Teen police volunteers(in LA) steal patrol cars and patrol Los Angels. [View all]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/weird-news/teen-police-volunteers-steal-lapd-cars-patrol-los-angeles/article_d21d9e2e-7593-5d57-ba3c-f90068455b28.html


LOS ANGELES — Three teenagers in a program for those who may want to become officers stole three Los Angeles Police Department vehicles and went on patrol around the city before leading authorities on wild pursuits that ended with crashes, Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday.

The trio — two boys and a girl ages 15, 16 and 17 — "gamed the system" and used a vacationing sergeant's name to sign out stun guns and radios and drive the cars right out of a stationhouse parking lot, Beck said. Police are investigating whether the teens impersonated officers and pulled over drivers.

The three were arrested Wednesday after two pursuits ended with crashes in South Los Angeles. A third police car was later recovered around the corner from a police station.

Beck said he had ordered a thorough review of the department's cadet program and policies for managing inventory.

"We are going to take this apart top to bottom," Beck said at a news conference. "We're going to see what we can do better and we're going to do it."