PBPA

What PBPA does

The Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois (PBPA), legally the Policemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois, is a private non-profit membership association founded in 1936 and headquartered at 840 South Spring, Suite A, Springfield, Illinois. It represents full-time and retired sworn police officers employed by cities, towns, villages, counties, and agencies of the State of Illinois, organized into 189 local units ranging from one-person departments to units of over 1,500 officers. The association is governed by an elected Executive Board through a biennial convention structure and is the largest downstate police association in Illinois.

PBPA delivers a portfolio of advocacy and member benefit services rather than technology products. Core offerings include legislative lobbying at the Illinois State Capital to protect police pensions and collective bargaining rights, legal defense representation through a pre-paid Legal Defense Fund, death benefits ranging from $500 to $3,000, the Hobart 'Curley' Rogers Scholarship Fund providing $1,000 annual scholarships (up to four years) to members' children, and youth grants of up to $1,000 per local unit annually. The association's affiliated entity, the Policemen's Benevolent Labor Committee (PBLC), provides collective bargaining services, and PBPA holds national affiliations with the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) and the Mid-States Police Conference.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring membership dues of $48 per year (prorated to $24 for new members joining after July 1), semi-annual Legal Defense Fund premiums of $60, and member discount partnerships brokered through the National Coalition of Labor (covering insurance, hearing aids, Costco membership, financial planning, legal services, roadside assistance, credit union access, and discounted college tuition). The go-to-market model is community-led: individual officers join through their local unit at the municipal level, with member acquisition driven by peer networks, the pbpa.org website, social media on Facebook and X, the quarterly 'Policemen's Magazine' publication, and an annual convention.

Name

PBPA

Legal name

Policemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois

Website

https://pbpa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois (PBPA) is a non-profit membership association founded in 1936 that represents full-time and retired sworn police officers in Illinois through 189 local units, providing legislative advocacy, legal defense, death benefits, scholarships, and youth grants funded by annual dues of $48.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Springfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues of $48.00 per year, payable by January 30th. New members joining after July 1st pay $24.00 for the remainder of that calendar year.
2. Legal Defense Fund Premiums: Semi-annual premiums of $60.00 due on January 1 and July 1 for participation in the pre-paid legal service plan.
3. Youth Grants Distribution: The association distributes up to $1,000 per local unit annually for youth programs, funded by the association.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PBPA is a non-profit membership association for full-time and retired sworn police officers in Illinois. It provides legislative advocacy and lobbying at the State Capital, collective bargaining representation through its affiliated Policemen's Benevolent Labor Committee (PBLC), a pre-paid Legal Defense Fund for discipline and criminal matters, death benefits, college scholarships for members' children, youth program grants to local units, and a suite of member discount programs offered through partner organizations.

Product overview

The Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association (PBPA) is a membership organization for police officers, not a technology company. It provides a suite of member services including death benefits, a legal defense fund, college scholarships for members' children, youth program grants, and collective bargaining representation. The association also offers member discount programs through partnerships with the National Coalition of Labor, including insurance products, legal services, and retail discounts. PBPA's core offerings are advocacy, representation, financial benefits, and member discounts for Illinois law enforcement personnel and their families.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PBPA Membership Core membership product of PBPA providing full-time and retired sworn Illinois police officers with advocacy, representation, lobbying, and access to all member benefits and discount programs.
• Death Benefits Death benefit policy covering active and retired lifetime members, with benefit amounts ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on age and circumstances. Available to members in good standing who have paid dues every year until retirement.
• Legal Defense Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• 16 scholarship recipients receive $1,000 annually for up to 4 years of college ($16,000 total per year in scholarships)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBPA members are automatically members of NAPO through their PBPA membership. NAPO provides access to their Law Enforcement Officer's Rights Center, which assists in defense of police officers throughout the country when their legal and constitutional rights are threatened. NAPO prepares amicus briefs in support of police officers with the United States Supreme Court.
• Mid-States Police ConferencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBPA maintains national voice through affiliation with the Mid-States Police Conference, representing law enforcement employees at a regional level.
• Policemen's Benevolent Labor Committee (PBLC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBLC is the affiliated labor committee that provides collective bargaining services to individual units. The association paved the way for collective bargaining through the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, and PBLC insures that public employee bargaining law is effectively administered, developed, and enforced.
• Midwest Coalition of Labor (MCL)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMCL is a non-profit coalition of unions providing benefits to over 180,000 members. PBPA offers MCL benefits including discounted hearing aids, Costco membership, financial planning, life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, legal services, roadside assistance, credit union access, and discounted college tuition.
• Blue Cover Firearm Liability InsuranceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPBPA offers members access to Blue Cover Firearm Liability Insurance as a member benefit.
• National Coalition of LaborminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThrough National Coalition of Labor (formerly Midwest Coalition of Labor), PBPA provides additional member benefits including discount programs, Costco membership, and various insurance products.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT): CLEAT is a Texas state-level police union providing legal defense, lobbying, training, and member benefits to Texas law enforcement. Its subscription dues, legal defense plans, and statehouse lobbying function are directly comparable to PBPA's Illinois model.
• Chicago Fraternal Order of Police: Chicago FOP Lodge 7 represents Chicago Police Department officers, the largest single police local within Illinois. While operating in the same state as PBPA, it focuses on Chicago municipal officers; PBPA explicitly positions itself as the 'largest downstate police association', making it the regional complement to PBPA's geographic coverage.
• New York State Police Benevolent Association: NYSPBA is the largest police benevolent association in New York, providing legal defense, legislative advocacy, death benefits and member services to NY police officers. It is a near-clone of PBPA's offering model operating in a different state, making it a strong structural peer for benchmarking.
• Boston Police Patrolmen's Association: The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association is a municipal police union offering legal defense, death benefits, and legislative advocacy to Boston Police Department officers. It is a smaller-scale municipal analog to PBPA with the same dues/legal-defense/lobbying stack of services.
• California Peace Officers' Association (CPOA): CPOA is a California statewide association providing legal defense, training, member benefits, and legislative advocacy to California peace officers. Its dual function as a fraternal/professional association and lobbying entity makes it a structural analog to PBPA at the state level.

Direct peers

• Sergeants Benevolent Association (NYC): The Sergeants Benevolent Association is a uniformed NYPD police union providing legal defense funds, death benefits, scholarships, and lobbying to NYPD sergeants. Its tightly vertical structure — sworn-officer-only membership with dues-funded legal plans — mirrors PBPA's model narrowly.
• National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO): NAPO is a national umbrella coalition of police unions and associations advancing officers' rights through federal-level litigation, lobbying, and amicus briefs. PBPA is itself an NAPO affiliate, but NAPO competes for direct member relationships via its own benefits programs and is the closest national-level peer to PBPA's advocacy and legal-defense offerings.
• International Union of Police Associations (IUPA): IUPA is an AFL-CIO affiliated union of police officers providing collective bargaining, legal representation, and lobbying similar to PBPA. Its membership model, dues structure, and labor-side political advocacy are directly comparable to PBPA's PBLC-affiliated collective bargaining services.
• Fraternal Order of Police: Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is the largest U.S. police fraternal/labor organization, providing representation, legal defense, legislative advocacy and benefits to sworn law enforcement officers across all 50 states. It competes directly with PBPA for Illinois police membership and serves a comparable member-benefit and advocacy mission.

Broad incumbents

• Illinois AFL-CIO: The Illinois AFL-CIO is the state's central labor federation representing hundreds of affiliated unions across industries in collective bargaining, lobbying, and political action. As a broader-incumbent labor organization operating in the same Illinois political ecosystem, it is comparable to PBPA on lobbying and labor advocacy functions but with a much wider constituency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PoliceBenevolnt
• Facebookfacebook.com/illinoispbpa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PBPA