3 Resign After Making Cadets Eat Cigarettes : Discipline: The police academy advisors went too far in punishing the pair, authorities said. Both required medical attention.

Three police academy training advisors resigned after ordering two cadets to eat their own cigarettes as punishment for smoking, academy officials said Tuesday.

The advisors, who are police officers employed part time at Golden West College’s Criminal Justice Training Center, resigned Monday after an internal investigation concluded that their actions violated academy policy, authorities said.

“The cadets did not do anything wrong, and therefore, the actions taken by members of the training staff were not appropriate,” said Hugh Foster, director of the academy.

“I’m sure [the advisors] were trying--and I’m speculating--to somehow get through to the cadets that they shouldn’t smoke,” Foster said. “But their actions were totally inappropriate.”

The incident occurred Friday in the courtyard of the police academy, where one of the three advisors smelled cigarette smoke on a cadet’s uniform during an inspection, Foster said. He asked the cadet if he had been smoking, and the man said he had been, off-campus, which is allowed.

The advisor asked if anyone else in the class had smoked that day, and a second man said he had, authorities said.

“They were ordered to go to their cars and retrieve the cigarettes,” Foster said. “Upon returning, they were told to place the cigarettes between two pieces of bread and take two bites with water. Both recruits complied.”

About 10 cigarettes were placed in the sandwich, Foster said.

The cadets were then told to do 250 push-ups and 50 pull-ups, and given a break before class began about 8 a.m., Foster said.

“They went to the restroom, and that’s when they became ill,” he said. “Within a few minutes later during class, one passed out.”

That cadet was taken to Huntington Beach Medical Center. Hours later, he returned to class. The second cadet saw his own doctor and returned to class the next day, Foster said.

Dr. Greg Thompson, co-director of the regional drug and poison information center in Los Angeles, said nicotine ingestion causes vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. In severe cases, which are more likely among children, eating cigarettes can lead to coma and seizures, he said.

Foster began an investigation in which authorities interviewed the three advisors, the two recruits and about six other cadets present at the time. The investigation concluded Monday, when the three trainers resigned, Foster said. He would not identify the trainers or the students.

“I feel very bad,” Foster said. “This is a very good program and what happened is one unfortunate incident, a horrible, unfortunate incident.”

Both students will graduate Friday with 19 other cadets, he said.

But the three advisors involved have resigned, said Foster, who would not release their names or those of the cadets.

Foster said trainers often require cadets to do hundreds of push-ups and other physical exercises as a disciplinary measure, but ordering them to eat cigarettes is a violation of the academy’s policy.

Joe Koening, 30, a criminal justice student at Golden West College who plans to attend a police academy in Northern California next year, said the incident hit a personal chord.

“It’s a military-type academy, and you do what you’re told,” Koening said. “I think they did it out of fear. They were probably afraid that if they don’t do it, they wouldn’t get as good a grade or be accepted by their peers. After all, they’re going to have to depend on these people for a job later on.”

Foster said he asked the two cadets why they followed the order.

“They said they didn’t even think about it, they just complied,” Foster said. “I wish now that they had not done that.”