The Los Angeles Police Department has a transparency problem that goes far beyond typical bureaucratic foot-dragging. When high-ranking officers fly across the ocean to consult with the Israeli National Police, they aren’t just swapping stories over coffee. They’re engaging in high-level tactical exchanges funded by taxpayer-supported budgets or private foundations that bypass public oversight. Yet, when you ask what they actually learned or how those tactics are being applied to the streets of South L.A. or Van Nuys, the answer is a resounding shrug. It’s a total information vacuum.
Public records requests regarding these delegations often come back redacted or empty. Officials claim they can’t explain the specific curriculum or the "perceived benefits" of the training. This isn’t just a paperwork error. It’s a systemic failure to account for how foreign military-style policing influences domestic law enforcement. If the LAPD is sending its brass to a country known for its intense counter-terrorism and surveillance infrastructure, the citizens of Los Angeles have a right to know which of those "lessons" are coming home with them. Also making news lately: The Kinetic Deficit Dynamics of Pakistan Afghanistan Cross Border Conflict.
The mystery of the missing curriculum
The LAPD has participated in these exchange programs for years. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) often facilitate these trips. They bill them as opportunities to study counter-terrorism and emergency management. On the surface, that sounds like a standard professional development goal for a city that hosts the Oscars and the 2028 Olympics.
However, the lack of a paper trail is staggering. In many instances, there are no formal reports required upon return. No debriefing documents. No manuals. You’d think an agency that prides itself on data-driven policing would want to document the return on investment for a multi-thousand-mile trip. Instead, we get vague statements about "networking" and "best practices." Additional details into this topic are explored by Al Jazeera.
This creates a massive accountability gap. When a police department adopts new surveillance technology or crowd-control tactics, there should be a clear line of sight to where those ideas originated. If those ideas come from a military-occupied context, that's a detail the public needs to chew on. Without documentation, the LAPD can essentially "launder" controversial tactics through these overseas trips, bringing them back as vague "modern strategies" without ever having to defend the specific source.
Why military policing doesn't translate to civil service
Israel’s security forces operate in a context that is fundamentally different from a domestic American police department. They are often dealing with military threats and border security. The LAPD, conversely, is supposed to be a community-oriented service. When you blur those lines, you get "warrior-style" policing.
Critics of these programs, including groups like Stop LAPD Spying, argue that these exchanges encourage a "suspect-based" view of the general public. If you train in an environment where everyone is a potential combatant, you're going to bring that mindset back to the neighborhood. This isn't just theory. We’ve seen the results in the way the LAPD handles protests and uses high-tech surveillance drones.
- Surveillance tech: Much of the predictive policing software and hardware used by the LAPD has roots in Israeli defense startups.
- Crowd control: The physical maneuvers used to "kettle" or break up protests often mirror tactics used in the West Bank.
- Intelligence gathering: The integration of various data streams into a single "Command Center" is a hallmark of the Israeli model.
The problem is that the LAPD won't admit these connections. They'll tell you they developed their strategies independently or through "standard industry evolution." But the timing and the personnel involved in these Israel trips suggest otherwise. It's a classic case of hiding in plain sight.
The private funding loophole
One reason the LAPD gets away with this lack of disclosure is the way these trips are paid for. Often, it's not "public" money in the sense of a direct line item in the city budget. Private donors and non-profits pick up the tab. This allows the department to argue that the trips are "gifts" rather than official business subject to the same rigorous reporting as a city-funded seminar in Sacramento.
This is a dangerous precedent. If private interests can fund the "education" of our highest police officials, who are those officials actually beholden to? It creates a shadow department that operates outside the reach of the Police Commission or the City Council.
We’ve seen this before with the Los Angeles Police Foundation. They buy tech—like license plate readers or specialized software—that the City Council hasn't vetted. The Israel trips are the intellectual version of that. They are importing ideas and philosophies that haven't been "purchased" by the public, so the public feels it has no right to see the receipt.
What the public actually needs to see
Fixing this isn't about banning all international travel. It’s about basic transparency. If an officer goes on a trip, there should be a mandatory, publicly accessible report filed within thirty days of their return.
This report needs to include:
- A day-by-day itinerary of all sites visited.
- A list of all instructors and their military or police backgrounds.
- Copies of all handouts, presentations, or digital materials received.
- A specific "Impact Statement" explaining how this training will change LAPD policy.
Anything less is just a taxpayer-subsidized vacation at best, or a secret radicalization into militarized tactics at worst. The "we can't explain it" excuse is offensive to the people who pay the salaries of these officers. If you can't explain what you learned, you shouldn't have gone in the first place.
Why this matters for the 2028 Olympics
The urgency of this issue is ramping up as L.A. prepares for the world stage. The 2028 Olympics will be the biggest "security event" in the city's history. The LAPD is already looking for excuses to beef up its surveillance and "incident management" capabilities. You can bet that the lessons learned in Israel—where mass event security is a science—are being baked into the Olympic plan right now.
If we don't demand a clear accounting of these exchange programs today, the security state we see in 2028 will be a permanent fixture of the city long after the athletes leave. We're talking about facial recognition, massive data collection, and a "zero-tolerance" approach to public gatherings.
The LAPD needs to stop treating its training like a state secret. It's a city department, not a branch of the military. It's time to start acting like it.
Demand your City Council representative move for an audit of all privately funded international police travel. Ask for the "After Action Reports" that supposedly don't exist. If the LAPD truly has nothing to hide, they should be proud to show the city exactly what they're learning overseas.
