Please join us in congratulating CCPD School Resource Officer Coby Palmer on receiving the award for the Cape Coral Police Department’s 2021 Officer of the Year.
From School Resource Sergeant Brian Kearney’s nomination:
Officer Coby Palmer became the Director of the Police Athletic League program in January of 2021. As the PAL Director, Officer Palmer took on several additional responsibilities on top of his daily SRO duties. He took over the PAL program during challenging times due to public health concerns and found creative ways to keep those involved in the program active, such as providing memberships to the city’s Youth Center.
As time passed and organized sports activities resumed, Officer Palmer worked with several SROs to identify youths that could benefit from being involved in the Police Athletic League. When a potential prospect is identified, Officer Palmer meets with the student’s SRO, then contacts the family and discusses the program. If the family is interested, Officer Palmer schedules a home visit where he would meet the child and family and discuss what would be expected (good behavior, being respectful, good grades, etc.) Officer Palmer performs these visits on his own time after his shift has ended.
Currently, there are seven youths being sponsored by the PAL in various sports activities including soccer, baseball, cheerleading, wrestling, and basketball. Officer Palmer spends his own time checking up on the kids and making sure all expectations are being met.
Not surprisingly, Officer Palmer’s dedication is frequently noticed by the parents of the sponsored children. One caretaker notified Officer Palmer that her child’s grades had improved since joining the PAL program. The child went from struggling to get passing grades to being on the honor roll. There was also a noticeable positive change in behavior.
Under the direction of Officer Palmer, the PAL program has expanded from sponsoring individuals for sports programs to also organizing camps for students when school is not in session. Officer Palmer has organized several basketball camps that take place at Oasis schools. Officer Palmer put the camp together from scratch and organized coaches, students, and school staff to assist. The camp has had over 200 kids attend.
Officer Palmer is now expanding even further and began coordinating with the city’s Parks & Rec department to assist with registration and additional locations where he can organize other camps when school is out. He also has plans to sponsor more kids than ever before in the coming year and plans to include luncheons where participants can be recognized for their accomplishments throughout the year.
Officer Palmer has volunteered countless hours of his own time to ensure the success of the Police Athletic League. Officer Palmer’s selflessness and dedication have made him a role model for students, officers, and the community. I am nominating Officer Palmer for Officer of the Year. I believe his hard work and dedication to the community have truly made him one of Cape Coral’s Finest.
