Fusion Centers: Engaging the Nation’s Homeland Security Enterprise

By Bart R. Johnson

During the past year, the threat environment facing our nation has fundamentally evolved from one that primarily emanates from outside our borders to one that increasingly comes from within our communities. As recently as the May 1, 2010, attempted bombing in Times Square, the country’s homeland security and public safety leaders were reminded it is likely that an alert deputy, firefighter or concerned citizen will be the first to see and report suspicious activity. This new threat environment means traditional intelligence community efforts and travel analyses may not be enough to identify domestically inspired terrorists, their planning and their attacks. It makes it increasingly important for the federal government to partner with state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement and homeland security officials to detect and prevent terrorist and criminal activity. 

State and major urban area fusion centers play a critical role in this partnership, as they are focal points within the SLTT environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering and sharing of threat-related information. Fusion centers have the unique capability to gather and receive information shared by both the federal government and stakeholders within their areas of responsibility. Further, fusion centers also have access to suspicious activity reporting (SAR) information identified within their communities. Fusion centers also serve as partners to entities at all levels of government, including the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Working with these partners, fusion centers blend national intelligence with local, regional and state information, as appropriate, to provide state and local context to help enhance the national threat picture. This additional context provided by fusion centers assists homeland security partners at all levels of government in identifying and addressing emerging threats.

Current Status of the National Network of Fusion Centers

The 2007 National Strategy for Information Sharing, issued by the White House, called for the development of “baseline operational standards” to help define fusion center capability requirements. Subsequently, the federal government, in collaboration with SLTT partners, published the 2008 Baseline Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers to establish these baseline operational standards.

During the 2010 National Fusion Center Conference, the federal government and fusion center leaders distilled the Baseline Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers into four critical operational capabilities (COCs). Maturing fusion centers’ COCs is essential to building the integrated National Network of Fusion Centers.

Given the evolving threat environment, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has renewed its commitment to support SLTT partners. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has called the National Network of Fusion Centers “the centerpiece of state, local, [and] federal intelligence sharing for the future.”¹ To ensure information sharing at all levels of government, DHS and its federal partners are coordinating to provide the essential resources needed to support fusion centers nationwide. 

The importance of fusion centers is two-fold: They develop and disseminate products that assess local implications of national-level information, and they share critical state and local intelligence and information with the federal government and each other. Fusion centers facilitate the sharing of homeland security and law enforcement information, collaborate to create a common understanding of this information, bridge the information flow gap between individual fusion centers and the federal government, and produce actionable intelligence. Throughout this process, fusion centers adhere to practices that ensure the privacy, civil rights and civil liberties of Americans. Protection of those rights and information is critical to fusion centers’ ability to retain public trust and confidence.

Charting the Path Ahead: Fusion Center Baseline Capabilities Assessment

In an effort to evaluate the capabilities of the network and identify strategic areas for improvement and investment in the future, federal, state and local officials launched the first formal assessment of fusion center baseline capabilities in April 2010. The Baseline Capabilities Assessment (BCA) was conducted by the Office of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), in coordination with fusion center directors, DHS, the FBI and other interagency partners. The BCA provided valuable data on the current state of the national network and helped identify those fusion center capabilities in need of enhancement. More specifically, the BCA aimed to:

·   Assess fusion centers’ capabilities in an effort to understand the overall maturity of
          the National Network of Fusion Centers; 

·   Leverage the data gathered to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of federal
          support of fusion centers’ efforts to achieve and maintain baseline capabilities through
          investment planning and prioritized resource allocation;

·   Establish strategic priorities and help identify gaps in capabilities at individual fusion
         centers and across the national network; and

·   Aid fusion centers in reaching their full potential to serve as focal points within the
          SLTT environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering and sharing of threat-related
          information.

The BCA concluded in September 2010. DHS and its federal partners leveraged the data gathered during the BCA to develop both short- and long-term strategies to effectively mitigate the capability gaps identified. The short-term approach outlined immediate actions designed to assist fusion centers to execute the COCs during situations involving time-sensitive and emerging threat information. DHS published the Short-Term Critical Operational Capabilities (COC) Gap Mitigation Guidebook to help fusion centers develop and implement plans, policies, and standard operating procedures for executing the COCs. DHS also provided templates, sample policies, workshops, training and subject matter expert (SME) support to assist fusion centers in strengthening their capabilities. Based on the foundation established by the short-term approach, the long-term COC gap mitigation activities will support fusion centers to fully achieve and maintain the COCs. The federal government is working to institute a repeatable assessment process and will host exercises with SLTT partners to evaluate the progress made toward achieving the COCs.

Institutionalizing the National Network

In order to ensure the efficient and effective sharing of homeland security and law enforcement information, the federal government, fusion centers, and their SLTT and private sector counterparts must collaboratively work together. Maturing the COCs within each fusion center is critical to building an integrated national network and is a shared responsibility throughout all levels of government. 

The integrated National Network of Fusion Centers leads to three beneficial outcomes:

• The federal government gains local context and situational awareness that can support homeland security and law enforcement efforts;
• SLTT and private sector entities are able to receive national threat-related information through a customized approach designed to meet the needs of their state and local jurisdictions; and
• The syndication of information sharing leads to a more robust and holistic understanding of the national and local threat environment. 

The federal government, fusion centers, and SLTT partners all play a role in building and maintaining the integrated National Network of Fusion Centers. The federal government’s role in this relationship is to ensure the network operates effectively by providing deployed personnel, materials and resources, training, exercise support, security clearances, connectivity to federal systems, technical assistance, technology and grant funding. Fusion centers must do their part by using these resources efficiently and to further leverage the resources and expertise of the SLTT partners within their area of responsibility. As the Fusion Center Guidelines state, “It is critical for government to accomplish more with less. Fusion centers embody the core of collaboration, and as demands increase and resources decrease, fusion centers will become an effective tool to maximize available resources and build trusted relationships.”

Strong relationships between SLTT partners and fusion centers will ensure that fusion centers embody the core function of collaboration, and enable them to effectively maximize available resources. There are various ways for homeland security and law enforcement partners, including probation, parole, and correctional partners, to build and strengthen their relationships with fusion centers. In order to help fusion centers build these critical relationships, the DHS/DOJ Fusion Process Technical Assistance Program recently published a Communications and Outreach Guidebook for fusion center stakeholders, which outlines recommendations for how the centers can effectively engage and support both internal customers and external audiences. This guidebook provides key recommendations for fusion centers on engaging homeland security and law enforcement agencies within their jurisdictions. One example of effective outreach was a recent meeting at the New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC), where more than 100 of the state’s law enforcement and public safety leaders and national intelligence experts convened to align homeland security priorities. At the meeting, the state’s attorney general presented an expanded toolbox of intelligence products that help burdened law enforcement and public safety partners deploy resources more efficiently.

Further, fusion centers are strengthening their relationship with front-line personnel through two efforts: DHS’ “If You See Something, Say Something™” campaign, which is a simple and effective program to engage the public and front-line personnel to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats; and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (NSI), which has created a standard process for law enforcement in jurisdictions across the country to identify and report suspicious activity. The SAR data collected by law enforcement and reported through fusion centers helps fusion centers across the country, as well as the federal government, identify broader trends in terrorist and criminal activity. In support of this initiative, DOJ has worked closely with fusion centers to launch the Building Communities of Trust initiative, which is an effort designed to develop relationships of trust among law enforcement, fusion centers and the communities they serve. This initiative has allowed local law enforcement to explain how efforts such as NSI will be implemented, while at the same time ensuring the protection of privacy, civil rights and civil liberties. 

Probation, parole and correctional partners can also ensure a direct line of communication with fusion centers by assigning personnel to work directly with the fusion center. Recognizing that correctional facilities may serve as breeding grounds for radicalization and criminal recruitment, many fusion centers have onsite representatives from their local corrections department. However, these partners may also serve as fusion liaison officers (FLO) and share relevant information and SARs with the fusion center, as well as access and further disseminate information distributed by the center. Engaging with FLO programs and building relationships with fusion center staff should be a key component of the engagement efforts being conducted by probation, parole and correctional partners across the country. Through relationships such as these, fusion centers and their partners can work together to communicate local needs and establish a communication channel to ensure the effective and efficient flow of information.

Fusion Centers: A Shared Responsibility

In recent years, partners at all levels of government have reiterated the need for unified and coordinated support for fusion centers. Federal interagency partners, including DHS, DOJ, the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, PM-ISE, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Department of Defense, are committed to providing effective, efficient and coordinated federal support to fusion centers. In turn, fusion centers support their SLTT partners by developing actionable intelligence, disseminating relevant information to law enforcement and homeland security partners, participating in the Nationwide SAR Initiative and supporting the maturation of their statewide fusion processes.

Both the federal government and fusion center directors must continue to build their partnership, raise awareness of the important role fusion centers play in homeland security, and share the important responsibility of maturing the National Network of Fusion Centers. Fusion centers are vital to the sharing of information between the federal government and SLTT partners. As threats to homeland security increasingly originate within our own communities, it is growing more important for DHS and SLTT partners to align efforts to strengthen fusion center capabilities. Moving forward, it is essential for fusion centers and law enforcement and homeland security partners to be engaged in information sharing activities to address today’s evolving threat environment.

Endnote

1 Remarks to the National Fusion Center Conference, March 11, 2009.

Bart R. Johnson is principal deputy under secretary for intelligence and analysis for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For additional information on FLO programs, please see Fusion Liaison Officer Programs: Effective Sharing of Information to Prevent Crime and Terrorism by Kevin Saupp at http://www.policechiefmagazine.com/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=2013&issue_id=22010.

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