By Adolfo Flores and Joe Piasecki
Pasadena Sun
Boot camps for wayward teens are not a new phenomenon in Pasadena, though juvenile justice officials and others say the camps’ harsh physical tactics are unjustified and counterproductive.
John Muir High School hosted a boot camp program from 2007 to 2009, before school officials put a stop to them. But controversy regarding the camps erupted late last month when the Pasadena Star-News posted two videos depicting conduct allegedly tied to Pasadena-based boot camp operators. One two-minute video shows teens forced to drink water until they are sick; another shows a juvenile wearing a car tire around his neck while adults bark orders at him from inches away.
Pasadena police launched an investigation after the videos became public, but Lt. Phlunte Riddle said this week that they have yet to identify the individuals in the videos. The Star-News reported the videos were taped at Firestone Boy Scout Reservation near Brea in 2009, and linked them to Pasadena boot camp operators Keith Gibbs and Kelvin McFarland.
Gibbs denies he was present for the videos, and McFarland, through his wife Nora Morales, declined comment.
