Atlanta Police to Meet With Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

From the Atlanta Police Department

Since 2011, the Atlanta Police Department has partnered with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) on various initiatives to support law enforcement and anti-crime efforts. On June 1, 2015 INL Assistant Secretary William R. Brownfield will meet with Chief George Turner to discuss the Department’s training of partner nations on building effective rule of law and criminal justice and combating hate crimes. After the meeting, they will provide press with an update on the partnership and the Atlanta Police Department’s role in addressing bias-motivated violence targeting LGBT persons overseas.

INL is a supporter of the Atlanta Police Department’s work on LGBT issues and successfully nominated them to serve as a panelist at a White House forum on Combatting Bias-Motivated Violence around the World. Members of the Department will discuss domestic and international efforts, programs and practices that are addressing violence against LGBT communities abroad on June 12, 2015.

“The partnership we have with Department of State INL Bureau these last few years has had a tremendous impact on the officers who participated,” said Chief George Turner. “It is humbling to share our training and knowledge with the world.”

In June 2014, INL asked the Atlanta Police Department to attend the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in San Salvador, El Salvador to teach 35 criminal justice officials from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, and Mexico about bias-motivated violent hate crimes directed at vulnerable populations, especially the LGBT community.

On June 6, 2015, three Atlanta Police Officers will head back to ILEA in San Salvador to repeat their training on countering hate crimes for representatives from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Peru, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador.

Beyond the ILEA trainings, Atlanta Police and the State Department have partnered in several other instances. In April 2015, Officer Eric King conducted a presentation in Washington, DC on the Atlanta Police Department’s efforts with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) community for State Department and interagency colleagues.

In May 2013, during INL’s Partner Appreciation Ceremony, the Atlanta Police Department was recognized with an Assistant Secretary Award along with others for their important contributions to the Department of State’s police programs.

In December 2012, the Atlanta Police Department hosted a study tour for a group of female Pakistani Police Officers who were interested in the role of women in policing, recruitment of women, training of women, and women serving as officers or in command level positions. They had an opportunity to meet women at all levels of leadership and to ride along with female patrol officers from different zones.

Earlier in 2012, Capt. William Gourley and Sgt. Warren Pickard traveled to Timor-Leste to assist with the development of that fledgling nation’s police department. While there, Capt. Gourley and Sgt. Pickard created training curricula and taught classes on various matters related to law enforcement.