Forsyth Police Chief Keith Corley returned home Tuesday, June 30 after spending two weeks in Israel for training in the latest counterterrorism techniques and technologies by that nation’s top police officers.He joined a 19-member delegation of sheriffs, police chiefs, a deputy commissioner and an inspector from 17 Georgia public safety and law enforcement agencies, as well as law enforcement leaders from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who participated in the 23rd annual peer-to-peer public safety training program organized by the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) at Georgia State University.
"It was awesome. I felt such an honor to be picked to go," said Corley. "It was the experience of a lifetime.”
GILEE hosts public safety exchanges, conferences and experts who introduce new, best practices in law enforcement to police and other public and private safety professionals to enhance their capabilities to serve citizens in this area. GILEE, a research unit of Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, improves public safety by enhancing inter-agency cooperation and educational training among law enforcement communities by offering best practices and sources of excellence in a peer-to-peer environment. It was founded as a joint program between the university and Georgia’s law enforcement community by Director Robert Friedmann, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice.
Corley said Friedmann, who is from Israel, accompanied his group as their interpreter. Corley said that GILEE brings groups to Forsyth for training at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, including international law enforcement officers.
Corley's trip began with a long overnight international flight on Monday, June 15 that took him to the port city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city. Its metropolitan area is home to about 600,000 people. The training group was welcomed by Haifa's mayor and then began days which stretched from 6 or 7 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m., including 2-3 briefings each day.
A highlight of the trip was time spent at Israel's new 54-acre Police Academy in Beit Shemesh. After almost two decades of planning and three years to build, the state of the art facility opened in January. It can house 1,000 cadets.
From Haifa, the group traveled to Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, then to Eilat, a resort city on the Red Sea that is surrounded by desert. The last three days of trip were spent in the capital city of Tel Aviv.
The Police Department in Israel is under national, rather than local, control but the country it covers is small by U.S. perception. Corley said they quickly understood that the police and the citizens of Israel live with the threat of terrorism every day. Israel is a narrow country with long borders to patrol. The military is vigilant that no one crosses the borders illegally. Many Israelis join the national police force after completing their compulsory military service.
In spite of the necessity for vigilance on the borders, Corley said that within the country police are seldom threatened by citizens. Israeli police usually do not wear bullet-proof vests. They do not carry their guns loaded as U.S. police do, but they can load their magazines quickly. The Israeli police are effective at getting involved with the community and dealing with a very diverse populace, including the tensions created by diverse religious cultures. They make sure all interests are treated the same.
To enter a mall in Israel means going through checkpoints with armed guards and metal detectors. Citizens do not seem to mind the checkpoints, however. Laws in Israel are such that very few people own guns, and if they are not in law enforcement or the military, their guns have to be locked up. When a suicide bombing occurs, the police clean up the area and restore normalcy as quickly as possible. Corley was impressed with how appreciative the Israelis are of U.S. support.
"They have a daily struggle to continue to exist as a country," he said.
In addition to what he learned from official training sessions, Corley said he also gained a lot from his interaction with other members of his group. He said those chosen to participate are the upper echelon of law enforcement. The group bonded and will be helpful resources for one another in the future. One of the participants, Janet Moon, learned after her return that she was chosen as the new Peachtree City police chief.
Other members of the 23rd GILEE delegation to Israel included Deborah K. Burnett, major, Rome PD; Sonya S. Cordero, captain, Rockdale County SO; Kenneth DeSimone II, chief, Sandy Springs PD; Alan Everidge, major, Houston County SO; Roger Garrison, sheriff, Cherokee County; Lonnie Grabowska, deputy director, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation; Robert Harvey Jr., deputy chief, Smyrna PD; Gina Hawkins, deputy chief, Clayton County PD; Daniel Kilgore Jr., Sheriff, Upson County; Mark McFraw, major, Washington County SO; Walter Rabon Jr., deputy commissioner, Ga. Dept. of Natural Resources; Grady Sanford Jr., captain, GSP; Dr. Phillip Silk, captain, UGA PD; Joseph Sillane, deputy chief, Atlanta PD; Illana Tate, executive officer, Tenn. Bureau of Investigation; Rodney Wall, inspector, GBI; Gary Yandura, chief, Brookhaven PD. "You can't sweat the small stuff," Corley said of what he brought home from the experience. "I felt safe over there."
