Saturday, March 14, 2026

High School Law Academy Students Tour Pasadena Courthouse, Police Headquarters

Pasadena Police Chief Eugene Harris welcomes Pasadena High School Law & Public Safety Academy students and staff during their visit to Pasadena Police Department Headquarters. [photo credit: City of Pasadena]

More than three dozen Pasadena High School students enrolled in the school’s Law and Public Service Academy toured the Pasadena Courthouse and Police Department Headquarters on March 4.

The visit gave students in the four-year college preparatory program direct exposure to the professionals and institutions of the local justice system. The academy prepares students for careers in law, government, and public service, according to the Pasadena Unified School District.

At police headquarters on North Garfield Avenue, students toured the community relations, detective, and emergency communications divisions, the City Manager’s office said. The tour highlighted both sworn and professional career opportunities within the department.

Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris shared insights about leadership, public safety, and the responsibilities of serving the community, according to the newsletter. Harris, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, became Pasadena’s police chief in January 2023 after serving as San Gabriel’s police chief since 2016. He began his law enforcement career as a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff.

The courthouse visit took students inside the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Northeast District facility at 300 E. Walnut St., which handles cases from Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, and Sierra Madre.

The LPS Academy is one of nine specialized academies PUSD offers across its four high schools. The academy includes a Teen Court program in which students serve as jurors on real juvenile cases as part of the Superior Court’s official diversion program, according to the district.

In January, Pasadena High School became the first campus in the San Gabriel Valley to partner with the California Legal Pathways Collaborative, a program of the California Lawyers Foundation that connects more than 3,100 students statewide to legal career pathways, according to the California Lawyers Association.

The tour took place the same week that more than two dozen PPD officers and staff, including Harris, visited PUSD elementary school classrooms for Read Across America.