Los Angeles 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.

Another organization that organizes and sponsors these trainings is the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The AJC’s Project Interchange brings government officials, policy makers, media officials, civic and student leaders to Israel to meet with their counterparts, including senior Israeli government officials.

The Police Department of Los Angeles, California, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Michael Bostic served as Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Richard Webb served as Commander of the Los Angeles Police Department until 2014. Assistant Chief Bostic attended a training in Israel with JINSA as a delegate of the LEEP program in August 2002. His training includes serving as Chief of the Police Department of Calexico, California, and in the private sector working in public safety communication with Nokia and Raytheon Corporation’s Civil Communication Solutions group. According to Police Magazine, Bostic served on several LAPD steering committees where he was responsible for IT and facility development, also serving on the SWAT Board of Inquiry, the body that oversees the development of command and control systems. He is currently the Director of Strategy and Policy and serves as a law enforcement specialist for FirstNet Built with AT&T.

Commander Richard Webb attended a training in Israel with the AJC as a delegate of Project Interchange in 2012. According to various sources, Commander Webb has a “history and pattern” of racial discrimination, according ot an interview given by one of his colleagues. After he was slated for a promotion where he would oversee police misconduct cases, a group of police officers protested because of Webb’s past. The city of Los Angeles had previously settled a $155,000 lawsuit that alleged Webb, who had displayed a noose in his office and admitted to using the anti-Black “n-word” racial slur over 120 times, had engaged in racial harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Commander Webb vowed that he would take what he learned from his training back to Los Angeles, mentioning multi-level security measures at an international airport.

“[Israelis] are considered world leaders and innovators in counterterrorism and security. My experiences in meeting with the various experts and leaders confirm they not only are experts, they are pragmatic and collaborative.” ~ Commander Webb

“No police force on the face of the planet has greater expertise [than Israel]. America needs to stand up and figure out that they [Israel] are our first line of defense. We’ve got to be aware that everythings coming.” ~ Chief Bostic