Frustrated by poor federal cooperation, U.S. states and cities are building their own network of intelligence centers led by police to help detect and disrupt terrorist plots.
The emerging “network of networks” marks a new era of opportunity for law enforcement, according to U.S. officials and homeland security experts. Police are hungry for federal intelligence in an age of homegrown terrorism and more sophisticated crime. For their part, federal law enforcement officials could benefit from a potential army of tipsters — the 700,000 local and state police officers across the country, as well as private security guards and others being courted by the centers.
But the emerging model of “intelligence-led policing” faces risks on all sides. The centers are popping up with little federal leadership and training, raising fears of overzealousness such as that associated with police “red squads” that spied on civil rights and peace activists decades ago. The centers also face practical obstacles that could limit their effectiveness, including a shortage of money, skilled analysts, and proven relationships with the FBI and Homeland Security.
Federal officials emphasize that the centers will be led from the grass roots. Charles E. Allen, chief intelligence officer for the Homeland Security Department, said the centers will be “all hazards, all crime, all threats,” targeted not just at terrorism but also at transnational gangs, immigrant smuggling and other threats.
As policing expands beyond traditional roles, leadership tends to devolve to those with one or another political axe to grind. The experience of civil rights and other progressive movements in the United States — and those who would simply defend the Bill of Rights — has been that they are as likely as any genuine “Enemy of the State” to be a target of surveillance, slander and dirty tricks.
The article offers a broadcast net over the topic. There are unique examples claimed by the Feds as positive — that accomplished absolutely nothing of benefit to this nation.
Not much to say.
Congratulations on your complete and utter victory in your accomplishments Al Qaeda. I for one figured there would be no way in hell you could have turned the US into what it has become.
I, for one, welcome our new Homeland Overlords.
All your base are belong to us!
Relax. The Democrats will put a stop to this. I have faith.
Don’t you?
Because there’s so many attacks!
“Fusion centers”? I knew it, Mr. Fusion has been spying on us all this time. I want to know what his role is in all of this.
Nope. It’s actually a round about way for local jurisdictions to build a network similar to the system proposed by Admiral John Poindexter — you know Total Information Awareness. The local jurisdictions are not hobbled the same way as the one proposed by Poindexter.
Two well read books from my youth. Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 quickly spring to mind. My Gr. 9 English teacher recommended them to me. (He also slipped me a copy of Catcher in the Rye)
Am I surprised? No. I am afraid though. Very afraid that the control freaks and their supporters will manage to persuade the Supreme Court to allow such garbage to happen.
Eep, better pull my Linux torrents, file sharing is illegal and of a communist OS, double illegal.
#9 another good read is Animal Farm, as we seemingly ebb further from our founding roots of hard won freedoms and closer to a “Stalinist like era” of freedoms gone bye.
like the proverbial frog boiling in water, hardly realizing the temperature is rising. Somehow believing it’s safely bathing and swimming, not simmering and stewing.
At what point does objecting to these “Bush era” liberty encroachments, is not seen as being alarmist or sensationalist; properly when it’s too late.
The true test, is this being driven by public demand or is it the government driving this. Are people really asking for this in the street, office, home????
Who really controls this country’s destiny, the people or the police/CIA/NSA/DoD/President???
Careful what you write! You may be taken for a radical or extremist!
Extremism for the cause of liberty is no vice, as long as you do it under the purvue of the state.
This is what is called a CF…a cluster Fu..
The Gov has all ready proven that having 4+ agencies trying to regulate ANYTHING is a mess from hell.
they tried a senerio of a Pandemic and Terrorist attack conditions, and the MORE people involved, the worse it got, and they didnt stop ANYTHING.