Deputy Commissioner Ricky Rich of the Georgia Department of Driver Services, a Gainesville native, recently returned from Israel after an intensive two-week public safety and counterterrorism training with the country’s top policing executives.

Rich was among 20 senior law enforcement officials from Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee taking part in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange’s 25th annual peer-to-peer training program in partnership with Israel.

Rich was appointed deputy commissioner of DDS in February. He retired from the Gainesville Police Department with 20 years of service. He also served 16 years with the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety as the law enforcement services director and as director of investigations for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.