A Visit to ILEA, not to be Confused with IKEA.

ILEA classroom building; part of the campus!

After a series of field studies lectures in the old Corvinus building, the program coordinators took a leap of faith and let JSBP out of our cage—this Wednesday, we went to Buda to visit the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA).  I didn’t know what to expect from this excursion, and was pleasantly surprised by the experience.

Our visit started bizarrely.  Without any sort of introduction, context, or explanation of where we were and why we were there, we were on a tour of the ILEA campus.  It felt like taking a tour of a college campus.  We saw their café, billiards room, tactical annex, and exercise areas before ending up in a lecture hall.  Finally, the relevance to this trip was revealed to us. 

ILEA is what it sounds like—further law enforcement training for international officers.  ILEA is a sixteen year old academy that conducts eight week law enforcement development programs throughout the year in addition to seminars for about 250 students annually.  There are four ILEAs across the globe, with locations in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.  ILEA is funded by the U.S. State Department as a way to forge relationships with international law enforcement, and trains officers using American techniques—which we found out are uncommon in Europe.  American agents from the FBI, CIA, IRS, and other agencies often come in and out of ILEA to offer their expertise, and all classes are taught in English although sixteen languages are recognized and used on the campus. 

I think that the whole ILEA initiative is an innovative idea.  It’s important to build international relationships across the board.  ILEA graduates have acted as points of contact for American agencies with foreign cases and investigations, and all parties benefit from the manifested relationships of the program.  We had the opportunity to speak with Deputy Director Thomas Stocking, and the Director John Terpinas, who are both on three-year assignments at ILEA.  They are both Americans overseeing the success of the academy and had a lot of good things to say about the benefits of ILEA.  Being important staff for ILEA, they may have been biased, but in a quickly globalizing world, their arguments to maintain and fund this program seemed pragmatic to me.

I really like this graphic.  It shows the output of ILEA students through 2008.  Without the "Other" countries, there are 29 participating nations along with the 27 member states of the EU.  It's interesting to see how law enforcement agents from all these different nations participate in ILEA.

They addressed the criticism that an American might have about the State Department funding the training of foreign police in saying that the money spent on ILEA is well-spent, as opposed to other government expenditures. The example that they used was that the military has more musicians than the State Department has diplomats.  What have our priorities become?  I think more Americans ought to know that little piece of information, as it definitely brings up relevant government expenditure issues.  I believe that more money needs to be pumped into programs like these that create better relationships with other nations.  The world is only getting smaller and the United States will always play controversial roles abroad, as the arms of our government reach far into the depths of foreign affairs—why don’t we spend more money on creating good relationships and solidify our potential for a stable future.

ILEA Budapest Logo!

I have mixed feelings about our discussion with Stocking and Terpinas.  After information regarding the duties of the “locally engaged staff,” our talk veered into a discussion about working for the State Department.  Both men have had successful careers—Stocking in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and Terpinas in the FBI.  It was fascinating to hear about a life within the State Department—a reiteration of the things that we’d learned from Jay Truesdale.  It was interesting to hear the dialogue between Terpinas and Nellie, due to her interest of a career in the FBI.  His experiences, along with Stocking, painted a clear picture of what to expect, as her potential future becomes a more real possibility.    

To their credit, both Stocking and Terpinas were optimistic about our futures, and gave us some really good advice regarding life after college.  Terpinas really emphasized the fact that we should not limit our options, something that I think more of us need to realize.  But I was more discomforted by the discussion about how social media will come back to bite us, and the underlying message of “have as much fun as you want, and do what you want, but don’t get caught.”  It puts a bad taste in my mouth, and I think it is somewhat off-putting at times.  As college students who are all willing to work for our success, it can be frustrating to hear that engaging in typical young adult behavior or having a Facebook will indeed limit our options.  It left me somewhat disillusioned of the system—something I don’t want to be at this age with so much to offer the world.

Another thing about this excursion:
we walked away with souvenirs!
Information pamphlet, Thomas Stocking's
business card, a pin with the ILEA logo, and
an ILEA pen!  Free things!

Overall, this was a very insightful trip to the great ILEA, and a great discussion with two important ILEA officials.  As always, I’m grateful for the opportunity to sit with these busy men and learn about programs and agencies that I’d never heard about or considered.  It seems to have become a theme in my blog, but I think my experience abroad is consistently being defined by the career opportunities that exist for us that not too many college students know about or are exposed to.  Whether on my travels or on the field excursions, it’s been really something to feel like I’m really getting something out of this: whether it be new options to consider or a sense of optimism for my future, I’m definitely wiser for this whole experience.  With only a month left in Budapest, I will definitely try to soak up everything around me. 

For those of you who are following my travels, I’ll be travelling to Krakow, Poland tomorrow and visiting Auschwitz this weekend.

Live and Learn.