PAL changes management after audit

City, SJPD agree that Police Activities League needs independent manager after audit that found lackluster accounting and inconsistent operations for the program

SAN JOSE » After a stinging audit found systemic shortcomings in the Police Activities League in San Jose, the storied organization — now in its 50th year — will soon be primarily managed by civilians instead of police in the coming year.

“Police staff serve vital roles in the organization. However, our review has revealed weaknesses in the administration of the program that led us to conclude that a new direction maybe warranted, and that PAL may be better served by a specially trained executive director and potentially a different service delivery model,” according to the audit posted Thursday.

There is no objection from the San Jose Police Department, which currently dedicates a police sergeant to oversee the program that has offered various athletic and mentoring opportunities for city youth — including taekwondo, boxing, a police cadet program, and affiliations with baseball, football and soccer leagues — since it was estab- lished in 1968.

“San Jose officers will always be a key part of PAL, but having the management and operations include more civilian professionals is something we are going to move toward,” police Chief Eddie Garcia said. “This will allow our officers to spend more time with kids at PAL rather than programming and other duties that an executive director would be suited for.”

Such is a move is urgently needed, according to the report that found that San Jose PAL did not operate like a typical nonprofit. PAL did not set an annual budget or have consistent procedures for handling donations and activity fees and the use of its community landmark, the PAL Stadium in East San Jose, the report stated.

One glaring practice highlighted by the audit involved the casual transport of thousands of dollars from concessions at PAL events.

“PAL does not have formal cash handling policies and procedures. At the time of our audit, staff used brown paper bags to store cash during the event and store receipts thereafter,” the report reads.

PAL also hasno clear policies on fundraising, sharing profits with the city, and how to handle naming rights for its venues and cases involving conflict of interest, the audit found.

Perhaps most alarming, the audit determined that in contrast to similar organizations in other cities, San Jose PAL was not consistently running fingerprint background checks for coaches, volunteers and others “in a supervisory or disciplinary role” over children participating in PAL programs. However, the police department contends those higher-level background checks were indeed occurring, but weren’t being consistently documented.

At the same time, the audit report recognized that the problems highlighted can be remedied, andmuch of that should be carried out by a full-time civilian executive director.

“A non-profit executive director is a specialized job that requires experience, training, and knowledge of basic non-profit management principles,” the report reads.

The police department, for its part, agreed with all 23 of the audit’s recommendations, and generally supported the idea that police officers should focus on mentoring the nearly 1,600 youth who partici- pate in the organization each year, rather than dayto- day administration. Police brass also believe that the management shift will be mostly behind the scenes and will not be noticeable to most participants and their families.

Jerry Romero, a 47-yearold San Jose resident grew up near PAL Stadium and has been involved with the organization both as a youth and now as a baseball manager, said retaining the spirit of the nonprofit is vital. He said exposure to officers in a non-law enforcement setting shaped his understanding of police, which he said is essential in an era of heightened tensions between police and communities across the country.

“They’re in a different setting, you see them in a different view,” Romero said. “They’re friends and they’re mentors. I was able to work with some amazing coaches and I didn’t just learn about sports, I learned things that helped me off the field as well.”

A timetable for the search for a civilian executive director has not yet been set. But Garcia echoed Rome- ro’s sentiment and said the essence of the organization will not change.

PAL is “more than sports,” he said. “It’s mentoring, life skills and relationship building with our community that lasts a lifetime.”