San Diego County Sheriff’s 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.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is another organization that organizes and sponsors these trainings. 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.

Another organization that also organizes and sponsors these trainings is the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF). The AIEF is a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States. AIEF is AIPAC’s charitable arm and makes grants to AIPAC as well as funds trips to Israel for politically influential Americans, including U.S. Congress members, for meetings with the Israeli political and military elite. In 2017 alone, AIEF sponsored 147 congressional trips to Israel and spent $2.16 million, more than any other interest group sponsoring congressional travel.

The Sheriff’s Department of San Diego County, California, is among the departments that have sent delegates to and hosted delegates from Israel. Over the years, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Departments has sent several officers to train in Israel, including Earl Wentworth, Patricia Duke, Michael Barnett, and Peter Callewaert.

Earl Wentworth served as Assistant Sheriff of San Diego County until 2008. Assistant Sheriff Earl Wentworth attended a training in Israel with JINSA as a delegate of the LEEP program in 2006. In an article on San Diego area police shootings, his name was mentioned in reference to further contact on citizen concerns.

Patricia Duke served as Assistant Sheriff and then as Commander of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department until 2015. In 2013, Assistant Sheriff Patricia Duke attended a $10,000 training in Israel through AIPAC as a delegate of the AIEF. She was the departments first woman to run the Law Enforcement Services Bureau.

Michael Barnett served as Undersheriff and Commander of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. In 2013, Undersheriff Michael Barnett attended a training in Israel with the ADL as a delegate of the Western States Counterterrorism Training Seminar, modeled after the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar. Their training included a stop at the Assaf Winery in the occupied Golan Heights. In 2015, he was appointed as the assistant sheriff for the Law Enforcement Services Bureau, overseeing all emergency and regional services for the county of San Diego, as well as police services in the 9 cities that contract with the sheriff for law enforcement services and the 107 unincorporated communities in the county.

In 2015, Israel National Police Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld led a training for 150 law enforcement officials from all over San Diego County.

Peter Callewaert continues to serve as a Commander of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. In 2016, Commander Peter Callewaert attended a training in Israel with the ADL as a delegate of the Western States Counter-Terrorism Seminar in Tel Aviv. Peter Callewaert serves as the Commander of Human Resources and in the Law Enforcement Services Bureau as the Investigations Commander. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department website, his responsibilities include management of the Central Investigations Division (Homicide, Child Abuse, SAFE, CATCH, ICAC, Juvenile, Financial Crimes and Elder Abuse) and the Special Investigations Division (Intelligence and Task Force Operations).