Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — According to law enforcement officers, one in five Utah kids will be arrested for a violent crime. But one local program is making a difference in the lives of youths and police. In South Salt Lake, the Police Athletic League's (PAL) after-school boxing program is fostering respect between police officers and the young people they mentor.
South Salt Lake officer Mitch Howard has been involved in the program for several years now and says, "It develops that sense of you know what, we're people too. The kids get a better understanding of what we do as officers."
Eleven-year-old Romeo Samora comes to the Central Park Community Center's PAL program right after school.
"I respect what they (police officers) do. I know if you're doing something bad that's why you go to jail and I know they're here to make sure that we're safe and that we're doing things right."
When kids like Samora interact with officers involved in the free PAL program, it's to get homework help, exercise, and at the Suazo Center, boxing lessons. In fact, PAL's emphasis on playing and living by the rules got the attention of former heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield who dropped by the program when he was in town.
Holyfield told kids and their parents that, "If you can follow the rules, you can play, you can be a part of anything."
The rules include those enforced by police.
"Our officers walk into the PAL Center and they're embraced by these kids," South Salt Lake Police Chief Jack Carruth said.
In fact, recent studies by PAL show if a young person gains respect for a police officer inside the classroom or the gym, they are more likely to obey the law out on the streets.
"It makes me feel safe that they're (police) here watching over us. So, we're not worrying every minute," twelve-year-old Breanna Rivas, PAL program member said.
Nick Burgos is a boxing coach with the PAL program and believes that, "A program like this with adults that show that they care for the kids gives the kids something to strive for."
I respect what they (police officers) do. I know if you're doing something bad that's why you go to jail and I know they're here to make sure that we're safe and that we're doing things right.
–Romeo Samora, PAL program member
"It gives us a better chance to reach out into the community and understand what's going on in our community," Howard said.
Since 2007, more than a thousand kids have been mentored by South Salt Lake officers putting in hundreds of hours of volunteer time. Carruth says it is well worth the time since "it boosts their (the kids') self-esteem, their academic ability, and makes them feel like a member of the community."
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes recalled his mother's experiences as principal of a high school in Oakland, California, commenting, "And that's tough stuff," but she was willing to work with kids even to save just one from a life of violence. Reyes gave a keynote address at PAL's national convention being held in Salt Lake City this week.
The gathering of PAL officers from around the country heard that there are now more than a million kids in 400 communities who are interacting in a positive way with police. Lt. Frank Williams is the executive director of Jersey City, New Jersey's PAL program.
"Maybe one interaction with that kid causes him to take a pause when he's maybe going to get influenced to do something wrong or maybe he's going to do something wrong and he doesn't want to because of our interaction," Williams said.
Maybe instead, those kids will get motivated to do something positive with their free time. "If I was at home, I'd probably be bored out of my mind," Rivas said.
Her dad, Jesse Rivas, agrees.
"It's (the PAL program) a place where they can come, stay out of trouble, and you know, learn something," Jesse Rivas said.
Samora has already learned that "if you have a goal, you can reach it if you listen to your mentors and your parents and just never quit."
The PAL program at the Central Park Community Center is one of 10 after-school and summer programs offered to over 2,500 kids in South Salt Lake City each year.
