USC awards $100,000 to LAPD Cadets

USC awarded the Los Angeles Police Department Cadet Leadership Program a $100,000 grant at an outdoor ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The LAPD Cadets is a youth outreach program designed to enrich the lives of L.A. youth and teach them good character and leadership skills. The Cadet Leadership Program is offered at all 21 community police stations throughout Los Angeles as well as a few specialty programs such as the metropolitan and communications divisions.

President C.L. Max Nikias made the opening remarks introducing LAPD First Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger on a stage standing next to lines of the cadets in their light blue uniforms.

“The USC community is happy to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with such an amazing leader,” Nikias said of Paysinger.

Paysinger, the author of the department’s “Youth First” campaign, describes the program as “[their] department’s signature community outreach initiative.”

“It’s not about cultivating police officers,” Paysinger said. “It’s about cultivating young people and providing them the tools to be whatever they want to be.”

In order to be eligible for the program, cadets must be between the ages of 13 and 20, have high scholastic achievement and demonstrate good moral character.

With the increase in funding in recent years, the cadet classes have been able to grow, with this year’s graduating class being the largest in history at approximately 750 cadets.

“With this grant, we can continue to hold to our pledge to allow our cadets to participate and learn free of charge,” Paysinger said.

Following Paysinger’s remarks, Laura Mendoza, student leader of the LAPD cadets, took to the podium.

Mendoza, who joined the cadets in 2010, recalled being surrounded by drugs, gangs and violence prior to being enrolled in the program.

“That reality didn’t have to become my future,” she said.

Mendoza described herself at the beginning of the program as being shy, secluded and having trouble speaking publicly.

“I wasn’t getting a lot of support at home,” Mendoza said. “But I met a lot of cadets and officers who said ‘we believe in you, you can do whatever you want.’”

With this in mind, Mendoza set her sights on becoming the student leader of the cadets and, with the help of her officers and fellow cadets, achieved this goal.

“The cadet program will motivate others and tell them that anything is possible,” Mendoza said.

The graduation ceremony for this year’s class of cadets will be held at the Galen Center this Saturday. The cadets also received a tour of campus following the ceremony.

“We hope one day to welcome many of [the cadets] back to USC as our students,” said Nikias. “USC stands with them not just today, but for many years in the future.”

Nikias pledged to continue his support of the program.

“These cadets are our future,” Nikias said. “Look at them; they are America’s future.”