The US Department of Homeland Security's (the "DHS") website explains that Fusion Centers are "state and major urban area focal points for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between federal, state, local, tribal, territorial..., and private sector partners". Stated more succinctly, Fusion Centers are clearinghouses for the sharing of criminal or terrorist threats to local, state, or national security. Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks on US soil, no mechanisms had...
The US Department of Homeland Security's (the "DHS") website explains that Fusion Centers are "state and major urban area focal points for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between federal, state, local, tribal, territorial..., and private sector partners". Stated more succinctly, Fusion Centers are clearinghouses for the sharing of criminal or terrorist threats to local, state, or national security. Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks on US soil, no mechanisms had been erected to compile and share this type of information among law enforcement organizations.
Notwithstanding the well-intentioned and lofty goals that the Fusion Centers reflect, they have been generally ineffective in advancing law enforcement capabilities. The DHS can claim that its systems have prevented further criminal activity and terrorist attacks, but those systems have not eradicated that activity or those attacks completely.
The greatest drawback of Fusion Centers is that the amount of information that they accumulate is beyond the processing capabilities of the staff and equipment dedicated to those centers. Noise in the system easily overwhelms the signal.
Further, the supposed sophistication of Fusion Centers eclipses traditional police work that is based on experience and instinct. Seasoned law enforcement investigators rely on sources and field experience that can take years to develop. Fusion Centers attempt to replace this experience with an unfiltered volume of information with no ability to distinguish the relative importance of one piece of information over another.
Fusion Centers embody one of the more troublesome features of the modern electronic age; namely, they focus on data gathering over data analysis. Judgment and insight take a backseat to the technical capabilities of a Fusion Center that can intercept phone calls and collect massive amounts of video surveillance. Experience-based law enforcement that emphasizes analysis will generate better results.
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