While police work around the clock, senior command heads on a retreat

While the Israel Police is dealing with a heavy workload of tasks, criminal incidents, and crime challenges, it turns out that in recent days the police leadership went on a team-building retreat in the north. The Police Commissioner decided to take the superintendents for two days of joint activities at a holiday village in the north, with the program including: cooking workshops, sports activities, and swimming in the sea.

This move sparked criticism among police sources, who claim that in the current period, and after a large portion of the police officers have already gone on summer and annual vacations, this is an inappropriate decision. "It is not serious and one cannot conduct business this way," said a police source. "When the leadership goes on a retreat, the burden remains on the officer in the field who is forced to deal with the workload and the shortage of manpower."

According to the critics, precisely at a time when the police are required to have a high presence in the field, it was expected that the senior command would send a different message. On the other hand, police sources claim that this is a professional team-building activity intended to strengthen staff work and coordination between members of the senior command staff, and that even senior commanders need time together outside of the routine.