GT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Next-Generation Law Enforcement Fusion Centers: Crime Analysis in Action

Every time a cop walks the beat, a trooper patrols the highway or a deputy questions a suspect, a key question enters their minds: Is everything as it should be?

In the wake of major terrorism acts, that question has taken on national and global significance. You also hear: Are we safe? From my perspective as a law enforcement professional of 25 years, we are. Here's why:

TIME: Fusion Centers: Giving Cops Too Much Information?

At the time, it seemed one of the unanimous lessons of the tragedy of Sept. 11 — law enforcement agencies at all levels of government have to do a better job of sharing information with each other in order to prevent terror plots. Making that actually happen, of course, is easier said than done, which is why newfangled, multi-organizational agencies were set up to promote cooperation and overcome turf battles. But now critics claim that these so-called fusion centers are making it all too easy for government to collect and share data from numerous public databases.

GT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Terrorist Screening Center Recognized for Information Sharing Efforts

Yesterday, on the first day of its annual conference, the National Fusion Center Coordination Group recognized the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), with an award for TSC's information sharing and outreach initiatives to bridge the counterterrorism efforts of federal agencies and state and local law enforcement.

TSC is a component of the FBI which maintains the U.S. government's consolidated terrorist watchlist.

SECURITY MANAGEMENT: Fusion Centers Under Fire in Texas and New Mexico

03/09/2009 -

Civil libertarians are pushing for legal limits on personal data law enforcement organizations can collect after a Texas fusion center's bulletin singled out Muslim and antiwar groups for direct scrutiny.

In late February, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized a leaked intelligence bulletin from the North Central Texas Fusion System asking law enforcement officers to report on the activities of Islamic and anti-war lobbying groups, specifically the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the International Action Center (IAC). CAIR is a national Muslim advocacy group, while IAC is an American activist organization that opposes all U.S. military intervention overseas.

DHS: Statement from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Sara Kuban on Secretary Napolitano’s Address to National Fusion Conference

TIME: Fusion Centers: Giving Cops Too Much Information?

At the time, it seemed one of the unanimous lessons of the tragedy of Sept. 11 — law enforcement agencies at all levels of government have to do a better job of sharing information with each other in order to prevent terror plots. Making that actually happen, of course, is easier said than done, which is why newfangled, multi-organizational agencies were set up to promote cooperation and overcome turf battles. But now critics claim that these so-called fusion centers are making it all too easy for government to collect and share data from numerous public databases.

WV GAZETTE: State says fusion center enhances public safety

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When someone killed three people sniper-style six years ago in Kanawha County, various law enforcement agencies received countless phone tips. Most were no good.

Police could have used a central location where analysts could sort leads and share them with the proper agencies, say proponents of the year-old West Virginia Intelligence/Fusion Center.

"It takes a ton of information to get an ounce of intelligence," center director Thom Kirk said.

ARS TECHNICA: DHS report surveys fusion center privacy concerns

In a Privacy Impact Assessment released publicly this week, the Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Office outlines the measures in place to ensure that "fusion centers" created to facilitate information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence agencies respect privacy rights. "Despite these efforts," the report concludes, "the Privacy Office has identified a number of risks to privacy presented by the fusion center program."