I support the police via donations. I doubt it's all that unusual.

It is unusual. You’re giving donations to a fully state funded entity who get to keep what they seize and have one of the strongest unions in the US? Seems like an absolute waste of money.

I donate to the state police retirement fund occasionally, and I donate to the local shop with a sheriff, which I'm actually intending to go to the kids, but of course the sheriff is all about it and the one soliciting donations.

My business actually started the shop-with-a-sheriff in this county, although the new sheriff took it over after a couple of years.

I waste plenty of money, but I don't particularly feel like I'm wasting it here. You should meet the kids, and the deputies.

I know people who donate to the police retirement fund or whatever, in order to get the bumper sticker that proclaims that to any cop who pulls them over.

You know they already get probably 70% of your cities budget, right?

You can view this data online and it is normally the schools that take the majority of the budget, and they still don't have enough money either. I have no idea where they live but it is possible their police are in need of donations, unlike perhaps LAPD/NYPD.

Since you mentioned it, I looked it up.

The sheriff dept I donate to gets about 30% of the county budget.

The city police get just over 10% of the city budget.

I'm not British. Also, why do you care where I put my money?