Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office

One of the organizations that organize and sponsor these trainings is the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). JINSA is a think tank that advocates for US-Israeli security cooperation, increased domestic military spending, and military aid to Israel, and has board members with close ties to US defense contractors. JINSA launched its Law Enforcement Exchange Program (LEEP) shortly after 9/11, and since 2002 has run annual trips to Israel for US federal, state, and local law enforcement. Over 11,000 additional American law enforcement officials have attended LEEP conferences nationwide, which bring in Israeli security officials as experts.

The Sheriff’s Office of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Jeff Wiley has served as Sheriff of Ascension Parish since 1996, a position he currently remains in today. Sheriff Wiley attended a training in Israel with JINSA as a delegate of the LEEP program in November 2005.