Acworth Police Department

The Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) is one of the organizations that organize and sponsor these joint trainings. As a joint program of the Georgia State University and local law enforcement, GILEE works to foster cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Georgia and Israel, educating Israeli law enforcement on community policing and training Georgia law enforcement on counter-terrorism. Since its establishment, GILEE has run law enforcement executive development and trainings to enhance homeland security, through 450 programs that reached over 33,000 law enforcement and other executives across over 25 states and 25 countries.

The Police Department of Acworth, Georgia, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Michael Wilkie served as Chief of Acworth Police Department between 2002 and 2012. Chief Wilkie attended a training with the Israel National Police as a delegate of GILEE in 2009.

Chief Wilkie’s training also includes serving as a civilian law enforcement observer of the detention centers in Guantanamo Bay. Chief Wilkie is a self-proclaimed advocate of Community Policing, and currently teaches at the Division of History, Government and Social Science at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.