Reader Chris, a donator to his local police department, is disturbed by the calls he has been receiving from the Richmond Police telemarketers. Besides being unusually aggressive and rude, one of their recent tactics involves placing phone calls late at night. One evening Chris tried to explain to this person that it was too late to take such calls to which the disgruntled telemarketer replied, “Ok little guy, you get to bed.” Chris describes the strange phone calls, inside…

Hello,

I recently have been victimized by telemarketers identifying themselves as parties involved with the Richmond police department. On two separate occasions, the requests for donations far exceeded any norm that i have ever experienced. It’s appalling to think that these are individuals representing police officers that I respect and support in every way I possibly can.

Phone call number one took place earlier in the week requesting donations for a program that hands out bears to children that have been victims to, or present at a crime. I explained to the caller that I was not in the position to donate the requested amount given my recent move to my new home; he said something to the effect of “some of these children don’t even have homes”. That’s a sad fact agreeably, but that’s by no means an appropriate “sales tactic”. I actually forgot about it after a day or so until a call I received tonight. In hindsight, I wish I would have spoken with the individuals supervisor, but this is the next appropriate measure.

I answered a call at about 8:55 as i was walking in the door and received a call from an individual once again identifying themselves as a party working with the Richmond police department. This time, the individual was requesting donations for k-9’s that go school to school to educate children on drug services; I informed the individual that the call was a little late and he proceeded to say ” is it past your bed time? “, It’s rather presumptuous of this individual to assume we are all on his sleep schedule. After explaining to the gentleman that it wasn’t past my bedtime, its just a late hour to be calling me, he said “Ok little guy, you get to bed.” I thanked him for his sarcasm and hung up the phone.

Can you please assist in identifying the parties that are handling these requests. They need to be given a manual, some training, or be held to some standards before they harass the general public. Remember, these people are using your good name – I may potentially never donate to the police department again due to this interaction.

Why are these individuals calling so late and or using these abrasive tactics?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide,
Chris [redacted]

We recommend first checking with the police department to confirm that these telemarketers are legit and not part of some phishing scam. If they are legit, they most likely work for a telemarketing company and operate on commission which might explain their rude tactics. If they were volunteering for the police department in this capacity it seems unlikely they would be behaving in this manner. The next logical step is to file complaint with the Richmond Police department whether this be a scam or legitimate telemarketing gone wild. Since Virgina uses the “1 party consent law” regarding the recording of phone calls, you could record some compelling evidence which could be used to expose these obnoxious callers. This type of evidence could be very powerful in trying to teach these jerks some manners since the police probably would not want to be associated with such unprofessionalism.

(Photo: Getty)

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