Palatine day camp gets grant to help 'idle' youth

Cook County is aiding Palatine police in their effort to deter gang activity by interacting with the village's most at-risk youth.

Palatine has been awarded a $9,160 Justice Assistance Grant from the county, which councilman voted to accept on Monday.

The money will help fund the Police-Youth Summer Day Camp, an annual three-week program set to begin in July. The department is shooting for 140 campers this year, said Chief John Koziol.

"All the idle minds make summer a tough time," said Koziol. "These kids are being provided an opportunity they may never get otherwise."

As they have for nearly a decade, several officers will join representatives of the park district, Palatine Opportunity Center and Buehler YMCA to run the five-day-a-week, eight-hour-a-day camp. They act as mentors and go on outings to museums, baseball games and water parks.

The camp is free for the primarily minority youth, who are often recruited through school and other organizations. Most live in the northeast part of Palatine bordered by Route 53, Hicks, Rand and Lake-Cook roads. In the grant application, the area is described as being more transient than the rest of the village and containing a high concentration of low-income apartments.

"Some of these kids who would have turned out on the wrong side of the tracks have turned out on the right side of the tracks," said Councilman Jack Wagner.

Through the camp, police aim to build trust with the community and enhance cooperation between residents and law enforcement. They also hope to identify area gang members by establishing these relationships.

The program's success is anecdotal -- the police department doesn't keep statistics specific to campers' participation in gangs, drug use or criminal activity. But it's managed to thrive while others have folded, which Koziol said is a testament to its effectiveness.

The county came through with the grant despite what Board President Todd Stroger wrote was a 58 percent reduction in allocations from the previous year. The camp is increasingly reliant on the village and private donors as other government funding shrinks.

Councilman Scott Lamerand joked that with the grant, the county is down to just $17 million-plus in unaccounted services to Palatine.

For more information, call the police department at (847) 359-9000.