LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Through boxing, basketball and archery, Kentucky kids and police officers are creating bonds through fun activities.

What You Need To Know

  • LMPD launched the PAL program earlier this year

  • They offer a space for kids to connect with officers

  • One of the program’s offered is archery

  • They also added a bowling league and will expand their culinary league

It’s part of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Police Activities League and siblings Ella and Elan Geary are joining a dozen other middle schoolers.

“I aimed at the wrong direction and managed to hit the very bottom,” Elan Geary said.

He’s learning the basics of archery at the South Louisville Community Center.

“I mainly just like how the arrow, just the sound when it hits stuff,” Elan said.

It requires attention to aim, something 12-year-old Anaysia Anderson is perfecting with help from officers.

“So say if I aimed at my aiming point, but I need to change it, because it didn’t go where say like somewhere in the yellow, they can help me change my endpoint and I can try shooting better,” Anderson said.

Rick Polin is the LMPD’s PAL Director.

“I retired from the police department in 2014. I was with Louisville Metro for 22 years. I’ve been in law enforcement overall for 30 years,” Polin said.

His career experiences have led him to value strong relationships with community members.

“I remember playing basketball with young kids when I was a young police officer myself and in certainly there was trust built in,” Polin said. “So building on that and looking and looking back and reflecting on that aspect of my career, you know, I was drawn to try to put something together on a much broader scale.”

When they launched PAL earlier this year in Louisville, they hoped to expand the activities, going beyond offering basketball to other events like archery.

“Again, there are a lot of people who want to play sports, but not everybody can identify with that,” Polin said. “And I think a lot of PAL programs nationwide focus heavily on the athletics and we try to find things outside of that. So what I’m finding is it brings a different segment of the community out to engage with the police officers.”

Officers not only engage with children but also impart valuable lessons to carry on. Polin said they also just added a bowling league for children 10-15 years of age.