You might say a certain number of Houston police officers have
“palled around” with area school kids in such activities as bowling,
movies, skating, video arcades – and, now, fishing trips!
During spring break – Wednesday, March 16, to be specific – 14 PAL
officers/mentors invited 28 area students to fish on the pond at the L.
D. Morrison Police Academy.
Senior Police Officer Racquel Alexander, who put together the event
for all of her PALs, described the second annual PAL fishing
extravaganza as a super success.
“They had a good time,” Alexander said, “but, most importantly, they
were able to connect with the police officers on a different level
other than being in trouble with the law. It was a positive interaction
with the police.”
Yes, it was the latest in regularly scheduled activities organized by
the Police Activities League (PAL), which is headed by Sgt. Letricia
Brown.
Sgt. Brown has PAL officers at every HPD station. These great “pals”
are known to turn out in droves at times like Thanksgiving and
Christmas. Now you can add a great fish story to the record.
Officer Alexander said 14 different PAL officers chose two kiddos
from their PAL groups, resulting in a fishing party of about 42 people.
The fishing proteges ranged in age from 8 to 18. Alexander said that
“two kids per officer” was a safety precaution “around water.”
The officer is assigned to North Belt DRT and credited her commander, Steven Spears, for the idea of a fishing trip.
“The idea stemmed from him because he loves to fish,” Alexander said with a laugh.
Each HPD station has at least one PAL officer. ‘We go inside the
schools. We mentor kids inside the schools. We are involved in different
school programs and partner with Parks and Recreation to put together
summer camps at some of their parks.
“We also do coaching – basketball, soccer and flag football.”
The fishing trip culminated with Domino’s pizza at the academy
cafeteria. The Houston Police Officers Union footed the pizza bill. The
rods and reels were donated by Walmart and will be kept for use in next
year’s fishing trip during spring break.
Now, all we need to complete this report is a great fish story.
Each PAL participant caught three or four catfish, each weighing
about eight pounds. They then had catfish pizza and took some home in
doggie bags.
Okay, it’s a typical fish story. You can believe it or not.
All told, 14 of HPD’s PAL officers each brought two students from their patrol areas to the fishing trip at the Academy.
