Yesterday the JSBPer’s headed to the end of the red line metro accompanied by guest Professor Bobby Eckstein (one of my favorite professors at UNH) to the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA). It was an interesting, exciting and very informative field studies experience, especially because it was filled with a small tour of the academy, as well as an hour and a half lecture from four of the main representatives of ILEA. Since I am not specifically interested in law enforcement I didn’t know how much I would enjoy this fields studies, but I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the day was and how enjoyable it was to hear about the training, work and specialties involved within ILEA. I think my favorite part of the whole morning was hearing the quirky and energetic director of ILEA Mr. John Teripenas speak.
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| This is the logo for ILEA - we were all fortunate enough to receive a pin just like this as a parting gift! |
The ILEA in Hungary was established in 1995 between the US and Hungary and since then has really made a name for itself, becoming one of the best Academy’s in the world. It was also the first international program that was developed across seas. There are three other ILEA’s throughout the world, the others are located in South America, Asia and Africa. ILEA was made to foster relationships between regional agencies and cooperation and relationships were continually a central part of the presentation and entire day at the academy. It was an important part of the day because patience, acceptance, and open-mindedness are aspects that each member of the academy must possess because of the many different cultures, races, nationalities, and genders present within ILEA. To help bring the students together the academy uses the idea that they all have one enemy, crime. With this focus the academy can present current ideas, training and topics rather than worrying about the problems of the past that countries such as Greece and Turkey may have. This must be seemingly ignored so that the students can all accomplish their common goal of their training leading to elimination of crime.
I thought that these ideas were very interesting because it must be hard to always keep the students peaceful, especially because of some of their past hatred. John Teripenas told us that his father is Greek and he still hates the Turks to this day, but basically has no idea why. Also another speaker, “TB” told us of a couple crazy fights that happened when he first joined the academy about 8 years ago. He explained that one guy whipped his shoes with another member countrys flag and that during the night the guy who had his flag whipped on the other guys shoes went out and bought an ax and killed him! That is horrible! At first I couldn’t believe that, but then considering it more, it makes perfect sense. Killing was definitely extreme but from the European history we have learned, it isn’t far off. I know that if I was a Hungarian Jew whose family members were killed, burned, and destroyed by the Nazi’s, anytime I met or saw a Nazi I would be appalled and not want to have anything to do with them, especially work in a classroom with them. Overall, I can only imagine how tough this can be within the academy. The good news is that things like this have really calmed down because newer generations are not being directly effected by the past, therefore their hostility is decreased…hopefully. The academy also tries to pair countries together that won’t have problems while they are studying and training, for example, one group who works together Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Hopefully these three countries can be patient with each other and get along.
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| This is the outside of the ILEA building - shows the many different countries which study here. We learned there were 16 different languages among the students - fascinating. |
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| One of the walls outside of the classroom we were in. Many plaques of accomplishments within the Academy - I didn't get to get a really close look but I thought it was still very great to see. |
Another interesting part of the experience, yet different than I expected was the tactical house on the campus. During the tour of the campus we entered a building where there were different scenes set up so that the ILEA students can practice real scenarios and staged arrests. I imagined something more realistic than what I saw but it was still interesting and must still be really helpful for the students. The police officers can improve their survival skills and conduct room searches, among other things in this tactical house. Stimulated practice must be really helpful.
Overall, really great field experience, especially because it was great to get back out into Budapest and see some hands-on things in the justice studies field. It was also great to see Nellie’s interest and happiness in the subject since she wants to potentially be involved in the FBI!
Here is the website which has more information on the organization - http://www.ilea.hu/
This isn't a video of ILEA in Budapest but this is of FBI law enforcement training - the video gives a good idea of what the students at ILEA are doing, specifically at the tactical house.
Sarbear, I’ve neglected to post on your blog for a while, save your Greece post, but your blog this week warrants a response! When I was reading your thoughts about the importance of acceptance, and it occurred to me that while it is important for students of ILEA to be able to work together and get past their cultural differences, this is something that really applies to all of us on a grander scale. As painful as cultural memories may be, we should not allow current relationships to be crippled by any of this. It’s beneficial to these students, just as it is beneficial to us while studying abroad, to come into contact with the culture clash. I think that’s something that’s really great about the fact that the State Department funds something as important as ILEA. I love the idea of fostering these tenuous relationships into strong relationships.
ReplyDeleteP.S. The back of the bus is more fun.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteNice entry, I liked how you had discussed "TB"'s story about the conflict with two recruits from different countries. I think that cultural differences and discrimination do nothing but weigh us down as a society, and hope that programs like ILEA will work in breaking down those boundaries. I think it was wishful thinking when Terpinas had said that he hoped that opposing countries could come to ILEA and work together, even when his counterparts disagreed this would be a bad idea.
The video you had on the tactical training for the FBI was interesting, and tied together the training ILEA students faced well. The tactical house was pretty cool.
-Jake