|
<br />
<br /> HSGP Appendix | February 2021 Page A-24
<br />• Addressing Emerging Threats: Fusion centers provide a national-level, decentralized, and
<br />coordinated ISE across all levels of government and disciplines that can be leveraged and applied
<br />to address emerging threats to homeland security, national security, public safety, and/or public
<br />health, and especially those threats that may have little or no warning. Fusion centers should
<br />leverage and build upon their terrorism-focused analytic and information-sharing capabilities so
<br />they can be applied to address threats across the DHS mission space, including threats from both
<br />international terrorism and domestic violent extremists, threats to life and targeted violence,
<br />transnational organized criminal activity, cyber threats, and natural hazards, among others that
<br />require close collaboration with DHS operational, investigative, and analytic entities such as
<br />CBP, ICE, United States Secret Service (USSS), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
<br />Agency (CISA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and FEMA.
<br />• Analytic Capability: Fusion centers must maintain strong analytic capabilities at tactical,
<br />operational, and strategic levels to address a wide array of threats or hazards that could have
<br />implications for homeland security or national security. These capabilities directly support
<br />operational, investigative, and information sharing efforts across all levels of government. These
<br />capabilities include, but are not limited to:
<br />o Building and sustaining a capable workforce of analysts who have the necessary
<br />experience and training; access to open source, unclassified and classified information,
<br />products, data, suspicious activity reporting; tips/leads and online/social media-based
<br />threats; as well as necessary services and technology to facilitate analytic capabilities and
<br />collaboration.
<br />o Assessing, evaluating, and deconflicting acts of targeted violence, threats to life, and
<br />other criminal or suspicious activity, to include potential indicators and behaviors, for
<br />potential connection to or implications for international or domestic terrorism, or other
<br />threats within the DHS mission space.
<br />o Providing analytic support and responses to requests for information from federal, state,
<br />and local partners during no notice emerging threats, attacks, or incidents, as well as
<br />other planned events such as NSSEs.
<br />o Conducting threat assessments within their respective jurisdictions, including the
<br />identification of threats, intelligence gaps, and mitigation efforts.
<br />o Establishing, formalizing, and maintaining bi-directional information sharing with federal
<br />and other state agencies in accordance with jurisdictional authorities.
<br />o Leveraging available resources and capabilities to conduct target and event deconfliction
<br />in support of threat identification, officer safety, and information sharing.
<br />o Maintaining an ability to routinely support federal government efforts to watchlist
<br />terrorists and transnational organized crime actors.
<br />o Appropriately planning for, and assessing/forecasting, prioritizing, and executing against
<br />both known and emerging threat vectors, and ensuring the safety and security of all
<br />operations, while protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.
<br />
<br />Fusion centers should also consider their operational capacity when aligning manpower and
<br />resources in support of this capability (e.g., the ability to maintain watch and analytic support
<br />functions over a 24/7 operational tempo).
<br />
<br />• Technological Integration: Access to data, information, and products is essential for fusion
<br />centers and the federal government to effectively identify, collect, analyze, and share information.
<br />Just as threats do not stop at jurisdictional borders, fusion centers must be able to effectively
<br />access and share appropriate information and data across jurisdictions, agencies, and disciplines.
<br />Fusion centers must ensure and certify via the Fusion Center Assessment they have the
<br />necessary technological capacity to access, analyze, and share information, including criminal
<br />intelligence and online/social media threat information, both within their jurisdictions, as well as
|