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| Campus Supervisor Tim Wargo (left), Resource Officer Steve Paz, and Officer Joe Crawford spot student Brandon Lawtum-Grindle |
Annual bench-press competition fosters trust between El Cajon Police Officers and at-risk teens.
By Gayle Early
March 25, 2009 (El Cajon)—Twenty-three Chaparral Continuation High School students flexed their muscles last week during a weight-lifting competition with members of the El Cajon Police Department in a show of strength and good will. Local TV stations trained cameras on the bench press, center stage, while a Channel 933 music van piped the jams, ratcheting up the already hyperkinetic energy of teens and classmates. The El Cajon Police Officers Association and Wal-Mart sponsored the event. Classmates, family, and friends poured onto the high school lawn at lunchtime to whoop, holler, and pump up the competitors.