A New Blue Line : Students See LAPD Program as a Way to Make a Difference

One girl’s uncle was killed in a gang dispute. A boy watched as thugs sold crack on a street corner near his home. Yet another teen stood by, feeling helpless as his friends turned to drugs.

Their stories are as different as the neighborhoods they come from, but the teens are joined in one common goal: They want to make their communities safer.

With that in mind, 115 students from high schools in southwest Los Angeles, North Hills and El Sereno met at the Los Angeles Police Academy on Monday, becoming the first recruits at a high school “police academy.”

“I want to help out the people in my neighborhood,” said Melissa Reyes, a Dorsey High School sophomore whose uncle was killed when she was a tot.

“There’s too much violence, too much gangbanging. That’s got to stop.”

Starting this fall, students at Dorsey, Monroe and Wilson high schools will begin police training as part of the law and government magnets on those campuses. The four-year curriculum will include courses in forensic science, computers, physical fitness and civil and criminal law.

Formed as a partnership among the Los Angeles Unified School District, the city and the Police Department, organizers say the program serves a dual purpose: It keeps kids out of trouble and cultivates potential police officers from the communities that often express the most distrust of law enforcement officials.

“We need bright, strong people in our Police Department,” said Mayor Richard Riordan, who welcomed the recruits at a morning ceremony. “It’s a great opportunity for them and it would be great for the city.”

The participants got their first taste of what’s ahead on Monday, touring the LAPD academy in Elysian Park and learning how to march in a straight line. Eventually, the recruits will observe regular officers in the field.

“I always wanted to be involved in the law,” said Debbie An, a freshman at Monroe High in North Hills who hopes to be a lawyer. “I thought this was a good place to start.”

Although students will be subjected to the rigorous training of a regular recruit, there is one exception: They will not be taught how to use a gun. That knowledge, officials said, is better learned at the adult academy.

Nevertheless, the prospect of using a weapon was a lure for some youths.

“I think it’s cool to have a gun,” said Dorsey freshman Luis Moreno, 14. “That’s why I want to be a police officer.”

Others said they just liked the prospect of ridding their neighborhoods of criminals.

“I know a couple of people from junior high school, they’re always getting into trouble,” said recruit Arthur Bryan, 14, a ninth-grader at Monroe. “They do drugs and they vandalize things. I would just like to stop them.”

The program was conceived last year by former school board President Roberta Weintraub, who wanted to help the Police Department draw on the rich diversity of Los Angeles’ young people.

With the help of Councilwoman Laura Chick and Riordan, Weintraub pushed forward with the idea, securing $250,000 in funding from the 20th Century Insurance Co. and $350,000 from the state.

Supporters said they eventually will request funding to expand the program to other schools.

The idea comes at a time when the city plans to put 3,000 new officers on the street. Even so, joining the Police Department is not a simple proposition. Although the training gives them a head start, the high school students will not get priority on entry to the regular academy, for which the city’s Personnel Department accepts only one of every 17 applicants. Once accepted, the city spends about $60,000 to train each cadet.

“This is a job-market opportunity, and with good wages, good benefits and with a meaningful job,” Chick said. “It’s a way to give back and help make this city a better place to live.”