Scott Rogers The Times Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic discusses a working trip to Israel where he learned security and antiterrorism techniques used by Israeli police forces.

Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic stood at an outpost on the edge of the Gaza Strip bordering southern Israel last month with the sights, sounds and smells of battle all around him.

Israeli tanks shelled the region in response to Kasam rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamic faction Hamas, while surveillance blimps hovered overhead. Nearby, Cronic noticed a scene that seemed out of place.

"There was a store where people were buying ice cream and getting gas," he said. "They were just going on with their lives. They don't let those things disrupt their lives."

Cronic traveled to Israel as part of the two-week Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, a federally funded program run by Georgia State University. The 16-member contingent visited the country to study the counterterrorism techniques and emergency management methods of their Israeli counterparts. Two years ago, Israeli police visited Hall County.

The Americans came home with a new perspective on life in Israel, and life in the United States, the sheriff said.

"I came away from it with the idea that there are certainly a lot of things they do better by necessity, and certain things we do better," Cronic said.

In Israel, checkpoints and armed guards abound. Even teenage girls are part of the national commitment to tight security.

"I saw two young ladies one day on the street, and the only difference between these two and a couple of American teenagers was they had M-16 (assault rifles) slung across their shoulders," the sheriff said. "That's a different kind of life."

At Jerusalem's Western Wall, a guard stands at the ready with his handgun drawn at all times.

The extreme measures appear to bring results, Cronic said. Since the construction of a three-tiered security barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel, suicide bombings decreased from 200 in one year to three the next, he said. In contrast to American law enforcement, the Israelis national police force doesn't have the same concerns over legal liabilities.

The loss of certain civil liberties is a trade-off for the security, Cronic said.

"We pay for our freedoms by being vulnerable," he said. "It all depends on how much freedom people want, versus how much security they want -- and that's decided by the people.

"American police are much more cognizant of civil liberties, whereas (Israeli police) have to be more cognizant of mass killings."

Cronic noted a conversation he had with an Israeli couple who previously lived in Atlanta and how their children walked home at night through an Israeli city.

"They said when they lived in Atlanta, they never had to worry about their house being hit by a rocket, but they would never have let their children walk home at night."

Israel, a country steeled by decades of shaky relations with its neighbors, has become a nation of tight security by necessity, Cronic said. The terrorism of regular suicide bombings hasn't reached American soil.

"These are catastrophic events you hope you never have to deal with, but you have to be prepared for," said Cronic, who reviewed numerous case studies of Israeli terror incidents. "We always hope for the best, but have to prepare for the worst."

Contact: sgurr@gainesvilletimes.com, (770) 718-3428.

Originally published Sunday, June 10, 2007