14 DAY TRIAL // The famous TV series and movie “21 Jump Street” has a plot that works very well in real-life cases as well, with undercover police officers busting 25 students for drug offenses after infiltrating their social groups.
The method, hilariously showcased by Channing Tatum and Johan Hill in the 2012 movie, was recently used by police officers in two Californian schools suspected of intense drug-dealing activities. The operation was in place for more than one month as officers went back to school to arrest some misbehaved pupils.
Paloma Valley High School and Perris High School in California were the two institutions hosting some special kind of students. The bust included 25 students identified after being suspected of illegal drug activities, two of them are adults and the rest will have to face Juvenile court. Others are still on the loose after missing class on the day of the arrest, but officers are carefully finding ways to bring them to justice, notes The Press Enterprise.
Two deputies, one woman and one man, have been acting like students in the two institutions since the beginning of the school year and seized drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, hashish and prescription pills.
The ones found guilty were handcuffed and arrested in front of everyone, to serve them as a lesson in case they thought of continuing the illegal drug dealing activities. The “21 Jump Street” real life bust was the talk of the town as students started debating who else could be undercover and which were the signs the cops showed during their mission.
The Police Department approached the High Schools' management at the beginning of the year and proposed the operation that proved to be a success. The whole plan was kept secret with just a handful of people knowing about the police's plan.
Similar operations were organized in past years with dozens of students getting arrested in schools around the state of California. The undercover agents, besides needing to look like teens, received special training and courses to successfully fit in the environment.
Most parents agree and support these operations with the only concern being that their child wouldn't be one of the kids arrested. Even if it doesn't actually eliminate the drug activities in schools, this at least can induce fear into students interested in illegal drug dealing and make them think twice after seeing their friends getting arrested.