Undercover Agent’s Ties to Boy Peril 8 Drug Cases

Eight suspected drug dealers at Kennedy High School in Granada Hills may not be prosecuted because the policewoman who arrested them had a “romantic relationship” with a 17-year-old boy while she posed as a student, police said Monday.

The policewoman was assigned to the high school as part of a semiannual “school buy” operation in which youthful-looking officers of the Los Angeles Police Department infiltrate schools to identify and arrest drug dealers.

The relationship appeared to be “romantic and not sexual,” and the boy is not a suspect in any drug-selling case, said Capt. Clayton Mayes, commanding officer of the Juvenile Division.

Authorities said the relationship developed as the policewoman attended classes during fall quarter. The youth’s mother reported it to investigators on Dec. 5.

Termed Out of the Ordinary

Police spokesmen described the relationship as an extraordinary incident in a program that netted 155 alleged drug pushers at eight Los Angeles high schools this fall.

“We want every one of these cases to be solid, but here the judgment of the officer is being called into question,” Mayes said in explaining why the cases may be dropped.

“We have a long-standing policy against converting on-duty, official contacts to an off-duty, personal relationship,” he added.

Mayes said the policewoman is a Juvenile Division officer who has not reached her 18-month probationary review. She has been placed on inactive status, in which she continues to receive her salary but does not report to work, Mayes said. Authorities would not identify her or the boy.

The police internal affairs unit is investigating the case, but criminal charges against her are not anticipated, said Lt. Dan Cooke, a police spokesman. Police department officials could recommend disciplinary action against the officer, ranging from verbal censure to dismissal, Cooke said. Any punishment would be reviewed by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Police said they will file criminal charges against the eight suspected drug sellers--seven students and one non-student adult--but will recommend against prosecuting them to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The policewoman’s romance did not figure in the eight cases, but defense attorneys would probably raise “her bad judgment” to try to discredit her arrests if they went to trial, Cooke said.

“A Bad Taste”

Kennedy Principal Jim Ball said Monday that the incident would not stop the school from taking part in the undercover drug purchases again. But, he said, it has “hurt the reputation of the school and the school buy program.”

“It’s put a bad taste in my mouth as far as the program,” Ball said.

The seven students arrested on suspicion of peddling drugs will be transferred to other Los Angeles high schools to stymie their involvement in future sales, he said.

Ball also said the policewoman, while pretending to be a student, asked the boy where drugs could be bought and to “buy for her.” But the youth, a senior who plays varsity football, refused, the principal said.

The policewoman and the student were known as “a couple who would spend breaks together,” but apparently did not date outside of school, Ball said. The student learned that the woman was an undercover officer only when the drug arrests were made on Dec. 2.

“He’s angry, disappointed, upset,” Ball said. “He feels betrayed.”