Homeland Security Intelligence and Information Sharing

Abstract

Homeland security intelligence and information sharing is the overarching process of managing the flow of information between the different levels and sectors of government and the private sector. Sharing information is paramount in the support of the rapid identification of the emerging terrorism-related threats which require the government to intervene. There have been long-standing challenges among law enforcement agencies and the private sector when it comes to information sharing and to address this issue, the federal government established fusion centers. Fusion centers were created by the Department of Homeland Security and Office of Justice Programs to act as an information sharing center between the levels of government following the systematic breakdown in information sharing, which contributed to the nation’s inability to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Fusion centers are meant to fuse or integrate information from a variety of sources in order to identify, track, and prevent multi-jurisdictional crime problems, as well as manage the flow of information across levels of government and different sectors (Joyal, 2012). The centers are theoretically intended to deemphasize but not eliminate a need to know culture and promote a need to share culture. The overall goal of the Department of Homeland Security is to protect the country, and if information sharing is effective, the threats, risks, and vulnerabilities can be properly identified, targets can be hardened, and suspects identified before a catastrophic event happens.

Introduction and History Behind the Creation of DHS

September 11, 2001, also known as 9/11, was one of the most dramatic acts of terrorism our country has seen. While 9/11 got full attention regarding the depths and lengths of how far terrorists may go; terrorist attacks had been happening long before 9/11. Americans became increasingly concerned about terrorism on our soil in the early 1900s. This concern was fueled by the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the discovery of a bomb at the Atlanta Olympics in 1994.When attacks occurred in Saudi Arabia in 1996 and against the USS Cole in 2000, it became increasingly evident to the American public that terrorism was growing sophisticated, and their reach was global (Pearl, 2004).

The first large-scale terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred on February 23, 1993. In the basement parking lot of the World Trade Center in New York City, a massive explosion occurred killing six adults and one unborn child, and injuring more than 1,000 people (Bullock, Haddow, and Coppola, 2013). This explosion damaged seven of the building floors, and more than 50,000 people were evacuated. In April 1995, outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, a massive truck bomb exploded killing 168 people, including 19 children attending a daycare program in the building, and injuring 674 others. The blast from this explosion destroyed the Murrah building and damaged over 300 additional buildings in the downtown area. In October 2000, U.S. Naval ship, the USS Cole, was in port refueling when the ship sustained a suicide bomb attack killing 17 Navy sailors and injuring another 39 (Bullock, et al., 2013). Terrorist organization Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for this attack and expressed disappointment for the United States not retaliating. With this attack came heightened terrorism measures within the intelligence community.

The major event leading to the creation of DHS was the World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings on September 11, 2001. Terrorists took over four planes and crashed them in New York City into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania. These attacks caused the collapse of both twin towers and a section of the Pentagon. As a result of these attacks, the death toll totaled 2,974 with 2,603 occurring in the twin towers. After the 9/11 attacks, priorities changed rapidly and dramatically, and Congress was pressured to act decisively. Shortly after the attacks, President Bush announced that the Office of Homeland Security would be established to coordinate domestic terrorism efforts. On the 25th of November 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was signed into law, and the new DHS was created through this legislation (Bullock, et al., 2013). Creating DHS provided the U.S. with a law enforcement capability that would deter, prepare, and prevent any future attacks like those seen from 9/11. DHS assumed operational control of nearly 180,000 federal employees from 22 different agencies.

Homeland security has become a complex and dynamic enterprise that joined together dozens of players including federal, state, local, and tribal governmental agencies; non-governmental organizations; private industry; members of the local, state, and federal law enforcement community; and community-based organizations, all with the common goal of protecting our country (Logan and Ramsay, 2012). Since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent formation of the Department of Homeland Security, the field of homeland security has continued to evolve in a mix of policy, strategy, and tactics to guide and protect our country and its assets. Homeland Security was created on the foundation of protecting the American people from terrorist threats; allowing the United States to have the largest law enforcement capability that would, deter, prepare and hopefully prevent any future terrorist attacks. The level of support and attention have improved tremendously in the area of combating terrorism and the interest of terrorism significantly increased from a public, political, and media standpoint since DHS creation.

The Department of Homeland Security has been successful in fulfilling its primary mission since establishment. There have been no major terrorist attacks on American soil in the years since its creation. Homeland Security is now confronted with a variety of new threats and challenges that will require an evolution of the department’s priorities, structure, and mission. Given the wide variety of rapidly evolving threats facing the department, intelligence and information sharing is becoming more vital in fulfilling the homeland security mission. Effective homeland security requires an approach of working with state and local government agencies as well as the private partners to ensure quick and effective prevention and recovery efforts.

Problem Statement and Statement of Purpose

One of the major challenges in securing our homeland is ensuring that critical information collected and analyzed by DHS, is shared in a timely and secure manner with a variety of agencies within the federal, state, and local governments,