Rainbow City police: Survey/support/solicitation letter not from their department

Donna Thornton, The Gadsden Times
·1 min read

Rainbow City police want residents to know a letter they may receive from “Citizens Behind the Badge” is not from or related to the Rainbow City Police Department.

The letter purports to be building support for law enforcement agencies — to combat “Defund the Police” efforts — during the mid-term election season.

The mailing includes a form letter voicing support for Rainbow City police that recipients can sign and date, along with issue summaries and survey questions related to law enforcement issues. It asks for a minimum $9 contribution to send the survey results to a list of politicians from the president down.

It repeatedly mentions the actions of former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. But that not what’s concerned Rainbow City Police Chief John Bryant — it’s the fact that it has “Rainbow City Area Police” listed at the top.

Bryant said the letters didn’t come from the Rainbow City Police Department, and the department knows nothing about the organization, which is based in Merrifield, Virginia, according to the mailing address included in the letter.

He said similar letters were circulated earlier in the Hoover area.

The letter asks for the at-least $9 contribution and more to help “defeat the radical ‘Defund the Police’ movement” by sending its “powerful message” to politicians and the news media.

Bryant said Rainbow City officials and the police department want residents to know that if they send money to the organization, they won’t be sending it to the RBCPD or an organization the department is affiliated with.

A phone call to a contact number listed at the BehindBadge.org website listed in the letter was answered by voice mail for “Bob Frank.” The website says the organization is a nonprofit founded in 2020.

Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Rainbow City police say they aren't involved with survey letters