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EDITORIAL LOWERED STANDARDS LAPD'S LOOSENED RULE ON DRUG USE BY RECRUITS MAKES SENSE.


IT'S not easy to become a Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).

This article or section is written like an .
 officer.

Applicants must go through a battery of physical and academic tests, a lie-detector exam, psychological and medical screenings and a background check. After that rigorous perusal, there are eight months in the police academy, where applicants are further weeded out under the watchful eyes of instructors and classmates Classmates can refer to either:
  • Classmates.com, a social networking website.
  • Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ...
.

Even under the best of circumstances, the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel.
2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department.
 works hard to fill academy classes. And that's why the proposal made by Councilman Bernard Parks and supported by Councilman Dennis Zine -- both former LAPD officers -- to rescind To declare a contract void—of no legal force or binding effect—from its inception and thereby restore the parties to the positions they would have occupied had no contract ever been made.


rescind v.
 a deliberate loosening of the policy on past drug usage by recruits is a bad idea.

The zero-tolerance proposal would be overly restrictive on a department in desperate need of hundreds of new officers.

Parks and Zine are both proud vets who no doubt seek excellence in the department. But they also both joined the force in a very different era when drug usage was rare among youngsters -- at least, outside of Berkeley.

The suggestion implicit in Adj. 1. implicit in - in the nature of something though not readily apparent; "shortcomings inherent in our approach"; "an underlying meaning"
underlying, inherent
 Parks' motion to return to a zero-tolerance policy Noun 1. zero-tolerance policy - any policy that allows no exception; "a zero-tolerance policy toward pedophile priests"
policy - a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government; "they debated the policy or impolicy of the proposed legislation"
 -- that the LAPD's many tests might still allow crackheads onto the force -- is simply ludicrous.

That hasn't happened in the two years since the LAPD relaxed its standards -- which are, by the way, still stricter than even the FBI's. And it's unlikely to happen at all.

Considering that an estimated 40 percent of people ages 18 to 25 have reported using illicit drugs other than marijuana at least once, it would be unworkable.

While no one wants drugged-out officers in charge of the community's public safety, it seems overly harsh to rule out an otherwise perfect candidate for a youthful indiscretion in·dis·cre·tion  
n.
1. Lack of discretion; injudiciousness.

2. An indiscreet act or remark.


indiscretion
Noun

1. the lack of discretion

2.
. These days, Americans even forgive their presidents for that.

We all want the LAPD to be as good as it can be. But, contrary to its intent, Parks' proposal won't help.
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Title Annotation:Editorial
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Article Type:Editorial
Date:Jun 15, 2006
Words:312
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