WASHINGTON — Editor's Note: This video is from June 2020.
The District's first-ever educational center dedicated to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) cadets opened in Southeast D.C. on Wednesday.
At the MPD Cadet Corps Training Center, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, cadets will be able to do their work through the University of the District of Columbia, study the curriculum for Cadet Corps, and be able to interact with various guest speakers from the department.
At the opening of the event, Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD Police Chief Robert J. Contee, III welcomed cadets to their new center and also expressed that they look forward to more people joining.
The program allows for D.C. residents between the ages of 17 and 24 to serve part-time as uniformed, civilian employees.
“Our investments in the MPD Cadet Corps program are investments in our young people and in the future of public safety in D.C.,” Mayor Bowser said.
Cadets will also earn a salary, starting at $35,637, while also taking college courses.
“The Cadet Corps program not only puts young Washingtonians on a pathway to the middle class, it also ensures that people who know D.C. are policing in D.C.," Bowser said. "That is why we invested in the expansion of the program and in the creation of this training center.”
The cadets are on track to enter into MPD’s Police Officer Recruit Program at the Metropolitan Police Academy. Among the cadet success stories, the current police chief is one of them.
“As a former MPD Cadet, I was given an opportunity to see the department from a different perspective as a young person from Washington, D.C., and that is where my story began with this agency,” Chief Contee said. “The impact this program can have on our youth is expansive, and the trajectory of their life can change. This is a public safety investment that will directly benefit our workforce and the community.”
The program was previously expanded in 2016 by increasing the maximum age for participation from 21 to 24. In 2021, the part-time MPD's High School Cadet Program was relaunched, and this year, it was expanded again to allow high school students outside of D.C. to join. Since 2015, the program has grown from 20 cadets to 150.
The Cadet Corps program also supports the Mayor’s effort to hire more women at the police department with 51% of cadets are women. In addition, 98% of cadets are people of color.