The precursor to the San Diego Police Officers Association was officially incorporated on August 5, 1953 as the San Diego Police Relief Association after having been originally established in 1912.
In 1912, two San Diego Police Officers had been shot in the line of duty responding to a bank robbery in progress. Back then, officers were on the hook for their own medical bills. Local businessman John D. Spreckels, owner of the San Diego Union, stepped up and donated $250 for the injured officers’ medical bills. Mr. Spreckels felt it was an injustice that officers who were protecting the community had to foot their medical expenses. So he used newspapers to solicit additional donations to the fund. It was the birth of the San Diego Police Relief Association.
In 1953, the purpose of the Relief Association was to “create and maintain a Police Relief Fund for the protection, care, and relief of its members in distress through injury, sickness or death; to promote and maintain a feeling of friendship and fraternity among its members; to promote the individual and collective welfare of the members and to defend and preserve the rights of the members to a fair and secure retirement and pension system.” The Police Relief Association Articles of Incorporation were amended in 1962 to re-name the association to the San Diego Police Officers Association, Inc. as it is known today.
It is our duty to remain focused on the core of our mission — being there for our members and their families during times of difficulty.
