The field of law enforcement all retain a common purpose: to protect citizens and enforce the laws passed at the local, state and federal level of government. In order to achieve this common goal, law enforcement agencies, regardless of size, must have the capacity to understand the importance of intelligence collection, analysis, and intelligence sharing. Each agency, from the lowest to the highest level, must establish a systematic mechanism to receive and process intelligence as well as to report and share critical information with other law enforcement agencies. In this paper, we will discuss some of the similarities and differences of federal, state and local law enforcement intelligence activities and why these deviations exist, as well …show more content…
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 collect (Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, …show more content…
SLTs generally gather intelligence to build a case upon which criminals can be prosecuted and sent to jail. Because of this, the intelligence information must be unclassified, but reliable and accurate enough to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt within a courtroom (Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 1996). Federal intelligence agencies in stark contrast, while in criminal cases within the United States they may share similar facets to their SLT counterparts, federal intelligence agencies collect intelligence to simply develop an understanding of an issue, not necessarily in preparation for an action. Unlike SLT intelligence, much of this data may be of questionable reliability and obtained only on the understanding that it will not become public knowledge. The collected information is reviewed and evaluated by intelligence collectors and analysts who gauge its reliability and accuracy (Carter, 2012). These differences also extend the individuals that the intelligence is being gathered on. As stated above, from a federal level, individuals are more likely to be involved in activities abroad, though they may impact the United States in one way or another. Often many of these difference and limitations are driven by the respective budget and manpower of each agency. Because of the federals macro view, its resources, and therefore budget and personnel
Throughout its more than hundred year history, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has been a very important agency to the United States. As a threat-based and intelligence-driven national security organization, the mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership to federal, state, and international agencies (“A Brief History of the FBI”). The Bureau’s success has always depended on its agility, its willingness to adapt, and the ongoing dedication of its personnel. But in the years since
However with recent crime technology, changes in information management and information communications technology (ICT) they have been able to identify “trends, including hotspots, emerging crime groups and targets” (Chantler and Throne 2009, p. 127) and become more proactive in the field. With the growth of organised and transnational crime, intelligence-led policing is the best methodology to effectively combat organised and transnational organised crime (Bell and Congram 2013). Bell and Congram (2013, p. 19) states that transnational organised crime are “vulnerable to detection and disruption because of their communication” thus the use of information communications technology in intelligence-led practices helps reduce the risk of an intelligence attack (Waters, Ball & Dudgeon, 2008; Jackson et al.,
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.
Since 2010, integration has been the vanguard initiative of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This initiative has been successful in several areas to include: the creation of National Intelligence Managers (NIM) for all primary geographic regions and functional areas; enhanced transparency; and the focus on the negative impacts of over classifying documents. However, not all efforts to integrate the intelligence community (IC) have been successful. For instance, the ODNI did not succeed at creating a comprehensive sharing environment, and has not fully integrated federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Although, these failed areas of integration can be mitigated in the future through the appropriate initiatives taken by the ODNI.
The new aged concept of intelligence-led policing seems to be the ultimate answer for advancing criminal activity leading the United States. Everything new though, comes with its fair share of disadvantages and challenges. Some of the disadvantages argued against using this predicative method of policing includes the argument of limited resources, political pressure, information management, data overload, data quality, and adaptation (Casady, 2011 p. 10). Reporting indicates that there is a growing public need for information. The increasing fragmentation of the community, fear and insecurity and the growth of the risk society have generated a massive requirement for increased security and knowledge contributing to political pressure, along
Today there is information sharing between agencies at the local and national levels; resources and staff are shared, bringing together individuals from various law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The 9/11 commission clearly identified a problem with communication between the Intelligence Community and State and Local Law Enforcement which resulted in a new edict (from the IRTPA) of Information Sharing yet clearance levels and accesses quickly became an issue in disseminating information to those with a need to know. To help bridge this gap, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed to crate the DHS by bringing 22 under its umbrella with a primary mission of protecting the homeland from terrorism (Blum, 2010). To do so, DHS’s key mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate key/related information and share it with the IC and nontraditional partners (state/local governments as well as the private sector) (Blum, 2010). Likewise,
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.
Since the birth of America the United States has made the use of intelligence known through the purposes of warfare, defense, and diplomacy. Intelligence is the gathering of information which is analyzed and converted into data to serve as an asset to the decision making process. This is possible by identifying what the national interest is at the time. We use intelligence to provide information based off everyday observations and activities to give us a sense of patterns to form an idea of the “big picture” and identify what threats may be imminent at the time. With reference to Homeland Security Intelligence is not to solely acquire life threatening data, rather than should be to analyzes and share information between the private sector,
The FBI is the USIC agency that is responsible for leading the efforts in the collection of information about terrorists and other criminals within the United States (Schneider, 2015). The FBI has the capabilities to utilize confidential informants and undercover agents when it is deemed necessary to do so in order to collect information (Schneider, 2015). Moreover, the FBI has the ability of being able to work very close with their state and local law enforcement counterparts. This ability enhances the capabilities of the FBI because in some
In preparation for my debate on the topics of intelligence-led policing and Compstat policing, I have discovered the many advantages and disadvantages of using intelligence-led policing and Compstat policing. According to Carter & Carter (2009), intelligence-led policing is the collection of and analysis of data relating to crime, used by law enforcement in “developing tactical responses to threats and/or strategic planning related to emerging changing threats” (p. 317). When applied correctly, intelligence-led policing is a tool used for information sharing in identifying threats and developing responses to prevent those threats from reaching fruition (Carter, 2011). One of the advantages of using intelligence-led policing is its incorporation of data analysts. The role of the data analyst in the context of intelligence-led policing allows them to take specially trained analysts to take raw data from information found in reports and translate it into useful information for the officers, allowing the police to deploy resources more effectively and efficiently (Griffiths, 2016). Another advantage is its application through preventative and predictive policing (proactive policing), in which law enforcement take data and identify crucial variables such as terrorism or the emergence of criminal organizations, in hopes of stopping the problem at its roots (Carter, 2011). Terrorism is especially important and emphasized after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers in
The United States Intelligence community draws on advanced technology and analytical techniques. An intelligence process that sets objectives, collects, analyzes, and report findings, with feedback loops integrated throughout. Explicitly, the intelligence community advantages technology and tradecraft within a proscribed process. However, estimation of threats and decision-making are outcomes of human thinking. Analysts and policymakers create mental models, or short cuts to manage complex, changing environments. In other words, to make sense of ambiguous or uncertain situations, humans form cognitive biases. Informed because of personal experience, education, and specifically applied to intelligence analysis, Davis
Abstract: In this analysis, it is shown throughout the many different agencies how the intelligence cycle is interpreted. Within each of the different agencies everyone has their own way of obtaining information and different policies that they follow, within the constriction of the US constitution. The intelligence cycle states the many different steps taken to obtain intelligence from domestic to foreign information.
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
Intelligence is one of the first lines of defense used by the United States to protect the Country against both foreign and domestic threats (Johnson, 2010). There are many ways and methods of intelligence collections employed by the intelligence community such as “spies, eavesdropping, technical sources, and openly available materials” etc (Clark, 2013). Method used also depends on many factors such as available resources, time, agency involved, and intelligence collection source. U.S Intelligence agencies use different collection and analytical method that suit their collection function, structure and pro¬cess. For example, DNI/OSC relies on open source (OSINT), CIA uses human intelligence (HUMINT) tactic, DIA uses measurements and signatures intelligence (MASINT), NSA employs signals intelligence (SIGINT), and NGA utilizes imagery intelligence (IMINT) techniques for their intelligence collections (Clark, 2013).