Officers from the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) have returned home from Israel following an intensive two-week training program.
The partnership emphasized a “strong cultural, economic and academic bond between Georgia and Israel,” according to Brent Cummings, associate director of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.
GILEE, an award-winning law enforcement exchange program, aims to enhance law enforcement development and international cooperation. This was its 29th year of peer-to-peer professional training, which strengthens “agency capabilities to better deal with threats to public safety and improve security,” according to the program’s website.
The program’s public safety research involves acquiring strategies to lead secure law enforcement services while building stronger, safer, and better community policing through community relations. Its foreign partnerships exemplify the core mission of GILEE— the public policy research center at Georgia State University, stated a recent report.
Since its establishment in 1992, GILEE was initially created following the domestic terrorism pipe bombing attack at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and was later enhanced to improve homeland security following 9/11.
Israel—whose experience with bombings and other terrorist activities places the country as a key partner for the advancement of security policies in the United States—has hosted over 1,200 public safety officials since the start of the program.
“GILEE allows these senior officers to invest in and improve their personal leadership skills."
Brent Cummings, associate director of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University
“GILEE allows these senior officers to invest in and improve their personal leadership skills. They get to see firsthand in a different culture the value of diversity and inclusion… by investing in leadership development, these officers will become stronger leaders who can better adapt to complex issues and challenges at home,” stated Cummings.
The 16-member delegation that recently received training was composed of eight police chiefs, four sheriffs, the Atlanta-Carolinas High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program director, an inspector from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a Georgia State Patrol captain, and a senior law enforcement official from Tennessee.
“[The officers] were shown best practices and latest technologies in policing and public safety,” according to the report, which serve to “enhance public safety by nurturing partnerships within and across public law enforcement agencies and the private sector.”
Three weeks prior to the start of the program, a bipartisan resolution was passed in the state of Georgia acknowledging Israel’s significance in US foreign relations. The document “commends the Nation of Israel for its meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States and the State of Georgia,” and recognizes Israel as an “Impact Nation” with advanced technological innovation aimed at addressing global challenges and goals.