Illinois State Police

One of the organizations that sponsors these trainings is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL is a non-profit that works to combat anti-Semitism and advocate for Israel. In this context, the ADL runs a National Counter-Terrorism Seminar that has sent hundreds of top ranking officials to Israel to learn about combatting terror since 2003. That same year the ADL established an Advanced Training School that brings delegations of Israeli law enforcement to speak to American law enforcement officials, involving over 1,000 U.S. participants since the program began.

The State Police Department of Illinois is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Patrick Keen served in the Illinois State Police Department between 1985 and 2013. Lt. Col. Keen attended a training in Israel with the ADL as a delegate of the National Counter Terrorism Seminar in September 2009. Lt. Col. Keen also served as deputy director for administration and interim director of the Illinois State Police.

Several reports show a trend of racial discrimination by Illinois State Police. One Illinois State Department of Transportation ongoing study confirms the existence of racial bias in traffic stops. The ACLU asked the Department of Justice to investigate the Illinois State Police’s “dramatic” discrimination in traffic stop practices.

Illinois State Police is also one of the departments that purchases Israeli private security sector technology. One of the private security companies that transfer technology to police departments is the Israel-based Cellebrite. Cellebrite is a “mobile forensics” firm that manufactures data extraction, transfer and analysis devices for cellular phones and mobile devices for law enforcement, military and intelligence, and corporate customers. Illinois State Police spent $111,673.90 to crack into phones using Israeli tech firm Cellebrite, according to public record requests by Motherboard. Illinois State Police uses Cellebrite’s technology to bypass phone passwords and security mechanisms to retrieve call logs, text messages, and in some cases even deleted data.