Edmonton police chief’s trip to Israel draws criticism and support

Edmonton police (EPS) chief Warren Driechel’s trip to Israel, in February, drew criticism even as some Edmontonians defended it.

Driechel visited police agencies in Israel last month during a trip funded by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an independent group of police executives from cities across the U.S. and Canada.

“The best we can understand how these things are happening in other countries around the world, again, that are really impacting our communities at home,” Driechel said.

The chief also called the trip a valuable opportunity to learn how police in Israel were building connections with both Muslim and Jewish communities.

“We’re close to 700 protests last year, and some of them are driven by not just what’s occurring in the Middle East, but around the globe,” Dreichel said.

Dan Jones, a former Edmonton police officer and criminologist at Norquest College, said while learning to connect with different communities was important, he questioned the EPS chief’s choice of Israel for those lessons.

“I would look at places like the United Kingdom and different places that are that are very well known for that community-based policing initiatives,” Jones said. “Israel is not one of them.”

On Wednesday, 26 mosques and Muslim organizations in Edmonton sent a joint letter to the police commission, saying Dreichel’s trip had caused “deep pain” for those affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

The letter added the police chief’s trip “demonstrates a serious failure of judgment toward the communities he is sworn to serve and protect.”

Nour Salhi of the Palestinian Student Alliance at MacEwan University expressed skepticism about Driechel’s trip.

“If (he wanted) to connect with Muslim communities, I’d invite him to actually talk to Muslims here in our city,” Salhi said. “He’s not going to find them over there unless he’s talking to Palestinians.”

The pro-Palestinian group also denounced the way EPS had handled protestors on campuses.

“When they come to these protests, they will threaten students with arrest,” Salhi said.

However, some Edmontonians like Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of Jewish Federation of Edmonton, saw the police chief’s trip as meaningful.

“Certainly, I appreciate it,” Leavitt-Wright said. “We’re a very small community in Edmonton.”

She added that the trip was important in the wake of multiple shootings which targeted synagogues in the Toronto area.

“We saw some arrests here in December where people are being inspired by and picking up on the hate that’s expressed by an anti-Israel movement, so having him go and experience Israel and having him humanize it in many ways is very important,” Leavitt-Wright said.

Driechel, though, doesn’t expect any changes in the police response to protests in the city as a result of his trip.

“I think our response has been balanced, I think it’s been collaborative,” Driechel explained.

“It’s eye opening to see what goes on around the world and how other police agencies, police leaders are being faced with the things that they have to deal with in their communities.”