M
Public Safety
New police youth boxing program finds a home By NICHOLETTE CARLSON | The Municipal
While several Lowell, Mass., police officers were training for a charity boxing event, Barry Golner, interim superintendent, had the idea for a youth services program teaching local children to box.
ABOVE: The Lowell Police Department put together a youth services program to better bridge the gap between officers and local youth. One way the department wished to do so was by starting a boxing program for local children between the ages of 10 and 18. For a little over a year, volunteers from the police department, fire department and city have been teaching students the fundamentals of boxing. (Photo provided by the Lowell Police Department)
Massachusetts State Police sponsored the charity event; training took place in an old Lowell boxing gym. One of the officers’ trainers was a retired Lowell police officer, while another was a retired state corrections officer and long-time boxing trainer. Both also volunteered assisting with the Manchester, N.H., Police Athletic League boxing program. When Golner posed the idea for a similar program in Lowell, both trainers agreed. “It would be a much-needed boost to a sport that once thrived in the city,” he told them. The Lowell Police Department was also looking for ways to bridge the gap between police officers and local youth. While it had been a strong participant in many youth programs and partners with youth-serving agencies throughout the city, the same motivation encouraged the department to start up its own youth services program, which includes the boxing program. Teaming up with Maryann Manzi, Lowell Police Department public safety research and planning director, grant funding was obtained from the Shannon Community Safety Initiative grant through the
Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. The money was used to purchase the necessary safety equipment, gloves, bags and other essentials to get the program up and running. “The LPD continues to work with the schools and other youth serving organizations. However, creating the LPD Youth Services program allows us an exciting opportunity in the city to create a space dedicated to fostering relationships between the youth and the police officers,” Manzi stressed. By a little over a year ago, Lowell’s youth services boxing program was up and running. It began with an introduction to boxing outdoors, which taught physical fitness and basic skills. While the goal was ultimately to find a home for the program, in the meantime, trainers have been utilizing Lowell’s Doughboy Wrestling Club. “Sgt. Michael Marshall, who runs our youth services program, has worked tirelessly with Manzi and we have just leased a facility and
44 THE MUNICIPAL | JULY 2022
