Offices and Departments
International Law Enforcement Academy
September 13, 2002Background Information on ILEA
An ILEA is a cooperative effort between a host-country government and the Government of the United States of America that serves a broad range of law enforcement purposes for the United States and for the world. In addition to helping protect citizens and businesses through strengthened international cooperation and training in transnational crime fighting, an ILEA serves to buttress democratic guidance through the rule of law; enhance the functioning of free markets through improved legislation and law enforcement; and increase social, political, and economic stability through crime prevention.
The first ILEA was established in Budapest, Hungary, under the leadership of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1995. A second ILEA, under the leadership of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was opened in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1998. There is also an ILEA in New Mexico that serves as an academy for graduates of other ILEAs. ILEA Gaborone is the third ILEA opened outside the United States. It was set up under the leadership of the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), whose parent organization is now the U.S. Department of Home Land Security.
The establishment of an ILEA in southern Africa was first discussed in 1998. After an initial assessment of four countries, Botswana was chosen as the site for ILEA Africa. The bilateral agreement with the Government of Botswana as the partnering host government was signed on July 24, 2000. The result is ILEA Gaborone, which serves all of sub-Saharan Africa.
ILEA Gaborone is headed by a program director, named and funded by the United States, and a managing director and deputy managing director named and funded by the Government of Botswana.
Initially, ILEA Gaborone will provide training for middle managers in criminal justice fields from countries that are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). As ILEA Gaborone develops, participants from other sub-Saharan countries will be invited to participate in ILEA Gaborone training courses.
The training faculty for ILEA will be drawn from a cross-section of U.S. Federal law enforcement agencies, U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the international law enforcement community. ILEA training programs will include a six-week core curriculum, offered approximately four times per year; special courses, approximately two weeks in length; and senior management conferences designed to disseminate vital crime control information to participants who are at the policy-making levels of government.
The core curriculum of ILEA Gaborone will follow the model developed in the successful ILEAs in Budapest and Bangkok and will provide courses on a wide range of law enforcement skills: counter-terrorism, forensics, basic case management, fighting organized crime, supervisory police training, police strategy, narcotics identification and evidence handling, customs interdiction, illegal immigration, and public corruption, among others.
Click here to access ILEA-Gaborone site.
