Buying a schmooze with the top cops

Want to attend a conference with Canada's top police officers? Want the opportunity for "prominent recognition during the conference" and "the unmatched opportunity to reach out to conference delegates"? For only $25,000 you can become a platinum sponsor and gain all that and much more.

The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs is holding its annual conference in St. John's, Newfoundland, August 20--23, and offering five levels of sponsorship to help pay the bills. Curiously, while the association uses telemarketing to solicit funds from businesses, it has called upon police unions to stop using the practice for charitable causes. What is sauce for the top guys is apparently not sauce for the rank and file. "This is business to business," says Executive Director Peter Cuthbert, by way of explanation.

Oh well, we can't complain the sponsorship program won't be properly policed.