Colorado Springs Police Department

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 Police Department of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Rick Myers served as Chief of Colorado Springs Police Department between 2007 and 2011. Chief Myers attended a training in Israel with JINSA in June 2011 as a delegate of LEEP. He later became Chief of Newport News Police Department in Virginia in 2014, where he served until 2017. He is currently the Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA).

Chief Myers is an influential police leader and author on policing, with experience in policing in Colorado, Florida, Detroit, Wisconsin and Chicago. He attended all 3 of the FBI’s law enforcement leadership programs, and currently serves as a Commissioner and Board member for the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). CALEA is the gold standard accrediting body for police agencies, training academies, communications centers and campus public safety agencies across North America, and establishes the standards that they must meet for accreditation.