Burr Ridge Calls Pro-Cop Mailer 'Misleading'

BURR RIDGE, IL – The village of Burr Ridge said Tuesday that a political mailer for a pro-police organization was crafted to appear as if it were from the local police department.

In a statement, the village said the flyer did not come from the village, the police department or any of the village's employee unions.

"The Department is fully funded and has no need to solicit funds in such a manner to uphold its duty to provide a safe community," the village said.

The mailer is from the Virginia-based nonprofit group, Citizens Behind the Badge, which was formed in 2020.

The village did not say how the mailer misleads the public.

The mailer includes a letter of support that residents can send to local police. Its header reads, "Burr Ridge Area Police Department," which may be why the village says the document is misleading.

The mailer includes a section about making donations to Citizens Behind the Badge. It says the money goes to fight the "radical" movement to "defund the police" and pressure politicians to provide police with funding, training and equipment.

In an interview Tuesday, Bob Frank, a volunteer with Citizens Behind the Badge, said the village was wrong in its depiction of the mailer.

"It is clearly our intent to indicate that we do not provide funds to any police department," Frank said. "We utilize the funds we receive in advocacy for the law enforcement community. We are seeking to reverse the issues associated with the defund-the-police environment out there in many communities."

The form letter to local police states, "I am angry when I hear dishonest media and progressive politicians falsely brand police as 'racist' because this is a lie. I know that 99 percent of law enforcement officers are good people doing a very tough job."