation began a rich tradition of support for higher education and training programs to enhance the professionalism of NYPD personnel.