Lifetime Achievement Award
Rene LaPrevotte
San Francisco Police Department
There is no question that the law enforcement community will occasionally have a cop that goes bad or does something negative to grab media attention, giving all of law enforcement a black eye. Fortunately, there are many more cops who devote their lives to helping others and building a positive image of law enforcement. Lieutenant Rene LaPrevotte is one of those cops.
Lieutenant LaPrevotte’s 35-year career of service to the community of San Francisco is exemplified by his dedication to raising funds for children with catastrophic childhood disease. In 1998, Lieutenant LaPrevotte volunteered to travel to Sydney, Australia, to take part in their “Crop-A-Cop” fundraising event. Crop-A-Cop was the brainchild of an Australian constable, who created the concept of police officers soliciting fellow officers for donations that were earmarked for children with cancer. Not only was the plan to raise money for sick kids, but if the officer raised a minimum of $1,000 in donations, that officer would be permitted to shave his head, as a way of demonstrating to children undergoing the horrors of chemotherapy that it’s OK to have no hair.
LaPrevotte returned to Australia the second year and was granted permission to bring the charity head-shaving concept to America. In 1999, Lt. LaPrevotte coordinated not only the San Francisco Police and Sheriff’s Departments, but also numerous other agencies throughout California in a charity called “Buzz-the-Fuzz.” Recipients of the lion’s share of the proceeds of the event were the Pediatric Research Center of the University of San Francisco, as well as the California Law Enforcement’s Wish Upon A Star Foundation.
This was the sixth year of LaPrevotte’s “Buzz-the-Fuzz” fundraiser. To date, the “Buzz-the-Fuzz” event has raised over $600,000, which has gone to the children’s cancer charities.
Because of Lieutenant LaPrevotte’s dedication to the “Buzz-the-Fuzz” concept, hundreds of terminally ill children have received a wish from the Wish Upon A Star Foundation. Lieutenant LaPrevotte has worked tirelessly in his efforts to raise funds to defeat childhood cancer through his unique police charity.
There is no one in law enforcement that has done more to ease the pain of our weakest community members than Rene LaPrevotte. For this reason, it is a pleasure to present him with the 2004 Golden Badge Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
