Drug Counts Dropped Because of Officer’s Relationship With Pupil

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Monday it will not prosecute nine suspected drug dealers at a high school in Granada Hills because of the disclosure that the undercover policewoman who arrested them had a “romantic relationship” with a student at the school.

The Los Angeles Police Department had recommended the cases be dropped because the officer’s actions could have called the cases--and possibly the 13-year-old undercover “school buy” program--into question.

Kennedy High School was one of eight Los Angeles high schools targeted by the program in which officers pose as students to ferret out drug dealers. The operation last fall netted 155 arrests, Lt. Bud Harper said.

At Kennedy, eight students and one non-student adult were arrested by the policewoman, who police later said had become romantically involved with a 17-year-old varsity football player who was not a drug suspect.

“She showed extremely bad judgment in that activity,” Commander William Booth said. “That judgment damaged her credibility, and so in the interests of justice, we recommended that the cases be dismissed.”

Gilbert Garcetti, chief deputy district attorney, said the Police Department feared not only for the successful prosecution of the alleged drug dealers but also for the “highly successful” school buy program.

“Theoretically, and maybe practically, they viewed this as an embarrassment that could make it difficult for them to continue that program in the L.A. city school district,” Garcetti said.

Booth, however, said, “It was not an embarrassment.” But he concurred that the Police Department places a high value on the program.

The department currently is deciding what sort of disciplinary action will be taken against the policewoman, Booth said. The officer, whose name has not been disclosed, has been placed on inactive status in which she collects pay but does not report to work.