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News Florida PAL
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NPU PARTNERS WITH PAL FOR OPERATION RE-CYCLING
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Region 3 meeting dates @ 10:00 a.m. each July 20th – Ft. Pierce August 31 – Titusville October 12 – Melbourne November 16 – Palm Bay Region 3 YDC meeting June 17th @ Pelican Beach Park in Satellite Beach @ 10:00 a.m. Meeting, cook out and Regional Project is planned. And don't forget about our July 29th Rally!
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(Palm
Bay)—A 12-year-old boy from the Palm Bay Police Athletic is the first
recipient of a refurbished bicycle provided by the Neighborhood Policing
Unit in a program dubbed “Operation RE-CYCLING.” Maverick Thomas
received a 20-inch BMX Mongoose Freestyle bicycle on Wednesday after it
was refurbished by NPU Officer Sean Dutill. The program uses bicycles
left abandoned in the Police Department’s property section that haven’t
been claimed by an owner after the 60-day statutory window expires.
“Normally these bicycles would end up either destroyed or sold at
auction,” said Officer Sean Dutill. “When we can identify a child in
need through our PAL program, odds are we can recycle a bike, even
customize it for the child. Instead of disposing of it, we can put it to
good use and make a difference in a child’s life.”
Thomas was identified through the PAL program after he sought
to relieve his mother from having to drive him to and from school each
day. Officer Dutill, who competed in freestyle bicycling events as a
teen, contacted the Police Department’s property division and found the
silver and blue BMX bike had been slated for disposal after negative
efforts to locate the owner. Dutill refurbished the bike with new pegs,
rims, tires, brake cables and handlebar stem. “It’s awesome,” said
Thomas, who arrived at the PAL Teen Center with his grandfather to pick
up the bike on Wednesday afternoon. “I just want to ride it.”
The
property and evidence division of the Palm Bay Police Department
typically handles about half a dozen bikes each month that come in to
the agency as “found property”. Under Florida law, the property is kept
for a period of 60-days while efforts are made to locate the owner.
Those efforts include a check of serial numbers and a public list
advertised and posted in the Police Department front lobby for those in
search of their lost property. If the owner of the property is not
located within the 60-day window, the property will be either sold at
auction or destroyed.
“The
worst thing is to see a toy or a bike that doesn’t have a kid to go with
it,” said Stan Askew, Maverick’s grandfather. “This is fantastic. They
did a nice job with it.”
