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Houston Chronicle - United Sta
08 February 2008

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Houston PD academy fires cadet

A 39-year-old cadet was thrown out of the Houston Police Academy on Friday, accused of stealing money from a communal can used to buy coffee, HPD officials said.

Chief Harold Hurtt decided to dismiss Leonard A. Kelly following an internal affairs investigation, according to a brief statement released by the Houston Police Department Friday evening.

"Houston police officers are held to the highest of standards of ethics and we expect the same from our cadets who are officers in training," Hurtt said in the statement.

Kelly entered the Academy on Aug. 3 as a member of Class 194 and was expected to graduate on Feb. 26.

A military veteran, Kelly is suspected of theft, said Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers Union.

"It's my understanding there's a can by the coffee pot (in the Academy's cafeteria) where you pay for coffee and it's on an honesty system," Blankinship said. "The allegations were that he was taking money out of that can."

Officers with HPD's Internal Affairs Division who conducted the investigation shared their findings with the academy and the Harris County District Attorney's office, but the office refused to file charges in the case, said Asst. Chief Brian Lumpkin. Lumpkin would not say how much money Kelly is suspected of stealing.

Kelly could not be reached for comment late Friday.

In December, the department fired another Houston Police Academy cadet who was arrested and charged with cocaine possession.

Rene Gallardo Fuentes, 33, of Friendswood, posted a $2,000 bond on the felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in a state jail.

At least three other cadets have been dismissed or resigned over the last four or five months, including two who were arrested for public intoxication in College Station and one who was charged with driving while intoxicated in Webster, Blankinship said.

The incidents come at a time when HPD is struggling to meet its recruitment goals.

A group of 44 cadets who started training at the Academy last month fell far short of a full class, which is usually made up of about 70 recruits, Blankinship said.

"We always have concerns (about the quality of cadets)," he said. "That's why we have a process of checks and balances."

Recruits undergo background checks, psychological evaluations, a physical, and credit checks, Blankinship said. Once they become cadets, he said, they are monitored throughout the academy and field training process, as well as a year-long probationary period that extends six months beyond graduation.

The actions of a few should not reflect badly on other cadets, who are chosen from "the highest caliber applicants," said Mark Clark, executive director with HPOU.

"We all understand we have authority to carry weapons and deprive people of their freedom and that's a very high responsibility," Clark said. "You have situations like this that are unexplained and unacceptable and it's going to happen but it's our responsibility as a department to weed these people out."

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Houston Chronicle - United Sta08 February 2008

Houston PD academy fires cadet

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Houston Chronicle - United Sta
08 February 2008