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Release Date: April 8, 2008
Boston, Massachusetts
Annual International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts and Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit Conference
(Remarks as Prepared)
Good morning. I am Charlie Allen, the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and Chief Intelligence Officer of the Department of Homeland Security. Thank you for inviting me to Boston to speak to you today at the Annual International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts and Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit Conference. This is a great opportunity to network with your peers from around the country and the world, share ideas, and discuss issues of common concern. I hope to learn a lot from all of you, and I hope that you learn a lot from each other.
IALEIA and LEIU have existed in the service of the law enforcement community for decades; LEIU is pushing 60, and IALEIA almost 30. I am impressed by the tenacity with which both organizations represented here have continuously pushed training, standardization, and professionalism in the law enforcement community. Both have a long standing relationship which, based on what I see today, has had a measurable impact on the law enforcement intelligence community.
I understand that 13 countries are represented here; the priorities of IALEIA and LEIU are obviously valued in many places around the world. Coming from a long career in the Intelligence Community in intelligence analysis, collection, and operations, it has always been very clear to me that the roles of analyst and collector are strongly symbiotic. I have lived in both worlds. Analysts and investigators in this room, therefore, are comfortable with this relationship which is truly the future of law enforcement. Fully incorporating the analytic function into the law enforcement is essential to a true implementation of intelligence-led policing, a concept which is being adopted far and wide. We all know that Bill Bratton, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department believes this. As does my good friend Ralph Basham, Chief of DHS’ Custom and Border Protection, who always speaks of intelligence-driven border operations. I especially want to recognize Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. We greatly appreciate his hospitality. My Office is represented here in Boston by Ms. Lisa Palmieri who is assigned to the Commonwealth Fusion Center in nearby Maynard, Massachusetts. As the IALEIA President I know she represents you ably. As a deployed officer with nearly twenty years of Intelligence Community experience, she represents the best of what my Office has to offer.
I would also be remiss if I did not recognize Mr. Russ Porter, who seems to be in as many places as I am recently, which is no easy feat. Russ is a friend to the Department and a man whose judgment I value greatly in helping me lead the intelligence efforts of the Department forward in cooperation with the many State, local and even international partners here today. He is truly a leader in your field, which was recently illustrated when he was appointed to lead the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council, a body whose work has been invaluable in establishing a robust National intelligence effort. Russ is working closely and effectively with me to help me stand up the Interagency Threat and Coordination Group (ITACG) at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The ITACG as many of you know is now operational and provides “federally coordinated” counterterrorism information to state and local fusion centers.
I do want to talk with you first about the threat we face here in the Homeland. Last year, the Director of National Intelligence Estimate with the 16 agencies of the Intelligence Community judged that the US will face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years. The threat from international terrorists and al Qa’ida core leadership remains palpable Al Qa’ida will continue to focus on prominent political, economic, and infrastructure targets with the goal of producing mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks, and fear among the US population. This threat will continue to challenge our ability to detect broader and more diverse plotting for many years to come. Such a dangerous and sustained threat requires a much greater understanding of how suspect activities at the local level relate to strategic threat information and how to best identify indicators of terrorist activity. Because these threats are so real and potentially damaging, we must combine forces and make fusion work Only by working together can we begin to mitigate these threats.
Now, I want to take a very few minutes of your time today to do a couple of things.
First – Share with you my vision for the future and the creation of a National Fusion Center Network as detailed in the National Strategy for Information Sharing released last year by the White House.
Next – Tell you about our progress in DHS over the recent months, that affects many of you in the normal course of your day to day work.
I’d like to begin if I may by reading to you what the President said at the DHS 5th anniversary event in Washington in early March:
“The Department of Homeland Security is working to strengthen cooperation with state and local governments -- so we can prevent terrorist attacks, and respond effectively if we have to. Before 9/11, the federal government sent threat information to authorities -- local authorities by fax machine. Today, we've established 21st century lines of communication that allow us to share classified threat information rapidly and securely. We've helped state and local officials establish intelligence fusion centers in 46 states. These centers allow federal officials to provide intelligence to our state and local partners, and allow locally-generated information to get to officials here in Washington who need it.”
Provide intelligence and generate information. That is it in a nutshell. We all recognize the seriousness of this effort and how critical it is to do this right. As many of you know, I have selected some of my very best people to embed in State and local operations. Lisa here in Massachusetts personifies my approach. My officers are an extension of my operation in Washington – and frankly – without them we could not make this work. They work with many of you every day; in fact some are members of both organizations represented here today.
We now have 23 officers assigned across the country. We recently selected the next group of intelligence officers that will be deployed and will meet our commitment of 35 officers in the field by the end of this year. We will send officers to Minnesota, North Carolina, Michigan, Chicago, Houston, Austin, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oregon, Las Vegas, and South Florida. Feedback from fusion centers has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to this continued interaction and partnership.
My goal is to support the implementation of a National Fusion Center Network working with our colleagues in the FBI, DOJ, DNI and the PM-ISE.
What do I mean by that? Let me elaborate. The strategy will connect more than 50 State and major city intelligence centers all working together with the Federal Government in a partnership to protect America.
I envision a network of state, local and federal intelligence and law enforcement professionals working together – supported by appropriate tools – to achieve a common goal: protection of the nation.
Working together – leveraging Federal as well as State and Local networks; moving relevant information and intelligence quickly; enabling rapid analytic and operational judgments – that is what this National Fusion Center Network is all about.
Our ability to move, analyze and act on information is our greatest strength. We must use the network and the information in that network, to push our defensive perimeter outward.
That’s what the National Fusion Center Network will do for us.
The federal government recognizes that state and local authorities -- many of you in this room -- have been working at this for years.
We in the Federal Government, particularly the National Intelligence Community, must aggressively support you in this endeavor, and become a committed partner as we collaboratively create the National Fusion Center Network
Intelligence officers armed with the appropriate tools help to push the edges of the National Intelligence Community out to the states, and bring the power of that community to bear on the problems of the states. In addition, information once only available in cities and states can be used to protect the nation as a whole
This is all new and different for the Intelligence Community but we are rapidly adjusting to this role, and we welcome this challenge. It represents one of the single biggest changes in the Intelligence Community’s history and all of you are part of this change We are working hard to educate ourselves to your information needs, as well as increase our ability to provide you information.
One program that I support is the Terrorism Liaison Officer or TLO. TLO programs can be found in many law enforcement agencies across the nation. I appreciate the fact that the TLO initiatives are "home grown," resulting from the desire of individual agencies to be engaged in the war on terrorism. I also appreciate the roles that you, as intelligence analysts, play in adding value to information gathered by first responders. We at DHS Intelligence and Analysis lead the ITACG that I mentioned before. It incorporates the skills and unique insights of law professionals into the intelligence cycle.
As the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell has said, whenever there is a question of sharing, we (the Federal Intelligence Community) have a “responsibility to provide.”
For the first time here in the US, the Intelligence Community is sharing analytic methodologies, training, and tradecraft to support homeland security. While we cannot share all information and intelligence, we can certainly support public safety efforts to keep our nation safe. My Office has been charged by the US Congress to support state and local law enforcement, public safety and critical infrastructure through fusion centers, which many of you have heard of in the past few years. This is a completely new approach, and we still have work to do, but the progress we have made has certainly paved the way for a more secure future. Prior to my Office being tasked with state and local support, information and intelligence needed by people on the ground did not get to where it needed to be. That’s no longer the case. Conversely, information which may fit into the bigger picture of national security, but means nothing to the local police officer or analyst who comes across it, now has an avenue to get where it can become part of the national, or even international, intelligence picture.
Public service is not an extravagant occupation, but I want to commend all of you and your agencies for supporting this effort. And we all must do this while paying the utmost respect to the civil liberties and privacy of our citizens.
Creating this National Fusion Center Network is a daunting, but achievable task. We are doing many things for the first time, and will likely make mistakes. But we will learn from those mistakes, do better, and create what the country should have had before 9/11.
I have spoken some about our state and local fusion centers and the importance of federal agencies to partner with state, local, tribal, and private sector counterparts. In this way, we share information and strengthen collaboration in our analysis of information viewed through the prism of homeland security. In addition, through my current work at DHS as well as my years at the Central Intelligence Agency, I have a great understanding and appreciation for the work of our international allies.
On that front, my office interacts closely with our counterparts in Canada, the UK, and Australia. Furthermore, we are developing relationships with Mexico, Germany and several other nations to share information on common threats.
Each of us does not live and operate in a vacuum. As there is a need for a global economy, we, as intelligence partners have a need for global information sharing. Just like the federal government cannot protect the Homeland without the assistance of state, local, tribal, and private sector partners, neither can we cannot protect the Homeland without the assistance of our international partners. The need to share information domestically, internationally and act collaboratively is vital if we want to stop bad people and bad things from entering all of our countries. We have seen the benefits of collaboration, displayed by the prevention of the plot to attack airlines crossing the Atlantic from London to the United States through the use of liquid explosives in the summer of 2006.
Common threats and challenges transcend our borders. We all face threats from a variety of sources: chemical, biological, radiological, and the most common weapon - explosives The flow of illegal drugs, human smuggling, and infectious diseases affect every country. Three weeks ago the Saudi government sponsored an international seminar on radicalization and extremism … subjects we all need to get smart on. Every country has critical infrastructure that needs to be protected. The problems we face are problems for each and every country represented here today.
What have we done together as an Intelligence Community?
Our communities of IC and LE have not traditionally seen the value of sharing information You in this audience understand the absolute necessity of sharing information, both inside and outside our comfort zones; building strong and trusted relationships, as you can do in environments such as professional conferences, will help to further these goals. We all need to know what information is of interest to which community, and ensure that those who need information to protect our societies. We must all understand how to handle information, and how to turn it into actionable intelligence…all without trampling the rights of the people we are bound and sworn to protect. Protection of people’s right to privacy isn’t an option, it’s the law. And those of us who work for governments take oaths to uphold the law, and to protect our people. Some of you may be too young to understand what can happen when security trumps all.
This represents the real value of our efforts – the return on our investment. We have collaborated on a number of intelligence products, co-authoring several. I think we have truly hit the mark when I see a local intelligence center seal on an intelligence product next to ours and the FBI’s. That shows unity of purpose, of understanding, the essence of what homeland security intelligence is about.
We in DHS intelligence have held multiple conferences on specific topics; most recently on border security, previously on weapons of mass destruction, and radicalization and extremism. We’ve also had several workshops on threats to critical infrastructure. These conferences expand our knowledge together, helping to create analytic communities working together across the country.
Knowing more about what is of interest to you helps us as well. In response to customer need, we are developing new art forms, such as our Cyber Security Assessment, and asking for feedback on content as well as format and recurrence.
We will tackle new topics – threats to inland waterways, for example – if asked by you. If you have suggestions or ideas, you only need to speak to Ed McConnell of my office, who is here with me at this conference. Ed is a 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department and speaks your language.
Our analysts are pushing the frontiers of understanding in several areas, such as the phenomenon of radicalization. They are also providing all-source intelligence support in identifying, preventing, disrupting, and preparing for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives, and cyber attacks on the Homeland. They focus on border security, including the flow of illegal drugs at both the southern and northern borders; human smuggling; threats from infectious diseases such as avian influenza; and the security of our nation’s critical infrastructure.
This year we also delivered our first Homeland Security Threat Assessment. We will do it again. We want your help to make sure it is right.
Training is the building block upon which standards are built. IALEIA and LEIU have pooled resources to ensure that there is a basic course for your analytic community, the Field Intelligence Analyst Training (FIAT). DHS has recognized the FIAT as filling a gap; police officers have their academies, but law enforcement analysts were relegated to on the job training. The FIAT and other courses like it signify a very productive step forward which you have supported with your memberships and your participation in these two organizations.
We also want to make sure we are providing all this information in a way that works for you. We talked about products. But, we also want to send out our experts to provide you with briefings I have sent and will continue to send our analysts to work in the community with you and to meet with state and local leadership. This all goes to making sure we have a common understanding of threats – which helps us reduce our vulnerabilities – and keeps America safe. These are steps on a journey that we must undertake together. It is far too important an effort not to.
This conference is part of a broad effort to understand each other’s needs and begin to develop in harmony a strategy that keeps all of us safe. I need your ideas, I need your help, and I need your support Get reacquainted, share ideas, and share experiences Perhaps even share a mistake or two. But most of all, make the time you spend here valuable.
Thank you very much.
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This page was last reviewed/modified on April 8, 2008.