Design of Facilities of ILEA San Salvador Unveiled
February 8, 2008

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Ambassador Charles L. Glazer and Minister for Public Security and Justice Rene Figueroa  at the presentation of the new ILEA building design. From Left to right: Felix Garrid Safie, Attorney General, Connie Patrick, FLETC Director, Christy McCampbell  DAS for INL, Ambassador Glazer, Minister Figueroa and Ulices de Dios Guzman, Magistrate of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Court.

On February 7, Ambassador Charles L. Glazer, along with Salvadoran Minister of Public Security and Justice Rene Figueroa, unveiled the building design for the International Law Enforcement Academy San Salvador, “ILEA”.

The U.S. Government was also represented by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Christy McCampbell and the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLECT), Connie Patrick.

During the event, the US officials presented a plaque to the Salvadoran Government honoring El Salvador for its ongoing commitment for the creation of the Academy that will help train law enforcement officers from all over the Western Hemisphere.

Salvadoran Minister of Public Security and Justice Figueroa thanked the U.S. for its generous support of international efforts to combat crime, including the substantial funds it is investing in construction and functioning of ILEA San Salvador, over 7 million dollars. 

US Ambassador Glazer said in his remarks that “the Academy will not only help to better prepare our police officers, but it will also become a place where the people responsible for law enforcement can meet and exchange ideas on how to fight this criminal scourge that threatens all our countries”.

The construction of these facilities will be done in three stages. The first stage will include the construction of a three-story building, measuring forty thousand square feet, which will include classrooms, administrative offices and a conference center. It will also have two conference rooms with simultaneous translation capacity as well as several smaller classrooms for specialized training and education activities. Up to one hundred students will be able to take classes at the academy on a daily basis.

Landscaping, parking and the installation of the facility’s security features are also part of the first stage of construction. The second stage includes the construction of the facility’s dormitories and dining facility while the final stage deals with the construction of recreational facilities and a student center equipped with multimedia features.

Since its creation, the academy has provided several specialized courses that range from how to deal with gangs, trafficking of people, domestic violence, crimes committed against the environment and many others. Over five hundred representatives from twenty four countries from the Western Hemisphere received training in El Salvador in 2007.

The United States established the ILEA program in order to fight against international crimes such as drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism by providing  high quality training to members of law enforcement agencies throughout the world. The first ILEA facility was established in Budapest, Hungary in 1995. It was followed by the academy in Bangkok, Thailand in 1999 and another opened on Gaborone, Botswana on 2001. The Post-Graduate Academy was established on 2001 in Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.A.

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