The Role of Fusion Centers - Essay Example

The Role of Fusion Centers The Role of Fusion Centers The entire world is now under a new wave of threat, which is commonly referred as terrorism. It is performed by several groups of radicals and extremists who are willing to impose their rule of order over other nations, as well as their own by ways of threatening methods and dangerous illegal activities that give harm to the national security of the United States and other countries of the world. In order to counteract these monstrosities, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as the US Department of Justice, has devised several processes. In order to initiate the process of elimination of terrorism so called Fusion centers were created, which are located across the territory of the United States1. When considering the role of Fusion centers in a society, one must identify the basic understanding of the Fusion process in terms of intelligence reports. It is a process which concerns the management of information coming from various governing entities or private authorities. It is the process taken place after the network of data passage has been established. With the help of fusion process, credible information and intelligence reports are converted to applicable and presentable knowledge. The centers are responsible for the implementation of the fusion process and analysis of intelligence reports received by them through various sources. This information is further passed on to the Department of Homeland Security for analysis and linkage towards the implementation of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCIP). This is another responsibility entrusted upon the Fusion centers, which is to implement and share the 25 instructions vetted in the NCIP. These 25 policies are the basic foundation which thus establishes the Guidelines of the Fusion Centers2. Similarly, when considering the role of Fusion centers in the welfare of the American society and its protection, there are several aspects that should be dealt with. Fusion centers play a very positive role in some aspects of the Department of Homeland Security. With the help of clearly defined information requirements, there has been a better flow of energy to the Department of Homeland security and vice versa. This has allowed the DHS to have a better understanding and awareness of the credible threats to the national security. With the help of Fusion centers throughout the United States, the DHS has been able to analyze from a far broader set of information over any particular threat. This allows a better analysis on the side of the DHS and allows them to have access to non-traditional and unofficial data which is far more helpful for the identification of any future credible terrorist threat to the sovereignty of the United States. Similarly, with the help of Fusion Centers, a better channel of communication has been established between the Department of Homeland Security and the various states and the local Statesmen. This has greatly increased the jurisdiction of the DHS by creating a communicative channel between the DHS and the local states. It has allowed states to bring up their issues at the national level and, thus, allow more and more people to consult over various ongoing issues of different states. Due to the implementation and awareness of the NCIP, there has been a huge gain of awareness regarding the DHS among the local people of the United States. This has increased the law enforcing power of the DHS among every state and has allowed the DHS to spread its priorities regarding the national security of the country. It is clearly evident that with the help of the establishment of nearly 40 fusion centers nationwide, it has created a unique communication between the federal government and the states and has allowed a stronger imposition of the law. A stronger enforcement in itself brings halt to some of the most grievous terrorist plots. There are several examples from which one can realize the significance and the impact of the Fusion centers. The Ambassador Thomas McNamara has cited three perfect examples at the First Annual Fusion Centers’ Conference. The first threat that was successfully brought down by the intelligence was regarding a Canadian-based supplying company which was responsible for the supplying of various potentially dangerous chemicals to Mexican methamphetamine producers. It was later found that the Organization was actually a support cell of the Lebanese Terrorist organization. Similarly, another potential threat to the national security was brought down, as mentioned by McNamara. A cell phone was discovered by the Fusion Centers intelligence which belonged to some series gas station robbers. It was later found that the group actually was planning a series of attacks on the United States and was linked to other international Jihadist groups3. Another example concerns a cigarette selling company, which was held responsible for smuggling as well. That company had strong ties with the Hezbollah that was discovered by the Fusion centers of Torrance, California, where the organization was being active. With the following proofs, it is to a certain extent evident that the establishment of the Fusion Centers has aided the DHs to identify several terrorist groups that were active throughout the country and has brought down several attempts of terrorism over the Country. However, there are critics which are determined to believe otherwise. The establishment and use of Fusion centers has brought up a huge criticism from several communities as well. An important aspect to be considered is the establishment and running cost of the Fusion centers. For this purpose the DHS spent nearly $380 Million over the states for the sake of these Fusion Centers. The people from the various states have stated serious concern over such a huge price for a relatively small project4. The critics have brought about concern that this money could have been well spent on the enforcement of the law over several criminal activities inside the United States which has given rise to one of the highest crime rates in the entire nation. It can also be well spent on the up-gradation of the police in order to deal with criminals and potential terrorist threats instead of just intelligence reports. Critics have also placed huge criticism over the main goal for the establishment of the Fusion Centers. It was said that Fusion centers will close the communication gaps between Federal agencies such as FBI, CIA and DHS etc. However it is seen that even after the Fusion centers, the Federal agencies are unable to draw out information from several sources. It is seen that the FBI has entirely different perspectives as compared to the CIA. The CIA deals with the intelligence reports regarding the terrorist activities whether local or abroad. While the FBI deals with the enforcement of the law for the capturing of these terrorist activists. Critics believe that the establishment of the DHS after 9/11 has crowded the war against terrorism and that there was absolutely no need for the establishment of the DHS for the national security. Critics have also said that the mismatch of information between the states and the federal agencies has been due to the incompetency of the analysts working inside the federal agencies. It is said by these critics that these analysts are not competent of properly analyzing the potential threat off from the intelligence report and thus have created a communication gap between the states and the Federal agencies. They say that Fusion centers have to some extent even further worsened the situation as the analysts are still continuing their job the same way they have been doing it before5. Critics have also placed huge concerns over the basic functioning of these fusion centers. Fusion centers vary considerably from state to state regarding their staff numbers and even employments. This has created ununiformed standards over the working of these states from center to center which, thus, directly affects their effectiveness. There is one huge aspect which these fusion centers have violated, and that is the rights of the Average citizen of the United States. These fusion centers have been known to despise the civil liberties enjoyed by the United States citizens. This has been witnessed at several points, for example, a vegetarian protest was thoroughly photographed by officials from the fusion center at Georgia in a baked-ham retailer store. Similarly a huge supporter of Fusion centers, Mitt Romney has publically called for complete surveillance and phone call tapping of several Mosques and Foreign students of any Arab or South-East Asian Origin. Even web surfers have not been spared and some have even been arrested for the publicity of so-called pro-terrorist material over the internet. After reading these arguments, it is evident that the establishment of Fusion centers has been the point of attraction of many, both positively and negatively. At one hand, it has created some link between the local authorities and the Federal Law enforcing agencies and created a new passage of information sharing between various departments. However, at the same time it has drawn much criticism over it, which mainly concerns the huge fund allocations, the ineffectiveness of their functioning and finally, the in appropriate violation of the Civil liberties of any citizen of the United States. It is clear that the evident drawbacks of the Fusion centers must be overcome; otherwise their conflicting image will be further worsened in the minds of the public. References Betts, Richard K. Enemies of Intelligence: Knowledge and Power in American National Security. NY: Columbia University Press, 2009. Larence, Eileen R. Homeland Security: Federal Efforts Are Helping to Address Some Challenges Faced by State and Local Fusion Centers. NY: DIANE Publishing, 2008. Masse, Todd, O’Neil, Siobhan and Rollins, John. Information and Intelligence (Including ‎Terrorism) Fusion Centers. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. 2008 ‎ Monahan, Torin and Palmer, Neal A. ‘The Emerging Politics of DHS Fusion Centers.’ Security Dialogue vol. 40, no. 6, (2009): 617-637 Turner, Michael. Why Secret Intelligence Fails. Texas: Potomac Books, Inc., 2005. Read More