In an effort to reduce youth violence, the Erie Police Athletic League (PAL) is receiving a huge financial boost from the state.

On Thursday, PAL received a $250,000 grant from Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.

The money will go towards all of the PAL after school programs.

According to Erie Police Department Lt. Tom Lenox, league started nine years ago, with 35 students, one school and two officers.

It has now grown to 1,700 students who are involved in 27 locations, with 123 officers from several different law enforcement agencies.

Through PAL, officers mentor students and offer guidance by coaching them in after school sports.
Lt. Lenox says the program has had a tremendous impact on reducing crime in Erie.

"We're starting to see those measurable results in our crime statistics," said Lt. Lenox. "We haven't had a kid in eight years, nine years commit any type of violent offense in our programming and we've got the measurable results that show that."

The grant is part of Governor Josh Shapiro's $11 million initiative to boost after school programming and improve safety throughout Pennsylvania.