The Los Angeles Police Department has long hailed its cadet program as a successful partnership between police and the city’s young residents. The initiative is designed to help cadets develop life-building skills, bond with officers and volunteer at events such as Dodgers games and the L.A. Marathon.
But on Wednesday night, three of those teenagers crossed paths with city police officers in a way that LAPD officials surely hoped would never happen — when they became suspects.
Racing through the streets of South L.A. in a pair of stolen police cruisers, three teenage cadets led LAPD officers on car chases that ended in separate crashes, Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday afternoon.
The chases sparked an investigation that revealed some of the cadets may have also stolen a bulletproof vest, two stun guns and two police radios, the chief said.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the teens were arrested and the LAPD will be reviewing their cadet program from “top to bottom.”