Capt. Wendell Wagstaff of the Covington Police Department recently returned from Israel after an intensive two weeks of public safety leadership training with the Middle Eastern country’s top police executives.
He 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, a news release stated.
Wagstaff 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 in partnership with police in Israel.
While there, they were shown best practices and the latest technologies in policing and public safety.
Wagstaff said the trip to Israel “was a trip of a lifetime.”
“In my 32 years in law enforcement, I must say that the knowledge gained from the experience will assist me and my department in policing here,” he said.
“The purpose of the trip was to learn not only the best practices and successful methods in dealing with problems in law enforcement, but it also provided me a network in which I established with 15 other law enforcement executives mostly from the state of Georgia.
“Israel every day deals with terrorism. One may say here at Covington we don’t have the problems Israel has, why would this be important? Although we don’t have the magnitude of what Israel has, things can happen on a smaller scale that we need to be prepared for.
“Each year we have large events that we could be a target for in the City of Covington. It is very important that the Covington Police Department be prepared for any act of violence in a situation like that.”
Wagstaff said Israel also works with its communities to develop successful relationships to enhance public safety.
“We at the Covington Police Department also strive to do that as well. I learned specific things they are doing within their communities that contain high violence. They have implemented new strategies to combat and reduce violence such as developing new police stations, community interactions, and working closely with leaders from within.
“Lastly, the experience of meeting and interaction of other police executives during the trip was vital to future success for each of us. Because of new relationships made, the Covington Police Department sharpens itself to be a model agency by sharing important information with each other that makes us together more successful.
“I feel at any time I can call 15 other agencies from the relationships established, including Israeli police commanders, and get any help we may need here in Covington.”
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.
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 Professor Emeritus and GILEE Founding Director Robbie Friedmann, who formulated the definition.
Cummings said, “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.”
“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.”
More than 1,100 public safety officials — most from Georgia — have participated in the program in Israel. More than 40,000 have attended additional GILEE trainings, briefings, seminars and workshops in Georgia and around the world.
“Trying to describe the meaningful impact of participating in the GILEE delegation to Israel to others is no small task,” said Chief Janet Moon of the Peachtree City Police Department, president of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, and a GILEE delegate in 2015.
“Observing how the Israeli Police interacted with people very diverse from them was inspirational. The Israeli Police embraced this diversity within its own ranks as well. I found the experience very rewarding in a way that led me to expand upon my commitment and resolve to utilize principles of community policing.”
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. Learn more at gilee.gsu.edu.
