Obama anti-crime strategy: Police officers from corrupt nations trained in U.S.
Obama anti-crime strategy: Police officers from corrupt nations trained in U.S.
August 3, 2015
9:00 PM MST
Law enforcement students from Honduras and the Dominican Republic on Friday were the latest graduates of the transnational criminal investigators program offered by the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.The 24 Latin American police officers -- 12 from Honduras and 12 from the Dominican Republic -- graduated Friday following FLETC training that was hosted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI instructors have trained hundreds of international law enforcement officials from about a dozen countries.
According to ICE officials, the graduates were trained to join the fight against transnational criminal organizations after spending nearly three weeks in classroom seminars and practical exercises as part of the ITAT program. This officials claim that only vetted foreign law enforcement officers are given the same training that the HSI’s special agents receive.
But many American police and intelligence experts question the wisdom of the U.S. training police officers from nations with sordid reputations. For example, The murder rate in Honduras has held the title of the world's highest since 2009, was ranked the 49th most corrupt country in the world. In fact, corruption scandals in Honduras continue to grow amid protest movements calling for the ouster of the country's president, according to Latin American news media. And the Dominican Republic is a nation with a disgraceful record of government corruption and drug trafficking.
The American experts point to the U.S. experience with training Mexican military and police personnel. Los Zetas Cartel originally functioned as protection for other cartels but now they've complicated security matters even more. These former Mexican police and military members, some of whom were actually trained by the United States in counter-narcotics and special operations, have become a separate drug cartel and in many cases turned on the very gangs they were hired to protect.
More:
http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-anti-crime-strategy-police-officers-from-corrupt-nations-trained-u-s