High-ranking Israeli police officials visited the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday to check out how local authorities get things done.

The visit was part of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, program. The initiative is a joint project of Georgia State University and local, state, federal and international law enforcement agencies.

The group toured the sheriff's north precinct and the Forsyth County Public Safety Complex.

GILEE Founding Director Robert Friedmann said the delegation visited the Hall County Sheriff's Office earlier Tuesday and also planned to call on the Marietta Police Department.

He said the tours are part of a 16-year-old law enforcement executive development program.

"It trains command staff on a peer-to-peer basis and internationally," he said. "The reason we are in Forsyth County is that we want to expose visitors to sources of excellence."

The group also visits federal, state, urban and rural agencies as part of the program, Friedmann said.

"We try to cover the whole gamut of American law enforcement," he said.

Sheriff's Capt. Mark Flowers, commander of the north precinct, fielded questions from the delegates on Forsyth's law enforcement techniques during the precinct tour.

They asked about a variety of issues, including information gathering and goals.

Flowers said the department has "reduced our burglaries in three years by 52 percent" through its Statistical Tracking And Resource, or STAR, plan.

Flowers said the three major property crimes in Forsyth County are burglaries, entering auto and vehicle thefts.

"By tracking those three major crimes, we've reduced other crimes," he said.

The delegates also toured the sheriff's crisis negotiation vehicle and mobile command unit.

Sheriff's Capt. Frank Huggins said after the tour that the group heard a presentation on the STAR plan. The program is designed to provide commanders, supervisors and patrol beat deputies with crime data on a weekly basis.

According to a statement from Georgia State, the two-week program also includes a briefing by Richard Terrill, professor emeritus at the school, on United States law enforcement.

They also visit other the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the National Guard, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Department of Public Safety.