Effective intelligence

There has never been a greater need for analytical-driven policing and an improvement in the way information is shared among police and law enforcement agencies in the battle against crime and terrorism. In any terror emergency there are three simple objectives – prevention, detection and managing the aftermath – and the key to reaching all of these is relevant and timely information. In the US, a concept known as ‘fusion centre’ is being developed to enable information sharing between multiple agencies, as Joanne Taylor explains.

Fusion centres began in the US as a grassroots effort by several forward-thinking state and local police organisations that were reluctant to sit back and wait for another intelligence failure like the one leading up to the events of September 11. This ‘hometown’ initiative was quickly embraced by the Federal Government, especially the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Department of Justice, whose missions include enabling the unfettered sharing of information and intelligence to help protect the homeland across all levels of law enforcement.

The basic principles of fusion centres are sound: collect information from all available sources, including federal, state, regional, local and tribal agencies; vet the information; analyse it in order to identify trends, patterns and threats that may indicate planned or ongoing criminal activity or terrorism; and most importantly, share the information among all concerned parties.

Since 2004, the 72 DHS-recognised fusion centres have received $426 million in federal funding for this purpose. Fusion centres have, however, largely been left on their own to determine how best to accomplish their mission.

In some ways it makes sense. Individual fusion centres do not all focus on the same goals or serve the same purpose. Some cover larger areas and concerns while others are narrower in their purview. Yet there are commonalities in the way they need to operate – enough that they don’t have to go it completely alone in determining the most efficient and effective way to operate.

Although originating in the US, the concept of the ‘fusion centre’ has long expanded beyond those shores. Many countries are now embracing the concept and deploying their own versions. In the developed world, the fundamental challenges of multiple-intelligence agencies not sharing data has led to numerous intelligence ‘failures’ driving the need to introduce the ‘fusion concept’. In the developing world, the opportunity exists to not make the mistakes of the West with disparate systems and start off with a fused country-wide intelligence view, a concept being embraced in India and South Africa.

But whether a US State Fusion Centre, a country-wide fusion concept or any variation between, the underpinning to a successful fusion centre is excellent intelligence collation, management and exploitation. This requires solid technology.

Using technology that helps make sense of disparate pieces of information which leads to credible intelligence is one of the most important steps a fusion centre can take to ensure it is operating at maximum efficiency and performance levels.

Start by installing a technology platform rather than a collection of disparate products. One of the keys to peak performance is having a good workflow – making sure every single step of the process is identified, that the software being used incorporates all those steps, and that there is an ability to audit activities to ensure proper procedure is being followed. Accomplishing all of this is easier if there is a single platform, because you can monitor the entire workflow, end-to-end. It also simplifies the technical requirements because there are no compatibility issues moving the data from one phase to another. Finally, it establishes an extensible foundation on which you can build as new needs arise.

Make sure you have the ability to manage and supervise the work. In a typical fusion centre, intelligence is r