Memphis Police Department

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Police

Share this page with your network

In 2002, just months after 9/11, American police officers held their first official training expedition to Israel to learn about “counter-terrorism.” Since then, hundreds of law enforcement officials and government agents from across the country have been sent to Israel to meet with military and police forces, and thousands more have participated in conferences, trainings, and workshops with Israeli officials in the United States.

The American and Israeli governments justify these exchanges on the grounds that the United States and Israel share the mission of the War on Terror. American facilitators and participants of these programs similarly argue that the United States and Israel are allied democracies whose law enforcement agencies play a crucial role in preserving national security.

While framed as an opportunity for US law enforcement to learn policing strategies from a closely aligned democracy with counter-terror experience, in fact these are trainings with an occupying force that rules a population deprived of human and civil rights. Rather than promoting security for all, these programs facilitate an exchange of methods of state violence and control, including mass surveillance, racial profiling, and suppression of protest and dissent.

Profile

The Police Department of Memphis, Tennessee, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Larry Goldwin served as Director of the Memphis Police Department between 2004 and 2011. Larry Godwin then served as Deputy Commissioner at the State of Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security between 2011 and 2016. Larry Goldwin attended a training in Israel as a delegate of the Homeland Security International Conference in 2010. Larry Godwin is credited with instituting the “Blue CRUSH” predictive policing system at the Memphis Police Department which targets high-crime “hotspots” resulting in increased policing of low-income communities of color.

In an ABC24 News report on his trip to Israel, Larry Godwin talked about his “Blue CRUSH” program and how he would use his training to bring Israeli techniques back home to implement in the Memphis Police Department:

“We’re going to try to incorporate some things here. We’re doing a lot of it, but there’s still some other things we can do, technology-wise. I picked up some very good information. – Larry Godwin, Memphis Police Director
Map

No Records Found
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.

Google Map Not Loaded
Sorry, unable to load Google Maps API.