Philadelphia Police Department

The Police Department of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Over the years, the Philadelphia Police Department has sent several officers to train in Israel.

Captain Walt Smith and Officer Thomas J. Lynch attended a training in Israel with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia in February 2006. In addition, officials from the department attended a training in Israel in January 2003 titled “Law Enforcement in the Era of Global Terror.” Smith served as Captain and Commanding Officer of the Homeland Security Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department at the time of the trip. As of 2018, he is the Commander of the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a fusion center that analyzes data and shares resources from public and private law enforcement and security agencies.

According to the ACLU, fusion centers can employ officials from federal, state and local law enforcement and homeland security agencies, as well as other state and local government entities, the federal intelligence community, the military and even private companies, to spy on Americans in virtually complete secrecy.