Deputy Chief Michael Carlson of the Dunwoody Police Department recently returned from Israel after an intensive two weeks of public safety leadership training with the country’s top police executives.
Carlson trained alongside Georgia police chiefs and command staff, sheriffs, the director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation assistant director.
In partnership with the Israel police, Carlson was part of a 16-member delegation of senior law enforcement officials from Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Colorado who participated in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange’s (GILEE) 28th annual peer-to-peer executive training program.
Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan said, “Deputy Chief Carlson’s experience in Israel, contacts and lessons learned as a GILEE delegate will help the Dunwoody Police Department to continue serving our community with excellence.”
While in Israel, they were shown best practices and the latest technologies in policing and public safety.
The delegation was led by GILEE Founding Director Robbie Friedmann and GILEE Associate Director Brent Cummings.
Continuity of service joined community policing as a focus this year.
Acknowledging the more than 700,000 American police who have served on the front lines during an unprecedented pandemic and period of social unrest, GILEE’s delegates learned more about strategies to successfully lead ongoing, nonstop law enforcement services while building stronger, safer and better community relations through community policing, according to a Dunwoody statement.
Community policing recognizes the need for greater accountability, a greater public share in decision-making and a greater concern for civil rights and liberties, according to Friedmann, also a professor emeritus who formulated the definition.
“GILEE facilitates peer-to-peer professional development programs that build better networks among law enforcement professionals, allowing for stronger public safety and improved community policing across Georgia, the U.S. and internationally,” Cummings said.
“Law enforcement executives learn from experiencing first-hand how others police in a variety of cultures, which fosters growth and enlightenment on new ways to approach challenges at home, enhancing the communities we all live in,” Cummings added.
More than 1,100 public safety officials, most from Georgia, have participated in the program in Israel.
Also, greater than 40,000 have attended additional GILEE trainings, briefings, seminars and workshops in Georgia and around the world.
GILEE is a research center within Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies that enhances public safety by nurturing partnerships within and across public law enforcement agencies and the private sector.
Information: gilee.gsu.edu, dunwoodyga.gov
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