Protecting and Serving Indy’s Youth

For Sgt. George Long of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, last year’s economic downturn provided a surprising result — the opportunity for him to see a dream come true.

That’s because Sgt. Long, a supervisor for the Indianapolis Police Athletic League, now reports for duty at the organization’s first-ever athletic center… one he and his fellow PAL officers were targeting for the better part of a decade.

J.T.V. Hill Park, on Columbia Avenue between 17th and 19th Streets in Martindale-Brightwood (just blocks from the National Design Factory), had been long underutilized and when the Parks Department was forced to address a budget shortfall, Sgt. Long saw their chance. PAL took a two-year lease on the park, allowing it to establish a home base in addition to its tradition of having officers work at satellite centers and parks, including Martindale-Brightwood locales such as Washington Park, Wheeler-Dowe Boys & Girls Club and Douglas Park.

“This has been tremendous,” said Sgt. Long, who has been busy sprucing up of the facility in recent months as well as adding public computers (courtesy of Brighthouse and Net Literacy) and a big-screen television for the center’s youth. Yet the biggest difference has been the public use of the J.T.V. Hill indoor basketball court as the schedule on Sgt. Long’s wall indicates an event in the gym for each and every day this month.

Asked to describe how much more frequently the facility was being used, even in PAL’s brief oversight, Sgt. Long replied, “Hundreds of times.” Of true significance is that the PAL officers are paid Monday through Friday, but the weekend activities from basketball leagues to Zumba fitness, are a labor of love.

Sgt. Long also recognized the reemergence of the Indianapolis PAL boxing program under the guidance of Officer Marcus Chapman at the Christamore House in Haughville on the city’s westside. Indy PAL had had a terrific boxing program under the late Colion “Champ” Chaney, but it had struggled without him. “(Chapman) brought it back to life seven years ago,” said Sgt. Long. “And has turned it into a world-class program.”

Of course, sports are the hook for the Police Athletic League in an effort to achieve its greater goal — improving life skills of young people by putting them together with police officers. Even Mayor Greg Ballard was a former PAL baseball player.

Meanwhile Sgt. Long is already using the J.T.V. Hill Center as an incubator for innovation and his grand vision calls for expansion, including locker rooms, a library and even a Starbucks-like internet cafe.

Asked how he views PAL’s new home, Sgt. Long is succinct.

“With tremendous pride,” he says.