The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published June 12, 2019

Court ruling will send $100,000 to C.O.P.S.

CAMDENTON - Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) will receive settlement money from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt after a judgment regarding what Schmitt calls a “sham” charity Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation, and its founder, David Kenik.

According to Schmitt, Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation, and its founder, David Kenik, collected almost $10 million in donations from 2013 through 2017 allegedly to provide assistance to disabled officers and relief to families of officers killed in the line of duty.

Instead, Schmitt said, Kenik spent the vast majority of contributions to profit himself and private individuals he hired instead of on charitable programs.

The settlement was for $9,932,323, with all of that suspended except for $100,000, due to Defendants’ inability to pay.

The $100,000 is to be distributed to a legitimate charity whose charitable purpose is substantially similar to the purpose for which Defendants solicited funds, as approved by the court.

The court has approved the $100,000 to be distributed to the charity Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) based out of Camdenton, Missouri.

C.O.P.S. is a national charity whose mission is to help rebuild the lives of family members and co-workers of officers killed in the line of duty through their annual National Police Survivors Conference, scholarships, peer-support, counseling reimbursement, and retreats and summer camps.

”It is unconscionable that Kenik and his organization took money from well-intentioned people to line his and his fundraisers’ pockets instead of helping families of disabled and fallen law enforcement officers,” Schmitt said. “With this settlement, we will redirect donations to an organization that is actually supporting the family members and coworkers of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our communities.”

“C.O.P.S. is grateful for this generous donation that not only supports law enforcement survivors right here in Missouri, but all across the nation,” said Lauren Crisman, Development Director for C.O.P.S.. “We are proud to house the C.O.P.S. National Office in this state and look forward to continuing to host many events and programs locally.”