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Homeland Security Program

JINSA’s Homeland Security Program (HSP) forges a “best practices” exchange between the U.S. law enforcement community and expert Israeli counterterrorism practitioners. Founded in the wake of 9/11, HSP accomplishes this goal by bringing groups of active senior American law enforcement officers to Israel to study methods and observe techniques used in preventing and responding to terrorism. These delegations are comprised of representatives from the FBI, DEA, and other federal agencies, as well as various police chiefs, sheriffs, state Homeland Security directors, and state police commissioners. HSP is carried out in cooperation with the Israel National Police, the Ministry of Internal Security and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

Since the inception of HSP, over 200 law enforcement executives from almost as many municipal, county, state, and federal agencies have benefitted from their experience in Israel. In addition to its work internationally, JINSA has hosted ten conferences across the United States, with a combined attendance of over 10,500 law enforcement personnel.

Homeland Security Program Trips

2023 Participants

  • Chief Victor Brito – Chief, Rockville City Police Department
  • Sheriff Greg Champagne – Sheriff, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office
  • Sheriff Michael Mastronardy – Sheriff, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department
  • Sheriff Jim Skinner – Sheriff, Collin County Sheriff’s Department
  • Jonathan Thompson – Executive Director and CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA)

2022 Participants

  • Sheriff Donald Barnes – Sheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s Department
  • Deputy Chief Blake Chow – Deputy Chief, Commanding Officer Transit Services Bureau, Los Angeles Police Department
  • Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher – Acting Assistant Chief, Uniformed Operations, U.S. Capitol Police
  • First Assistant Chief Cherise Gause – Field Operations Division (FOD), Miami Police Department
  • Chief Brian McDermott – Chief, Bureau of Patrol, Chicago Police Department
  • Chief Larry B. Snelling – Chief, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Chicago Police Department
  • Deputy Chief Dustin Thompson – Deputy Chief, Operations Bureau Commander, Charleston Police Department
  • Major General William Walker – Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Sheriff Troy Wellman – Sheriff, Moody County Sheriff’s Department
  • Tim Woods – Deputy Executive Director of the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA)

2019 Participants

  • Commander Larry Baimbridge – Commander, Tactical Operations Division, Houston Police Department
  • Assistant Chief Wendy Baimbridge – Assistant Chief of Police, Patrol Region III Command, Houston Police Department
  • Division Chief Ronald Bellavia – Division Chief, Tucson Sector, U.S. Border Patrol
  • Chief Kenneth Berkowitz – Chief of Police, Canton Police Department
  • Chief Victor Brito – Chief of Police, Rockville City Police Department
  • Sheriff Kenneth Carpenter – Sheriff, Iron County Sheriff’s Office
  • Chief Louis Dekmar – Chief of Police, LaGrange Police Department
  • Commander Randy Griffin – Commander, Fourth District, Metropolitan Police Department
  • Sheriff Peter Koutoujian – Sheriff, Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office
  • Asst. Adminitrator Timothy Plancon – Assistant Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Operational Support Division
  • Deputy Chief Jorge Rodriguez – Deputy Chief, Operations Valley Bureau, Los Angeles Police Department
  • Chief Daniel Slaughter – Chief of Police, Clearwater Police Department
  • Sheriff James Stuart – Sheriff, Anoka County Sheriff’s Office
  • Sheriff Chris West – Sheriff, Canadian County Sheriff’s Office
  • Sheriff Leon Wilmot – Sheriff, Yuma County Sheriff’s Office

2018 Participants

  • Deputy Chief Eric Carter – Deputy Chief, Special Functions Division, Chicago Police Department
  • Superintendent Edward Cetnar – Superintendent of Police, Director of Public Safety, Port Authority Police Department
  • Asst. Chief Robert Contee – Assistant Chief of Police, Investigative Services Bureau
  • Deputy Chief William Dean – Deputy Chief of Police – Operations Division, Virginia Beach Police Department
  • Special Agent Charles Giblin – Special Agent in Charge, NJ Treasury Office of Criminal Investigation & Internal Security
  • Lieutenant Fred Haas – Lieutenant, Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center, Counter Terrorism Section
  • Asst. Chief Joseph Harhay – Assistant Chief, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
  • Deputy Chief Miguel Iglesias – Deputy Chief, New York City Police Department, Intelligence Bureau
  • Asst. Chief Edwin Krause – Assistant Chief, Fort Worth Police Department, Patrol Bureau
  • Deputy Chief Manuel Morales – Assistant Chief of Police, Miami Police Department
  • Chief Carla Provost – Chief, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
  • Chief Luther Reynolds – Chief of Police, City of Charleston
  • Major James Ryan – Chief of Staff, New Jersey State Police
  • Chief Ken Walker – Police Chief, City of West University Place Police Department
  • Commander Peter Zarcone – Commanding Officer, Counter Terrorism Group, LAPD

2015 Participants

  • Sheriff John Bittick – Sheriff, Monroe County, Georgia
  • Lt. Col. George Bivens – Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Pennsylvania State Police
  • Sheriff Adam Christianson – Sheriff, Stanislaus County, California
  • Chief Scott Edson – Special Operations Division, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
  • Sheriff George Hamilton – Sheriff, Travis County, Texas
  • Chief Rodolfo Llanes – Chief of Police, City of Miami Police Department
  • Captain Milton ‘Sandy’ Mandell – Acting Troop Commander Troop E, Florida Highway Patrol
  • Deputy Commissioner Kevin McAleenan – Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Chief James O’Neill – Chief of Department, New York City Police Department
  • Sheriff (ret.) James Pond – Executive Director of the Western States Sheriffs Association
  • Douglas Poole – Assistant Administrator, Chief of Intelligence, U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Chief Stan Standridge – Chief of Police, Abilene Police Department, Texas

2014 Participants

  • Chief Kent Barker – Chief of Police at Tualatin Police Department, Vice President at large of IACP
  • Chief Jerry Dyer – Chief of Police of the City of Fresno
  • Sheriff Donald Eslinger – Sheriff at Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
  • Chief Terrance Gainer – Former Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate
  • Sheriff Stanley Glanz – Sheriff at Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office
  • Chief Stephen Hudson – Chief of Police, Prince William County Police Department
  • Sheriff Ross Litman – Sheriff at St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office
  • Chief James McLaughlin, Jr. – General Counsel and Executive Director of the Texas Police Chiefs Association
  • Assistant Chief Michael Moore – Assistance Chief of Office of Special Operations at Los Angeles Police Department
  • Commander David Myers – Commander of Border Crime Suppression Team (BCST) in San Diego County
  • Chief Samuel Somers – Chief of Police at Sacramento Police Department
  • Special Agent Anthony Williams – Special Agent in Charge of Los Angeles Field Division Drug Enforcement Administration

2013 Participants

  • Sheriff Larry Amerson – Sheriff, Calhoun County Alabama Sheriff’s Office – President, National Sheriff’s Association
  • Rodney Benson – Chief of Intelligence, DEA
  • Chief Chris Burbank – Chief, Salt Lake City Police Department
  • Sheriff Timothy Dunning – Sheriff, Douglas County (Omaha) Nebraska Sheriff’s Office
  • Joshua A. Ederheimer – Principal Deputy Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
  • Colonel Michael Edmonson – Superintendent, Louisiana State Police – General Chair of the Division of State and Provincial Police, IACP
  • Chief Dean Esserman – Chief, New Haven Connecticut Police Department
  • Chief Kim Jacobs – Chief, Columbus Ohio Police Department
  • Sheriff Leon Lott – Sheriff, Richland County (Columbia) South Carolina Sheriff’s Department
  • Jim McMahon – Deputy Executive Director, IACP
  • Sheriff David J. Mahoney – Sheriff, Dane County (Madison) Wisconsin Sheriff’s Office
  • Leo Taddeo – Section Chief, International Operations Division, FBI
  • Chief Yost Zakhary – Chief, Woodway Texas Police Department – First Vice President, IACP

Conferences

2017: The Homeland Security conference series educated vast numbers of law enforcement officials on best practices for counterterrorism measures in three key locations across America:

  • Maryland
  • Minneapolis
  • San Diego

JINSA brought a number of high-level Israeli security experts to the United States for these conferences. Presenters spoke about crimes of opportunity versus ideology, making difficult decisions in times of a terror incident, and the need for private security and the relationship between private security and the police. Speakers included:

  • MK Mickey Levy – Member of Knesset, Yesh Atid Party; Former Israel National Police Commander, Judea and Samaria District
  • Dr. Simon Perry – Former Israel National Police Attaché to the USA & Canada
  • Gideon Avrami – VP, Head of Offices Segment, Azrieli Group Ltd.
  • Commander Yitzhak Almog – Israel National Police Attache to the U.S. and Canada