Additional Congressional Oversight Needed on Intelligence Sharing

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Ensuring proper intelligence storage and dissemination to law enforcement agencies is a complex process. As fusion centers become increasingly more integrated into the intelligence sharing process, a March 2010 report recommends additional Congressional oversight over these matters.

Recommendations for Congress include:

• Use the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review as an opportunity to “establish a robust approach to identify verification that safeguards individual privacy and civil rights.”
• Appraise the funding methods and leadership training at all 72 fusion centers
• Evaluate DHS’s capacity to assess and anticipate emerging threats 

Written by the Congressional Research Service, The Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Enterprise: Operational Overview and Oversight Challenges for Congress, calls on Congress “to improve the capability of fusion centers to gather, assess, analyze, and share locally generated and national information and intelligence” while protecting our civil rights.