Review of Domestic Sharing of Counterterrorism Information

the chief federal law enforcement officer within his or her particular
jurisdiction. The following table shows the missions of specific entities within
the FBI and USAOs that are predominantly involved in the field-based sharing
of counterterrorism information.
Table 3: DOJ Entities Engaged in Field-Based Counterterrorism Information Sharing
Entity
Mission
FBI – Joint Leverage the collective resources of federal, state, and local agencies
Terrorism Task for the prevention, preemption, deterrence, and investigation of
Forces
terrorist acts that affect the United States’ interests, and for the
purpose of disrupting and preventing terrorist acts and apprehending
individuals who may commit or plan to commit such acts.
FBI – Field
Intelligence
Groups
U.S. Attorney’s
Offices –
Anti-Terrorism
Advisory
Councils
Coordinate, manage, and execute all functions of the intelligence
cycle, including collection, analysis, production, and dissemination,
for the FBI in field offices throughout the country.
Cross-section of federal, state, and local law enforcement, first
responders, and private sector security personnel who coordinate
counterterrorism efforts in their communities.
Source: FBI and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys documentation
As acknowledged in the 2007 NSIS, state, local, and tribal governments
serve as the nation’s first “preventers and responders,” and are critical to the
nation’s efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks and to respond if an attack
occurs. Often, these state, local, and tribal entities are best able to identify
potential threats that exist within their jurisdictions. In our review, we
identified the National Network of Fusion Centers and the Regional Information
Sharing Systems (RISS) as the two primary state and local counterterrorism
information sharing entities. The following table provides the missions of these
non-federal entities.
Entity
Fusion Centers
Regional
Information
Sharing
Systems
Table 4: Non-Federal Entities Engaged in Field-Based
Counterterrorism Information Sharing
Mission
Serve as a focal point within the state and local environment for the
receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information
between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial, and
private sector partners.
Support regional law enforcement, public safety, and homeland
security efforts to combat major crimes and terrorist activity, as well
as to promote officer safety by linking federal, state, local, and tribal
criminal justice agencies through secure communications. In
addition, provide users with information sharing resources, analytic
and investigative support, and training.
Source: 2013 National Network of Fusion Centers Final Report and RISS website
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