Pitman High School student Brandon Arce rose to the challenge when the Turlock Police Department put out a call to action for artists in search of a new design for their 2020 Turlock Police Activities League t-shirts. Arce's design, featuring an officer standing tall with children playing in the background, was selected as the winning design in the annual contest, sponsored by Harvest Church. Arce will receive a $50 gift card and bragging rights, along with knowing that he helped design a shirt that will raise money for a good cause.

P.A.L. were started as an effort to prevent juvenile crime and provide mentorship to children in the community. In Turlock the organization was originally very active in the community and within the police department, until a federal law brought an abrupt stop to officers volunteering their time to the organization. The Federal Labor Standard Act states that “public sector employers may not allow their employees to volunteer, without compensation, additional time to do the same work for which they are employed.” Since the P.A.L. program provides a benefit to the police department in the realm of community service, volunteering became a gray area for the officers that was best avoided. But Chief Nino Amirfar had a simple solution: he pays the officers for their time.

The t-shirts designed by Arce are available for pre-order at www.turlockpal.org and will raise funds for the program.