The Youth Services Unit establishes and maintains a close partnership with school administrators and students to continue providing a safe school environment while acting in the role of law enforcement and mentor. The Unit involves and mentors local youth through social, educational, recreational and leadership activities, which will deter crime, increase self-esteem, and promote a positive relationship with law enforcement.

While School Resource Officers (SROs) have been a mainstay at our city’s schools since 1998, we further strengthened this student-law enforcement connection by creating the Youth Services Unit in 2018. This Unit combined the SRO Program and Rancho Cordova Police Activities League (PAL). Soon after its creation, the Unit added a third SRO and a Detection K9, Zoe, to further strengthen its relationships with our schools and students and to continue to improve safety at our schools. 

Since its creation, the Unit has also:

• Implemented a Get Fit program to bring our SROs and PAL to a different school every week at lunchtime to bond and promote healthy activities with students.
• Partnered with local business PoolMaster to provide free goggles through the Pool PAL’s program, which provides free swim lessons to local youth.
• Grown the Jr. Giants Program, which partners youth in our community with the San Francisco Giants to learn the fundamentals of baseball, while encouraging leadership, confidence, education and health.