Rome hosts Israeli police
Every two years a delegation of high-ranking officers visits to learn about Georgia police departments. Rome is a regular stop on the tour.
Rome and Floyd County police departments welcomed a delegation of top Israeli police officials at the Joint Law Enforcement Center on Tuesday morning as part of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange program which partners Israeli law enforcement with police departments in Georgia.
The delegation consisted of 18 high-ranking police officers who will be traveling the state of Georgia to learn how Georgia departments work compared with how their own departments work in Israel. The GILEE program will also send a delegation of Georgia police representatives to Israel to get the same kind of exposure.
Rome Mayor Jamie Doss greeted the police officials during a reception which allowed the Israeli representatives to meet and talk to their Rome and Floyd County counterparts.
“This is a big deal for our city,” Doss said. “We do believe working together works.”
This delegation was different than any others, said GILEE founder Robbie Friedmann. Out of the 18 senior officers, one third of them are women. This is a fact he was very proud of.
“It is fantastic to be back in Rome and Floyd County,” Friedmann said. “It is like coming back home again because we have been doing it for so many years.”
Brig. Gen. Benni Abalia loved to see how other law enforcement agencies work, and said he will be making changes when he returns to Israel. Col. Ephat Rosenthal was intrigued by the idea of different emergency departments, in Israel the police are responsible for everything including responding to fires, earthquakes, terrorism as well as regular police matters she said.
While everyone ate, Rome Police Chief Denise Downer McKinney introduced county and city officials while also commenting on how honored she was to host the visitors from Israel.
She made mention of the several members of the Rome and Floyd County police departments who have traveled to Israel to train with Israeli police forces. This list included DownerMcKinney herself, Floyd County Police Chief Mark Wallace, Assistant Rome Police Chief Debbie Burnett and Rome Police Capt. Chris DeHart, who were all in attendance.
After the reception, the visiting officials went outside the Joint Law Enforcement Center to review various Rome police equipment and vehicles.
Discussion continued with Rome police officers, who were happy to show the visitors their equipment, take pictures and answer questions.