US police visit Israel to study counterterrorism
10/17/2012 23:47
Jerusalem hosting week-long seminar for US experts, plan to share tactics on high-risk combat.
Israeli, US counterterrorism conference Photo: Gadi Talmi
Counterterrorism experts from some of the biggest police departments in the
United States are in Israel for a week-long seminar with representatives of the
Border Police, where they plan to share tactics on high-risk combat.
The
10-member delegation includes officers from police departments in New York; Los
Angeles; Austin, Texas; Oakland, California; and Houston, Texas.
They are
visiting Israel as part of the American Jewish Committee’s “Project
Interchange,” and organizers said the week-long meeting “will showcase Israeli
technological and operational advances in counterterrorism tactics,” and allow
the US participants to “exchange information on best practices with their
Israeli counterparts,” in a press release issued on Wednesday.
During the
visit, the attendees will also visit Megiddo Prison, where Israel houses well
over a thousand security prisoners. The visit’s delegates will also take part in
briefings on Israel’s handling of Palestinian terrorism and cooperation between
Israeli and PA security agencies.
The program is the 10th such meeting
held by the organization. In the press statement, Los Angeles Police Department
Commander Richard Webb is quoted as saying that Israelis “are considered world
leaders and innovators in counterterrorism and security. My experiences in
meeting with the various experts and leaders confirm they not only are experts,
they are pragmatic and collaborative.”
Webb also vowed to take what he
learns from his Israeli counterpart back to Los Angeles, and made mention of
“multi-level security measures at an international airport.”
Montgomery
County Police Department Assistant-Chief Russell E. Hamill says that so far on
the trip he has learned “not only the importance of hardening the country
against terror attacks but also of the community in refusing to be terrorized.
The Israeli people live that; they refuse to be terrorized.
In the battle
against terrorism, that’s how you win and the Israelis are winning. They are not
victims but survivors.”