History

The Police Athletic League started with a bang! A rock through a window.

A gang of New York began harassing shopkeepers and generally making life miserable in their neighborhood, threw the rock through a window that eventually pioneered this new approach to the problem of juvenile delinquency.

Lt. Ed W Flynn, of the Police Department Crime Prevention Bureau, was on duty that fateful day. To him it was another day of kids getting in trouble. But it was more than that.

Lt. Flynn liked kids. He wondered at the uselessness of always punishing them. He wondered why they couldn’t be reached before they were in trouble.

That day, he made it a point to search out the gang’s ringleader. They talked. Lt. Flynn looking for the reasons behind the kids antisocial behavior. The ringleader pouring out the frustrations of the ghetto, telling the cop “Man, we ain’t got no place to play…nothing to do. The cops are always hasslin’us. We can’t even play baseball.”

Lt. Ed Flynn thought about that. A staunch baseball fan himself, he began to wonder, “ Why should the police chase kids for doing what was normal? Why not help those kids form a team? Give them a place to play under police supervision. Be a friend instead of an enemy.”

He talked it over with some of his fellow officers and some of the neighborhood shopkeepers. They liked the idea. And each of them chipped in a dollar for equipment and uniforms.

Lt. Flynn found a playground where the gang could play under the eye of friendly policemen.

The team was an instant success. Before the year was out, there were close to a dozen such teams in the city. In 1937, PAL dedicated its first indoor youth center and in 1941, it became incorporated under the law of the state of New York.

That was the birth of P.A.L.

Our Organization

The National Police Athletics / Activities Leagues, Inc. exists to prevent juvenile crime and violence by providing civic, athletic, recreational and educational opportunities and resources to PAL Chapters.  As a membership organization, National PAL provides Chapters with resources and opportunities to grow their own programs and enhance the quality of individual programming.  These resources include funding opportunities through various grants, general liability protection programs, programming opportunities through affiliate organizations, and goods and services provided by corporate partners and supporting organizations.  In addition, National PAL provides Chapter members opportunities to bring their young athletes together to complete in a championship environment in several sports.  As the success of the PAL concept spread, PAL programs developed in other communities.  A little over 70 years ago, six Chapters on the eastern seaboard joined together to form an association to share ideas and resources and compete in several sports.  Today, there are over 400 PAL Member Chapters in Law Enforcement Agencies servicing over 700 cities and 1,700 facilities throughout the United States, including the US Virgin Islands, serving more than 1 Million youth, ages 5 - 18 years of age.  It is based on the conviction that young people, if reached early enough, can develop strong positive attitudes towards police officers in their journey through life toward the goal of maturing and good citizenship.  The PAL program brings youth under the supervision and positive influence of a Law Enforcement Agency and expands public awareness about the role of a police officer and the reinforcement of the responsible values and attitudes instilled in young people by their parents. 

(National Association of Police Athletic / Activities Leagues)