Interagency Sharing System

It is very important that each echelon understands one another limitations and roles and responsibilities in the greater scheme of domestic and national intelligence. Despite increased communication between local law enforcement and federal intelligence agencies, problems can arise relating to coordination and cooperation because the two communities possess different rules, objectives, different sources and methods, and different standards regarding the quality of intelligence they

DHS has supported this idea of intelligence centers or information analysis centers by having a “renewed commitment to creating a robust, nationwide network of fusion centers to share and analyze data on citizens and others.”1 As of 2009 DHS contributes 254 million in funding to sate and local

The DNI has modestly more power than the old Directors of Central Intelligence (DCIs), but not enough to give the ODNI/AIS real clout. “Herding cats” remains a decent description of the ODNI’s basic role. The DNI has several duties and responsibilities, but for the subject of improving intelligence information sharing the focus will be directed towards: Improving Analytics, Improving Information Security, Improving Foreign Liaison Relationships, and the end state of Improving Information Sharing.

Prior to 9/11 the security of the United States was “across more than 40 federal agencies and an estimated 2,000 separate Congressional appropriations accounts”. (DHS History Office ,2017, p.4). This was a huge issue when it came to sharing intelligence. This was perhaps one of the many reasons that the terrorist of 9/11 were so successful. Shortly after 9/11, the United States found its self in need of an all-encompassing organization that shared information under one roof that enabled better protection of its infrastructure and its people at home, not just abroad. Shortly over a year later, in November 2002, Congress passed the “Homeland Security Act” (DHS.gov, 2017, para.2). With the creation of homeland security came conflict

Since 9/11, the intelligence community has improved greatly. It is not that they have been reconstructed from the ground up, or that their mission has completely changed, it is, in the community’s eye anyway, that they now all share information, no matter how important or how small. This information sharing now even includes all the way down to local and tribal authorities. The reasoning is that, even if it might be small or seem insignificant to you at your level, it may be the piece someone somewhere else in the country needs.

The “need to know” vice “need to share” is critical for putting all the pieces together. There was information that different agencies had prior to 9/11 where if the information had been shard throughout the intelligence umbrella, it is

Intelligence in this day in age is a vital component of a countries security. The newest proposal increases intelligence spending between 2 and 3 billion dollars, a total adding to nearly $35 billion. In addition to military enhancement, the FBI and other law enforcement/intelligence agencies will also be included in this proposal. A new system has been proposed by President Bush that all information be shared among all agencies. DoD, FBI, and the Department of Counterterrorist Center have drawn closer together to create a Terrorist Threat Integration Center to evaluate information blended from all sources associated with terrorism and to act upon those findings accordingly.

Fusion Center was established as the bridge between federal, state and local law enforcement. The need for information sharing among federal, state and local enforcement was established after September 11 attack. Fusion Centers " primary goals are maintaining situational awareness with the state and region, identifying and anticipating both criminal and non criminal threats, and facilitating interagency communication and coordination activities based on these assessment. The analysis and use of the information and intelligence lies at the heart of their activities or should enabling the organization to better define and achieve their varied goals"(Joyal, 2012). Fusion center plays a vital role in enabling effective communication of locally

In the post 9/11 environment, one of the key issues for law enforcement is meeting the threats of all hazards and crimes (Carter, 2010). Officers must now worry about terrorism in addition to traditional crime. With this additional requirement, officers must now have access to more information, as well as the means to send it through the intelligence process. Management is now responsible for supervising a new task, providing policies to outline officers’ roles within that task, and ensuring proper functioning of the entire process (Carter, 2010). Should these officers and managers not understand their new function, or should they be unable to obtain the tools, resources, and information sharing cooperation to do so, the new environment then proves to provide a complex task and insufficient means to meet it – therefore holding them back.

We always had a communication issue between agencies, but when 9/11 happened it showed us just how much we needed to change how these organizations communicate, as well as change certain policies that would address these issues. Because of the lack of communication, and new requirement for terrorist attacks which can happen at any time or anywhere, this was a very harsh lesson to learn, at that pivotal time. The CIA, the FBI, and other agencies did not share all the chatter, from another terrorist or want to be terrorist. Therefore, this power point will address why this topic was chosen as an influential event, and the impact this event had on the ICS (Incident Command

I think the best way to utilized them is working together, like the Fusion Centers, whose goal is to fuse and share information at the federal, state, and local’s levels. According to the 2010 National Security Strategy, the federal government must continue to integrate and leverage fusion centers to enlist all of our intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security capabilities to prevent acts of terrorism on American soil. Fusion centers provide a mechanism through which the federal government, SLTT, and private sector partners come together to accomplish this purpose. “Fusion centers, recommended by the 9/11 Act, are facilities owned by state and local governments where federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as the owners of critical infrastructure come to share information about terrorists threats, criminal activities, and other hazards” (Logan, Gregory 2010).

As part of the investigation, I also applied the SOF Imperative of “Facilitate Interagency Activities” by coordinating with different sections within my department and several non-law enforcement agencies, i.e. trash removal service and street light repair to saturate the neighborhood and clean it up once the crewmembers were off the streets. I made coordination’s with the uniform patrol and community police sections as a follow up the investigation with several weeks of outreach in the neighborhood. Working in a unified effort, using all relevant resources within and outside my department changed the neighborhood and relationship between the citizens and my department that resulted in a successful conclusion to the investigation.

This would call for all entities involved in counterterrorism to share information effectively and understand each other’s contributions, responsibilities, and roles. It is also critical for these agencies to update and establish new information sharing agreements to spur collaboration and coordination as well as formalize and reaffirm the responsibilities and roles of partners in the information sharing

and ensure resilience to disasters. In order to achieve these goals, intelligence is necessary. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis, a subsection to the DHS focuses on obtaining and analyzing intelligence and puts them into the Homeland Security Enterprise which primarily

Intelligence collection and apprehension of criminals have occurred for many years; however, with the exception of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these actions were performed by different organizations. Nonetheless, roles and responsibilities have changed since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Intelligence-led policing and the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing program were incorporated, and fusion centers were established to help gather intelligence from different levels of the government. Although law enforcement at the local, state, and tribal levels aid in intelligence collection, it is important to ensure that intelligence gathered to protect national security and law enforcement