The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office issued the following public information release about a two-week training session Sheriff Craig Owens attended in Israel:

Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens has returned from Israel after an intensive two weeks of public safety leadership training with the country’s top police executives.

Sheriff Owens was part of a 16-member delegation including eight Georgia police chiefs and command staff, four Georgia sheriffs, the director of the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, an inspector with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a captain in the Georgia State Patrol and a senior law enforcement official from Tennessee.

The delegates partnered with the Israel Police for the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange’s (GILEE) 29th annual peer-to-peer executive training program. While in Israel, they were shown best practices and the latest technologies in policing and public safety, learning more about strategies to successfully lead ongoing, nonstop law enforcement services while building stronger, safer and better community policing through community relations. 

Chief Celeste Murphy of the Chattanooga Police Department served as Head of Delegation. GILEE Founding Director Robbie Friedmann and Associate Director Col. (Ret.) Brent Cummings led the delegation while Assistant Director Nadia Borissova managed its operations.

Three months prior to the training program, Georgia’s legislature passed a bicameral, bipartisan resolution during the launch of the Georgia-Israel Legislative Caucus with Governor Brian Kemp and Consul General of Israel Sultan-Dadon. The resolution emphasized the strong cultural, economic and academic bond between Georgia and Israel as exemplified by “the robust exchanges of Georgia’s law enforcement professionals with Israel through GILEE.”

“GILEE allows these senior officers to invest in and improve their personal leadership skills,” Cummings said. “They get to see firsthand in a different culture the value of diversity and inclusion, while at the same time our hosts see the diversity of the United States represented through the delegates. By investing in leadership development, these officers will become stronger leaders who can better adapt to complex issues and challenges at home.”

More than 1,200 public safety officials from the U.S.—most from Georgia— and around the world have participated in the program in Israel. More than 42,000 executives 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. It enhances public safety by nurturing partnerships within and across public law enforcement agencies and the private sector. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, GILEE’s focus on the protection of civil and human rights and its development of executive leadership exemplifies the core mission of the school.

“Security is one of the most important kinds of policy development we can offer to communities in the U.S. and the globe,” Friedmann said. “We are pleased that, with the help of our partners, our public safety programs successfully increase the potential for expanding peace and public safety across all communities.”
                                                             
For more information on GILEE, go to gilee.gsu.edu.