Going Back to Camp | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

Palatka police excited to PAL around this summer

Counselor Zaria Long, center, shows some of the campers her basketball moves as they play basketball together at Camp Higher Ground in 2019 as part of the Palatka Police Department’s Police Athletic League.
Positively Putnam FL

Palatka Police Department’s Police Athletic League is set to return after it was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

The summer camp, Camp Higher Ground, will host 60 children, rather than the regular 100 due to the pandemic. The camp is for children in the kindergarten to eighth-grader age range. There were more than 35 spaces remaining as of Friday.

This year, PAL occurs June 21 to July 30. Capt. Tobby Williams said registration ends July 5. The camp offers sports, mentoring and science, technology, engineering and math programs for children.

Registration is $185 and can be paid at pal.leagueapps.com.

The decision to cancel last year was based on several factors outside of the agency’s control, Williams said.

The camp could not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 6-foot social distancing requirement and was also impacted by restricted access to its normal camp facilities. Despite 2020’s cancellation, the PAL program held mentoring programs, a back-to-school giveaway and a basketball skills camp last year.

“Last year, we had it all set, but it was canceled. And we refunded everyone their money,” Williams said.

Events will have hand sanitizer stations and require masks. Williams said certain sports and gatherings will be limited so children can effectively socially distance.

“We’re doing things this year that are more spread out,” Williams said. “With breakfast, where we would have large groups of kids, we might have 10 kids in an area where there would be 30 kids before.”

One of the main goals of the PAL program is having police officers establish positive relationships with children and give them examples of what officers do in the community. On-duty officers will drop in to participate in activities, Williams said, which allows children to think of officers in a different light.

“Summer camp gives us a great opportunity to build relationships. It’s almost eight hours a day, five days a week,” Williams said. “Officers that are on duty, you’ll see them doing things with the kids, playing basketball or checkers. Then, the kids get to see that officer go back to work.”