AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: AUGUST 2017 7 Genius and national treasure Bill Murray always has time for pictures. Actor Bill Murray poses for a photo with an unidentified NYPD officer during the 22nd Annual Poets House Poetry Walk across The Brooklyn Bridge on June 12, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Images) H e r e ’ s a question – what’s the difference between a police association and a charitable organiza- tion like The Salvation Army? In Moore County, North Carolina the answer ap- pears be “not a thing.” The Moore County Law Enforcement Officers As- sociation has obtained tax-exempt status after being declared officially as a public charity by the IRS. Chief Robert Temme of the Southern Pines Po- lice Department serves as president of the organiza- tion. Unlike unions like the Fraternal Order of Police or the PBA, the Moore County LEO Association is composed primarily of officers “who live in the county and work for, or have retired from, local, state and federal agen- cies,” according to an article in The Pilot. “While the Moore County Law Enforcement Association has been in existence since 1980, pro- viding services to Moore County law enforcement officers and the commu- nity, we now have the opportunity to further ex- pand the great work done by all members of the association both past and present,” Temme said. The group says they’ll be putting on a benefit concert this summer to raise money. According to the asso- ciation’s Facebook page, the concert will raise money for an Aberdeen Police officer following the untimely death of his 2-year-old child and to assist a dispatcher from the Southern Pines Police Department who has been diagnosed with cancer. Tickets are $30 and were sold out of the Southern Pines Police Department. Police group now tax exempt Right to work state