By Natalie Hanna & Karma Paez

Los Angeles cadets are young adolescents from the ages of 13 to 18 who participate in a program with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). They receive community service hours by attending weekly meetings and community events. 

The expectations that come with being a cadet are difficult to maintain. Nevertheless, sophomore Kathleen Velazquez has been able to balance both school and the cadet program through perseverance, determination, and hard work. 

With her family’s support, Velazquez joined the ranks of cadets, inspired by her brother, who was also a cadet. She currently has the most community service hours at her station, Post Devonshire, with a total of 389 hours. Velazquez is also currently at the second highest rank, a corporal, which is one rank away from a sergeant. 

In order to become a cadet, Velazquez attended a 15-week police academy course where she was exposed to different LAPD branches, leadership skills, and physical training. 

“The program taught me respect, how to be a better person, and how to communicate with others,” Velazquez said. “It exposed me to a lot of different people.”

After graduation, she was on probation for six months before becoming a cadet. During her probation, Velazquez was required to attend weekly meetings at her post where she underwent squad time and more physical training.

“During squad time, our sergeant will tell us what events to sign up for,” Velazquez said. “We would talk about our days and study the cadet handbook that has the stations, phonetic alphabet, military time, and the six core values.” 

Velazquez has been a cadet for the past year and a half. During that time, she helped her community in many outstanding ways, especially through Devil Pups.

Devil Pups is a 10-day program where a cadet goes to Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base, and receives training similar to that of the Marines. The Devil Dogs is a common nickname of the Marines, so the cadets are pups in that their training includes physical training, classroom lectures, and demonstrations of the Marine Corps operations. 

Velazquez’s accomplishment of graduating from Devil Pups along with her eagerness to serve her community has caught the eye of many, including her Youth Service Officers (YSOs).

“Velazquez is a great leader who is very caring and has good attention to detail,”  LAPD YSO Johnson said. “Her large amount of hours and the way she wants to participate in everything makes her stand out.”

Outside of the cadet program, Velazquez is hard-working, caring, helpful, and sweet. She is very supportive of her friends and is always willing to put her business aside to help them as much as possible. Her bubbly personality is why her friends describe her as a bright shiny light. 

“She is very hard-working and selfless, “ junior Isabella Mejia said. “Everything she does stands out because she’s always putting her best work into it.”

Cadet Velazquez has shown great dedication, determination, and discipline in her training and she continues to have a major impact on the community surrounding her. Her superiors say she has the potential to become an extraordinary leader in the near future.