International Law Enforcement Academy in San Salvador (ILEA) graduated 41 law enforcement officers from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panamá and El Salvador under the “Law Enforcement and Leadership Development Program.”
This six week course was designed to enhance the participants’ leadership and management skills, and foster regional law enforcement cooperation. Among the specific topics addressed during the course were countering drug trafficking, terrorism, conducting criminal and financial investigations, and human rights. One participant commented, “The issues we addressed were very diverse. We had issues ranging from human trafficking to the detection of counterfeit currency because it is all a part of what the organized crime syndicates are is doing.” She added that the training received would be helpful in “better analyzing cases in the future.”
Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Amy Archibald, told the graduating class that they now have a network of contacts throughout the region that can assist them in their investigations. She emphasized, “Each one of the countries represented here today are working together to build fairer societies and contribute to the rule of law.”
To date, ILEA San Salvador has trained 2,481 Salvadoran law enforcement professionals and more than 12,000 at the regional level through 259 specialized courses and 43 Leadership Development Programs.