LOS ANGELES_Astrid Saenz has always wanted to be a police officer and is among the most decorated cadets in the Los Angeles Police Department's signature youth program.
Saenz, 18, has been an LAPD cadet for the last three years, rising to the rank of cadet commander while volunteering her time at the Devonshire Division.
But as Saenz and hundreds of other cadets gathered for a graduation ceremony Saturday morning, disturbing allegations of misconduct in the program dominated the news.
Smiling in her light blue cadet uniform and perfectly pressed tie, she spoke highly of an initiative she says has emboldened her hopes of entering the city's Police Academy. Saenz said she wanted people to know that for every cadet accused of wrongdoing, there are hundreds more who wear the uniform for the right reasons.
"We're not that," she said. "We're not those people."
In the wake of a widening scandal that has seen an LAPD officer arrested on suspicion of committing a sex crime and seven cadets accused of stealing police property, the department began its cadet graduation ceremony hoping to extol the virtues of a decades-old program that has mentored thousands of at-risk teenagers throughout Los Angeles.
"They are the city's future," Police Chief Charlie Beck said of the cadets Saturday morning. "What they gain from this program is invaluable."
More than 450 cadets were set to graduate at the ceremony at the University of Southern California and roughly 1,275 cadets were expected to attend, according to Officer Aareon Jefferson, an LAPD spokesman. Marching in order through the Galen Center, cadets from ages 13 to 20 walked in pairs toward Beck early Saturday morning, waiting to receive a slight head nod from the chief to show they had passed inspection.
Dramatic music blared overhead, and cadets could be seen laughing and joking with officers. The friendly and positive interactions mark the kind of trust-building the cadet program aims to achieve, standing in stark contrast to the troubling allegations that have surfaced in recent days.
In an 18-minute address to a crowd of thousands, Beck seemed highly emotional as he discussed the recent allegations and ways to improve the program.
"These young people come into our lives ... into our families," he said, with a slight tremor in his voice. "You will protect them like they are your own."
While he acknowledged that the graduation ceremony was a more solemn affair than usual, Beck still called on the cadets to celebrate their completion of an 18-week training course. He maintained that the initiative is a success that will hopefully improve the lives of those enrolled.
"Our goal is to make you the best human beings you can possibly be, to prepare you for what can be a difficult life," he said.
He also said he had full confidence that the cadets seated before him would uphold the virtues instilled in them by the LAPD.
"You wouldn't be in this program, you wouldn't have graduated, if you didn't know what the right thing was," he said, adding that the cadets represent "what Los Angeles will become."
The graduation ceremony comes 10 days after a pair of car chases through South L.A. led to allegations that several cadets had stolen at least three LAPD cruisers and other supplies from the department.
An investigation into that incident turned up evidence leading to an allegation that Officer Robert Cain, 31, had engaged in an illegal sexual relationship with a 15-year-old cadet arrested in connection with the thefts, Beck said. Text messages between Cain and the victim allegedly revealed the relationship, and also showed Cain likely knew of the thefts and may have even helped facilitate them, the chief said.
Beck personally handcuffed Cain on Thursday morning at the 77th Street Division station, where he was assigned to oversee the equipment room.
Seven cadets have been arrested in connection with the thefts of vehicles and equipment. All but one was assigned to 77th Street Division.
Charges have not been filed yet against Cain or any of the cadets, and the officer remains free on bail. He is scheduled to appear in a downtown courtroom on July 21, records show.
On Friday, sources told the Los Angeles Times that more than 100 firearms, including modified assault rifles and an inert grenade launcher, were seized during a search of Cain's Rancho Cucamonga home, the latest in a string of unsettling allegations linked to the cadet scandal.
Beck provided no updates about investigations into the cadet program or Cain on Saturday morning, only repeating his belief that the scandal is largely confined to the 77th Street Division.
The whirlwind week and a half has seen Beck repeatedly defend the program, which has been hailed by LAPD brass as one of the agency's most effective community initiatives. Thousands of cadets have completed the program.
Beck ordered a "top-to-bottom" review of the cadet program last week after the thefts were uncovered. On Friday, City Councilman Mitchell Englander introduced a motion calling for an audit of all of the LAPD's youth initiatives, including the cadet program, and raised questions about how the department supervises interactions between minors and the officers who mentor them.
The department does not have a written policy forbidding one-on-one interactions between adult officers and minor cadets of different genders, an LAPD spokesman said Friday.
Walter Carrero, a cadet sergeant for two years in the Southwest Division, said he was afraid of signing up for a "military-type" program at first, but now he regrets not joining sooner. The 17-year-old says he has built great relationships with community resource and youth services officers and counted volunteering at events at Dodger Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl among his favorite memories as a cadet.
But when asked about the recent scandal, he shook his head in disgust.
"I feel that they, you know, kind of messed it up for us," he said.
