St. Petersburg 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 St. Petersburg, Florida, is among the departments that have sent delegates to Israel. Melanie Bevan served as Assistant Chief of St. Petersburg Police Department until 2016. Assistant Chief Bevan attended a training in Israel with the ADL as a delegate of the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in March 2012. Bevan was appointed by the governor to the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking in 2016 and will be on the Council till June 30, 2018. Bevan is currently the Chief of Bradenton Police Department, where she has served since 2016. Th Bradenton Police Department was alleged by the NAACP to have subjected Black residents to potential racial profiling and other historic abuses.