The Houston Police Department can’t graduate new officers fast enough. It needs 1,000 of them. But four more cadets have either been fired or forced to resign.

“We’re not going to lower our standards or compromise our values in order to hire large numbers of officers,” explained Assistant HPD Chief George Buenik.

11News has learned two cadets resigned after being arrested in College Station for public intoxication over the weekend.

HPD fired a third cadet for horseplay with a pellet rifle.

The department dismissed a fourth cadet after Webster Police arrested him for DWI.

These cadet dismissals came to light after our story last week about HPD cadet Rene Fuentes. A patrol officer arrested him in southeast Houston allegedly buying and selling crack. Fuentes was fired from the academy.

“No. We don’t want these type of people wearing an HPD uniform and badge,” Buenik continued. “We don’t want them to disgrace our profession. That’s why we took immediate action against them while they’re in the police academy.”

HPD has 227 cadets in training. These five are a tiny fraction of that group. It’s not uncommon to have a cadet fired from any class. But getting rid of five of them in a month, under such circumstances, is rather unusual.

“These individuals got through,” said Houston City Councilman Adrian Garcia. “But I’m glad we caught them at the academy and I’m glad we don’t have them in our ranks any longer.”

Garcia said HPD’s screening system works. But the desperate need for officers, he added, is apparently attracting unqualified candidates.