Fayetteville Police Department

One of the organizations that organize and sponsor these joint trainings is the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE), a joint program of 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 Fayetteville, North Carolina, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Steve Heaton served as Chief of Fayetteville Police Department between 2006 and 2013.  Chief Heaton attended a GILEE training in Israel in 2009. He now serves as Executive Director of GILEE. He is also featured on the staff page on the website of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (IDC Herzliya) in Israel.

In addition, Heaton is an Assessor and Team Leader for the Commission on Accreditation for 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. Heaton has served on numerous boards and committees to include the State Certification for Law Enforcement Agencies Committee for the State of Georgia and the Legislative Committee for the Georgia Chiefs of Police. He also served as fourth Vice President for the Georgia Chiefs of Police Association.

Gina V. Hawkins has served as Chief of Fayetteville Police Department since 2017. Chief Hawkins attended a GILEE training in Israel in 2015 while serving as the Deputy Chief of Clayton County Police Department. She now sits on the GILEE Advisory Board.