NEW YORK—More than a dozen athletic NYPD officers lined up on 119th Street in Harlem Tuesday. They were ready for action: tug-of-war with the children of the Police Athletic League (PAL) during its summer program kickoff.
PAL, the NYPD’s official youth agency, is in its 95th year of running recreational and educational events in the city. The goal is to provide positive role models for the city’s children, and to help lower obesity. The program will run for seven weeks, with events in playgrounds, schools, and temporarily closed-off streets.
The idea behind the program is to stop crime by nipping it in the bud, allowing children to grow and learn with positive law enforcement role models.
