Sgt. Ragland's Statement

Written by Administrator | 17 February 2010

As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, PA., initially I had a negative view of police officers based on seeing people arrested in my neighborhood and what I saw on television.  Like many of the kids in my neighborhood, I had to be creative in finding positive activities to occupy my time due to a lack of viable resources.  However, when I was about 10 or 11, I was afforded the opportunity to participate in the Philadelphia Police Athletic League. The PAL Program served as a safe haven and provided me with an alternative to getting into trouble and mischief due to idle time.  My participation in the PAL Program instilled in me a focus and discipline that allowed me to excel academically and athletically.

Since many of my coaches, trainers, and mentors through the PAL Program were police officers, I developed a genuine appreciation for the law and police officers.  I solely attributed my career choice as a police officer to my positive experiences in the Police Athletic League.  If not for the PAL Program, my life could have taken me down a negative path like too many people in our society today.  On many occasions during my career in the Henrico County Division of Police, I encountered boys and girls without structured programs and who embraced the same negative views of police officers I had growing up.  These conditions were the motivating factors behind the establishment of the Henrico PAL Program.

As a Sergeant with the Henrico County Division of Police and Executive Director of the Henrico PAL Program, I find nothing more internally gratifying and rewarding than being a positive influence in the life of a boy or girl. To share the values of integrity, self-respect, hard work, and discipline that PAL taught me with the children in our community is a dream come true.   The most important commodity of any society is its children.  If the Henrico Police Athletic League changes one child’s life for the better, we have accomplished our mission.   Often times, people ask me, “Why is the Henrico PAL Program so successful?”, and I always reply, “Because we’re doing the right thing, for the right reasons, for the right people, the young people of Henrico County! 

      I truly believe, “Every kid needs a PAL.”