Palomino neighborhood making progress

Police, school leaders and community activists describe a new sense of security in the long-stigmatized Palomino neighborhood in northeast Phoenix.

The densely-populated neighborhood, with its low-income, multifamily apartment complexes, is still considered a law enforcement focus.

But those familiar with Palomino claim it has shed its label of a crime-ridden area.

A $3.5 million branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs is set to open this year on a donated lot between Palomino Elementary School campuses near 30th Street and Marconi Avenue - in the heart of the square-mile neighborhood known simply as "The Square."

The elementary school also boasts a successful after-school program called After the Bell, where children can take elective classes like video production and chess to constructively fill the crucial window of time before they return home.

Neighborhood crime declining

Phoenix police Officer Santos Robles, who works in Palomino as a community liaison for the Phoenix Desert Horizon Precinct, said partnerships and programs like those offered to children should continue to help reduce crime in the neighborhood.

"Do we still have some violent crime issues? Sure we do," Robles said. "But not to the extent that we used to."

Robles began working in the area 11 years ago, consistently networking with Palomino's residents. He said the neighborhood reminds him of the community where he grew up in El Paso, where he was exposed to some of the same trends and temptations facing young people in Phoenix.

"During the weekends they wander around, walk the streets, go to the park, get in trouble," Robles said. "If we give them other options, maybe we can help turn a few in a new direction."

The Ed Robson Family branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix is not yet open and the building is already covered in graffiti. Fluorescent green tags surround the base of the new building. Signs reminding people of the new facility are also vandalized, with photos of smiling children covered in graffiti.

Raul Morales, 17, who lives across from the site, said his family's house was also tagged.

The teen said he has lived in Palomino all his life, and added his family has noticed that nearby Palomino Park is safer for residents to use with less gang activity reported than in past years.

"There's way less crime than there used to be," he said. "Even last year, the park wasn't that full because of the intimidation from (gang activity). Now it's full and there's more going on."

Tracking the students

School officials said land for the site was donated by Paradise Valley Unified School District. The Boys & Girls Clubs plan to partner with the district on site management.

Palomino's After the Bell program is funded through nearly $1 million in grant money for the campus over the past five years, officials said.

Molly Kemp, district grant manager for Paradise Valley Unified School District, said she would like to employ a more efficient system to better track the student progress as they leave Palomino for middle and high schools. The transient population makes it more difficult, she said.

Some children are exposed to drugs, violence and the glorification of gang life on such a regular basis, it creates a challenge for educators, she said.

"They haven't been given the coping mechanism to push away from that," said Kemp, who credited proactive police involvement in helping teachers better understand the needs of students.

"I personally am grateful we have a relationship with the police, so they can educate us on what's happening," she said. "It's not our line of business. It helps us address issues as they come up."