PAL Breaks Down Barriers Between Cops and Kids

The Police Activities League (PAL), a local nonprofit that builds relationships between law enforcement officers and youth, has recently benefited from a deepening of its longstanding working relationship with the S.B. Police Department, enabling a greater impact on these teens and their families. 

Under Chief Kelly Gordon’s leadership, SBPD created an 11-member PAL Pack, a cadre of officers that oversees the department’s participation in various PAL activities — programs in which more than 50 officers and other SBPD employees participate. Gordon has assumed a direct role, meeting quarterly with PAL’s youth leadership group, participating in myriad PAL events, and informally engaging with youth at the PAL Center.

Motivating this outreach is Chief Gordon’s belief in the importance of providing vulnerable youth with the opportunity to get to know officers out of the context of a call for service and the importance of mentoring them. “There is something about that authentic moment, where you are just sharing a hot dog with these kids” or playing tug-of-war, she said. “The little things go a really long way.”

By including the families in much of the programming, Gordon related, the benefits extend to the families as well. She was quick to add that officers benefit too. If she is having a bad day, she shared, all she needs to do is spend 15 minutes at the PAL Center and she walks out with a smile.

At the helm of PAL is Judie Lugo, who grew up with a mistrust of the police and had gang members as friends. At age 19, she came to her PAL interview clad in a black hoodie, just seeking to earn some money. Sixteen years later, she said she doesn’t think she could ever leave PAL because of the complete admiration she has for the organization, which she credits with changing the trajectory of her life.

With PAL not judging her based on her appearance or her circle of friends, Lugo came to realize she had been judging police officers. She came to see that “everybody who is associated with the police department and PAL is an absolutely amazing human being who wants to make a difference.” Now, as executive director, Lugo leads with keen insight into how to relate to the youth, along with a hefty dose of empathy and compassion.

PAL never pushes relationships with police officers, Lugo shared, because nobody ever pushed her.  More broadly, remembering how she felt as a youth informs how she leads, and success has ensued. Surveys show that 98 percent of program participants become more trusting of law enforcement.

Former PAL participant Romeo Lopez became an SBPD officer last year. He views his PAL experience as life-changing, teaching him how to be more independent, self-disciplined, and a leader. If it weren’t for PAL, Lopez related, it would have taken him a lot longer to achieve the “dream career” he now has with SBPD.

Sometimes, an interaction with an officer at PAL is the first time a youth sees an officer in a positive light, Lugo related. This can lead to the youth, for the first time, being comfortable reporting what he or she has been experiencing at home or at school.

PAL is housed at 1235 Chapala Street, where until recently it operated an after-school drop-in program that welcomed about 20-25 youth each day and more than 150 unduplicated youth each month. A roof crash last December caused a temporary relocation to the Westside Neighborhood Center, but it is set to return to Chapala Street next month.

PAL offers daily tutoring and recreational opportunities. Its popular Youth Leadership Council (YLC) engages in character building activities, leadership training, and community service projects, with weekly participation by SBPD Officer Luke Vorster, who even accompanied five youth to the National PAL Youth Summit in Washington, D.C., last year. In recent years, every YLC participant has gone on to college, trade school, or the military. More broadly, every PAL participant has graduated from high school and 94 percent went on to college, trade school, the military, or a job.

While PAL kids are bright, former Board Chair John Van Donge related, they may not have ever had the opportunity, the exposure, or the belief that they could actually go to college. PAL opens their eyes so that they see they can, shared Van Donge.

Commander Charles Katsapis, head of the PAL Pack, runs the Discover Program, which each week immerses youth in a facet of public safety or criminal justice. Through hands-on site visits, the youth gain insight into how systems work and why they work the way they do.

The motorcycle officers were a big hit, Katsapis shared, when they let teens shoot radar guns at cars to see who could record the fastest car. Also popular were outings with Judge Von Deroian, who met with youth in her chamber; and with detectives, who worked with youth on a fake crime scene.

During the summer, there’s an intensive one-week program to give teens a taste of the police recruit experience, including wearing uniforms and doing physical training and classroom instruction. It culminates in a visit to the Ventura County Criminal Justice Training Center. As with the other programs, there is a graduation event for the teens and their families.

Relationship building and mentorship are at the heart of these programs. This also goes for the monthly fishing trips with officers, who are out of uniform, volunteering their time. The trips “allow for really organic, awesome interaction between youth and law enforcement,” Katsapis said. It’s not just the kids who benefit, Katsapis added. Officers always enjoy PAL events too. All it takes, Katsapis shared, is for an officer to experience the joy of one outing and they want to come back.

Renting fishing boats at Lake Cachuma is popular and often involves the teens’ families as well. Katsapis beams with joy as he shares a photo a teen recently texted him of the family dinner eating the catch of the day. Alluding to how he felt when he received the text at home, Katsapis remarked, “It doesn’t get any better than that.” Surf outings have been a hit, too. The idea is to do activities that are positive and new for the teens.

An officer’s uniform and gun belt create apprehension for a lot of teens, Katsapis related, and these activities help humanize the badge, enabling real conversations and relationship building. When he’s with the teens, he’s not Officer Katsapis; he’s Charlie.

Katsapis’s passion for PAL is borne from his own experience growing up in Westside public housing with divorced parents and mentors who had a significant impact on his life. Attributing a lot of his own success to these mentors, he wants to pay it forward. Seeing the successes that come out of PAL, Katsapis shared, is also very motivating.

While SBPD has always been good to PAL, according to Lugo, since Chief Gordon and Commander Katsapis have become involved, the outreach has been amazing. Her favorite is the informal interaction — when officers stop by during the day and play pool with, tutor, or just hang out with the youth.

Historically, SBPD ran an Explorer Post with PAL, which was specifically designed for youth interested in a policing career, but COVID put this on hiatus and a SBPD staffing shortage has prevented its return. While the intent is to bring the Explorer Post back when the budget allows, the new programs, according to Katsapis, are more beneficial and incredibly popular.

Gordon heaps praise on Lugo — “Judie is very amazing. I don’t know if you would find anyone with a bigger heart or dedication” — and expresses huge gratitude not only to Lugo and her staff, but also to the donors of PAL, who make PAL possible. Other than a small grant received through the national organization, all of PAL’s funding comes from private sector community grants and donations.

For more info about PAL, go to sbpal.org.