TAMPA, Fla. — Last month, a 13-year-old was arrested for shooting another teen. ABC Action News wanted to highlight programs in the community helping stop crimes like that from happening in the first place, and one is making a significant impact — the Tampa Police Athletic League Boxing program.
"You always remember the kids you can't reach," Officer Adam Harris said. "That always is imprinted in the back of our minds. How can we prevent this here? How can we prevent this in the City of Tampa?"
Harris and Master Police Officer Julius Cannon are dedicated to the program. They are using decades of experience patrolling the streets to help kids make good decisions through core values of commitment, honor, integrity, and courage.
"They're apprehensive at first," Harris said. "Over time, as they learn us, they get to speak with us and interact with all of us. Their guard goes down; we're able to have a real conversation. They find out quickly we're coach Adam, we're coach Julius, it's not Officer Adam Harris."
Cannon told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska that the PAL Boxing program is a safe place where kids can feel safe and escape troubles they might be experiencing at home.
"We get a lot of a lot of single parents, a lot of single moms, we get a lot of kids that have domestic and family issues at home. And they just come here to seek normalcy in their life," Cannon said. "And so we get a mixture of kids, we get the kids who want to participate in boxing and be athletic, and then we get the kids who just need to get away and be mentored."
The officers play a small role in the kids' lives but hope the time with them will encourage many to make good choices and not fall into the wrong crowd.
"I like to feel like I've at least helped out a small percentage of cases. And for me, that's the biggest achievement of my career," Cannon said. "Through all the cases and putting people in jail and whatnot, being out here is the most wholesome for me. I do enjoy working with kids. I do enjoy mentoring kids. And I would like to feel like I helped them."
We watched Jaden DeJesus, 15, sparring with another teen in the program. Head Coach Ramon Ortiz came over and said boxing is "keeping DeJesus out of trouble."
"Coach told me that you used to get in trouble before, and since you started boxing, you don't get in trouble as much as; that true?" Paluska asked.
"That's true," DeJesus responded. "I always liked to fight, so I was getting into little tussles at school, but now I box. I don't gotta worry about fighting or anything 'cause I do it every day."
"Bad friends, mom?" Paluska asked DeJesus’ mom Stephanie.
"I would think more like bad choices," she responded. "He never went looking for fights. But he doesn't back down for them either. He always stood up for himself. This keeps him out of trouble. This keeps him busy. This is this is good for him."
Harris said they couldn't do this work without all the support from the community. Powerhouse Gym Athletic Club, located on Hillsborough Ave, donates the space for the kids 5 - 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
