By CHRIS YOUNG Special to the Daily Press
Hundreds of Santa Monica kids celebrated Easter on Thursday at the 10th annual Spring Fair at Memorial Park.
And while they happily munched hot dogs, chatted with the Easter bunny, hunted for Easter eggs and had their faces painted, many likely didn’t realize that the hosts of the event and others like it throughout the year are Santa Monica police officers.
In fact, the Santa Monica Police Activities League offers children ages 6- 17 educational, recreational, and fitness programs that foster connections between youth, the police, and the community on a daily basis.
The spring fair is one of PAL’s largest annual events — but Halloween and Christmas events are just as popular. Past years have brought between 200 and 500 kids, depending on the weather, said Karen Humphrey, Santa Monica’s PAL supervisor.
“It’s always a huge success and it gets bigger and bigger every year,” Humphrey said.
About 3,000 youth are signed up at PAL, which is located at 1401 Olympic Blvd. Between 50 and 100 students come in to the facility daily during the school year and about 200 in the summer.
A full-time staff of seven, two police officers on rotation, and about five volunteers run PAL. Police assist staff, help run events and act as mentors, counsels and mediators to students. The SMPD and the city’s human services department run the center jointly.
Mentoring programs by the staff are particularly directed to at-risk youth in Santa Monica. For some of the kids‚ life at home isn’t stable, said PAL staffer Kermit Cannon.
“PAL targets those kids especially, but is open to everybody ages 6-17 and who lives or goes to school in Santa Monica,” he said.
The Junior Police Academy, a six-week class held for local area high school students, lets participants experience all aspects of being a police officer, with ride-alongs, physical training, chances to see SWAT tactics, and a tour of the police department and jail. About 30 teens participate in the yearly program. Some are now training to be police officers.
Another program is the CAL-PAL trip to Sacramento, held annually for high school students so they can learn about state government.
Cannon said PAL is funded through private donations, state and federal grants, state and national PAL programs, and the city of Santa Monica.
Santa Monica’s PAL program began 13 years ago with a recreation facility at Virginia Park, an area with lots of gang activity.
“The PAL founders saw a need for greater relationships between local area kids and the police, which in turn fosters relations between the community at large, the police, and the city,” said Heather Mickelson, PAL’s director.
With a wealth of programs for children of all ages and support for the kids at many levels, PAL is a stable, dependable place for kids to hang out in Santa Monica.
“We’re very lucky — we have a huge facility and a lot to offer,” said Mickelson. “Other PALs in the state come in to talk to us, see how we do what we do. A lot of them try to develop their programs like ours.”
Will Martin, 10, said he likes the gym, the homework assistance program, computers, and the pool table, which is his favorite. He started coming to PAL last fall. In the computer lab Monday through Thursday, Will plays Math Blaster, a game that helps kids learn math.
“My mom thinks it’s a really good place for kids,” he said. “I’ll be coming until college.”
The computer programs are popular at PAL, Cannon said.
“We used to have four old-fashioned computers and a printer,” he said. “Now we have 15 state-of-the-art computers with three printers, and the lab has DVD and surround sound capabilities, with lots of educational software and Internet access.”
PAL also offers mentoring and opportunities for kids to explore careers through a program called “Y.E.S. to Jobs,” an organization that puts minority high school students into entertainment industry summer internships.
PAL hours are 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 12 p.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday. Kids can sign up with PAL for free.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2002. Read the original PDF.