Error processing SSI file
PAL coach Randy Lano and assistant Lynda Cooper go over a play during a timeout at Boystown Gym in Detroit. Each of the 900 Detroit PAL coaches is run through a system called the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN).Exclusive Report: Danger on the Sidelines
Police Athletic League does toughest coach checks
But leaders under fire for misuse of database
PAL assistant coach Lynda Cooper, center, talks to Tiffany Williams, left, and Fazia Steen during a timeout. PAL's background checks on coaching applicants are so stringent they actually break the law by using the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Comment on this story
The Detroit Police Department believes so strongly in the most stringent background checks for coaches of its Police Athletic League that it routinely breaks the law to run them.
Each of the 900 Detroit PAL coaches, who supervise 8,500 kids, is run through a police-only crime database called the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN).
It works well finding criminals, but checking out coaching applicants on it is an illegal use of the system, state officials say.
“LEIN is for criminal-justice purposes only, and performing background checks for volunteers or employees who are not part of criminal justice agencies is not permissible,” said Kathleen A. Fay, manager of the LEIN field services section for the state police.
But PAL officials applaud LEIN’s ability to check criminal backgrounds of coaches.
“If we were doing something wrong, we didn’t realize that,” said Virgil Spight, a retired Detroit Police commander who is executive director of PAL. “I do not apologize for that. If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of children. When it comes to PAL, we take these as our children, and we’re going to protect them.”
PAL uses the two most thorough sources available — LEIN and FBI checks — to conduct criminal background checks on coaching candidates.
Other Michigan leagues, from Little League baseball to Pop Warner football to recreation departments and state youth soccer, run incomplete checks, allowing coaches with criminal backgrounds to land jobs with little fear of being exposed.
There are 83,507 youth sports coaches who supervise 593,396 kids in Michigan.
Spight said he and his board would study the issue of using LEIN and make any changes necessary.
But some in PAL still want to use the LEIN system.
“I want those (LEIN) checks done on every coach every year,” said William Dooley, 54, a PAL coach for 26 years and president and founder of the Eastside Falcons. “That helps us out a lot because someone may have done something during that past year that I wouldn’t know about, and I can’t check all these records myself.”
Rigorous checks
LEIN checks contain information so sensitive that, by law, only law enforcement agencies are allowed to use them, and then only as part of an investigation.
When someone is stopped for speeding, the officer uses the driver’s license information to run a LEIN check, which provides a complete criminal history — all arrests, not just convictions.
Since the system is tied directly into the FBI’s nationwide database, records from other states are flagged as well, making the combination of the systems the most rigorous of background checks.
But, misuse of the LEIN system has been an issue in Michigan.
In 2001, officials found that officers, dispatchers, federal agents and security guards used it to settle grudges, meet women and harass former spouses.
The FBI’s national database, just one of those accessed in LEIN checks, usually is queried through fingerprint cards. No prints are necessary for a LEIN check, however, because police almost always have other identification.
Arrest and convictions records from every state are on the FBI’s database. Since many such criminal cases are unresolved, and may later be dismissed or the party found innocent, both FBI and LEIN history checks are tightly protected by state and federal laws.
Either checks would be far more inclusive and broader than the Michigan-only State Police database called I-CHAT (Internet Criminal History Access Tool), used by youth leagues to check nearly 50,000 criminal history records of coaches. It is free to youth sports groups and other nonprofits.
Still, some teams opt to use coaches with criminal records. Sgt. Robert Miller, program supervisor for the Detroit PAL, said that’s where his problem comes in — trying to get those coaches off the sidelines.
“It drives me crazy; it takes more than just us — it takes coaches and organizations to not put winning ahead of the safety of the kids,” said Miller.
Safety measures
Rigorous background checks are only one requirement of PAL coaches.
All head coaches and team presidents must go through child-abuse awareness training at least every other year and be certified in CPR and first aid.
“We want to build good human beings at PAL, and that’s all about what they do after they leave us,” Spight said. “Anybody can build an athlete, but we want to build character.”
Ralph Giardina, executive director of the National Association of Police Athletic Leagues, considers potential child-abuse such a high-priority item that he has taken innovative measures such as having victims of predators address PAL officials on tell-tale signs.
As in most youth sports organizations in Michigan, PAL coaches usually are parents of players and frequently are police officers. Because of the tough standard for checks, coaches with criminal records are afraid to apply.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization,” Spight said. “These are the heroes of our community. When we get hooked up with coaches, sometimes it’s for life.”
That certainly describes Edward Bennett, 58, of Detroit.
Bennett has coached for PAL since 1982, his eldest son, Edward Bennett Jr., played there, and now his grandson, 11-year-old Edjuan Penn, is a PAL athlete.
“Most of my coaches now were kids that I coached,” Bennett said. “We don’t just go out and get anybody. We want the best.”
You can reach Fred Girard at (313) 222-2165 or fgirard@detnews.com.
Copyright © 2004
The Detroit News.
Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated 12/19/2002).