Mesa Police Department

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 Police Department of Mesa, Arizona, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. George Gascón served as Chief of Mesa Police Department between 2006 and 2009, and attended a training in Israel with the ADL as a delegate of the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in September 2008. Gascón became Chief of San Francisco Police Department in 2009. He was also the assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and a key advisor to LAPD Chief William “Bill” Bratton. Gascón has served as San Francisco’s District Attorney since 2011.