Seventeen recruits at a Los Angeles Police Department training center have tested positive for COVID-19, an LAPD commander said Thursday.
The positive cases consist of nine police officer recruits and eight jailer trainees at the Ahmanson Recruit Training Center in Westchester, according to LAPD Cmdr. Ruby Flores.
One staff member also tested positive, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Further information was not immediately available from the LAPD, but Flores told the Los Angeles Times the center was virus-free until April 18.
Classes were suspended to allow the recruits to recover, and Flores told The Times they will resume in a week after everyone's test results are received.
"The department is aware that coming to work as a recruit or as a full-time officer puts an individual in jeopardy of contracting COVID-19," the LAPD's Media Relations Division said in a statement to City News Service.
"We have taken every precaution to ensure our employees and trainees are able to learn and work in a safe environment. However, we must train new police officers to maintain staffing levels that will keep this city safe.
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"This job is too important to abbreviate or eliminate learning modules, because of the coronavirus. Officers need to learn these critical skills so they are able to live up to the high standards expected of every man and woman on this department."
