U.S. policing practices focus of international visit

Wright State, recognized for its commitment to international relations, is a member of the acclaimed National Council for International Visitors.

A delegation of officials from South America, Central America,  Mexico and Haiti are visiting Dayton and Wright State University to study U.S. policing practices in hopes of increasing community security.

The 12-member delegation represents Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The visit is part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program through Wright State’s Dayton Council of International Visitors.

The project involves observing police practices, examining the relationship between fighting crime and protecting the rights of the public, and studying how community security can be increased through planning, communication and the use of volunteers.

The group will be at Wright State on July 26 to hear presentations from Dayton police on community policing and on the Neighborhood Assistance Officers Training Program. Later, the delegation will be in Dayton for a presentation by Dayton City Commissioner Joey Williams.

On July 29, the delegation will be at Good Samaritan Hospital to learn about the Phoenix Project, a public-private partnership that is investing millions of dollars for redevelopment activities in the hospital’s neighborhood.

The group includes Ivonne Andrea Rosas Orellana, head of the Municipal Public Safety Office in Los Andes, Chile; Capt. Jose Gregorio Blanco Causil, military management coordinator for Regional Consolidation in Tumaco, Colombia; Capt. Henry Alexander Leal Velasquez, police officer for the National Police in Colombia; Luis Rolando Mich De Leon, director of the Guatemalan National Tourist Assistance Program; Maismy-Mary Fleurant, human rights officer for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti; Kelvin Fabricio Aguirre Cordova, head of the human rights unit of the Ministry of Security in Honduras; Lourdes Alejandra Hernandez Quan, founder of the Honduran Youth Movement Against Violence; Jose De Jesus Garcia Alvarado, a journalist with Local News, El Norte/Grupo Reforma in Mexico; Maj. Raymundo Barroso Guardado, head of the riot control unit of the Panama National Police; German Aguilar, primary assistant to the Police Commandant in Paraguay; Maj. Patricia Aleida Gallegos, chief of police, Women’s Police Station, Collique, Lima, Peru; and Capt. Luis Eduardo Murana Fernandez of the Guardia Metropolitana Police Riot and SWAT Unit in Uruguay.