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DHS Intelligence Cumulative Essay

Joseph Cashin

November 25, 2009

Richard Owens

ICDC College

2
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Introduction

A primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, the Department) is to

“prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the United States to

terrorism, and minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery from terrorist attacks that do

occur in the United States. I&A is to ensure that information related to homeland security threats

is collected, analyzed, and disseminated to the full spectrum of homeland security customers in

the Department, at state, local, and tribal levels, in the private sector. I&A makes the products of

its analysis available to state and local officials through classified and unclassified intelligence

networks ( Allen Testimony, Sep. 24, 2008 ). The new strategic vision for the Department of

Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), and our recent efforts to

align its intelligence and information sharing functions to advance the mission of the

Department.

A variety of emergency situations in recent years have demonstrated in increasingly vivid detail
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the tragic consequences that often result from the inability of jurisdictions and agencies to

effectively share information. Terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and large‐scale and organized

criminal incidents too often serve as case studies that reveal weaknesses in our nation’s

information sharing capabilities. Moreover, enterprise‐wide information sharing is also

required to support the critical day‐to‐day operations of public safety officials at all levels

and across all branches of government. The National Intelligence Strategy outlines mission

objectives and enterprise objectives to help transform intelligence work.

Strategic Goal
Establish a secure, flexible, and modern information technology system that fully supports

the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. (Office of Intelligence and

Analysis (I&A)

2008). DHS has the mandate to receive, assess, and analyze information from law enforcement

entities, the Intelligence Community, and non-traditional sources in order to use and share

information for national and homeland security purposes. We must ensure that DHS-origin

information is disseminated to the widest possible Homeland Security Stakeholder

Community, based on appropriate classification levels and using standardized reporting 7

processes, while protecting security, privacy, civil liberties and ensuring data integrity. We

must also ensure that wherever possible, non-DHS origin intelligence-related information is

made available to all DHS components. DHS must maintain intelligence-related information

production capabilities and collection requirements systems and processes to meet our

Stakeholder needs. (DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan January 2006).

Figure 1. Current Department of Homeland Security

Organization
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Source: DHS, July 18, 2008.

(U.S. Congress, Joint Hearing of the Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Risk Assessment Subcommittee of the

House Committee on Homeland Security and the Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence

Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, “DHS Second Stage Review: The Role of the

Chief Intelligence Officer,” Testimony of Charles Allen, DHS Chief Intelligence Officer, 109th Cong., 2nd sess.,

October 19, 2005. Hereafter: Allen Testimony, Oct. 19, 2005).

Intelligence, as you know, is not only about spies and satellites. Intelligence is about the

thousands and thousands of routine, everyday observations and activities. Surveillance,

interactions—each of which may be taken in isolation as not a particularly meaningful piece

of information, but when fused together, gives us a sense of the patterns and the flow that

really is at the core of what intelligence analysis is all about. ( Allen Testimony, Oct. 19, 2005).

The DHS intelligence strategy has four main elements: (1) vision, (2) mission, (3) definitions,

and (4) goals and objectives. While the strategy does not specifically define HSINT, it provides a

vision for the DHS intelligence enterprise as being “an integrated ... enterprise that provides a
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decisive information advantage to the guardians of our homeland security.” According to the

strategy, the mission of the DHS intelligence enterprise is to provide valuable, actionable

intelligence and intelligence-related information for and among the National leadership, all

components of DHS, our federal partners, state, local, territorial, tribal, and private sector

customers. We ensure that information is gathered from all relevant DHS field operations and is

fused with information from other members of the Intelligence Community to produce accurate,

timely, and actionable intelligence products and services. We independently collate, analyze,

coordinate, disseminate, and manage threat information affecting the homeland. Implicit in this

strategy is the DHS adoption of the definition of homeland security information outlined in the

Homeland Security Act of 2002. (Executive Office of the President, Homeland Security Council, National
Strategy for Homeland Security, Oct. 2007). & (DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan, Oct. 2006).

Conclusion

I&A’s overarching vision in this regard is to be the trusted leader in meeting our nation’s
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homeland security intelligence needs. This vision drives our core focus of strengthening the

Departments and our partners’ ability to protect the homeland by accessing, integrating,

analyzing, and sharing timely and relevant intelligence and information, while preserving civil

liberties and privacy. Accordingly, I&A’s primary customers are clear: the Secretary; state and

local fusion centers and state, local, territorial, and tribal authorities; Department components;

the private sector; the Intelligence Community (IC); and other federal departments and agencies.

To ensure that we in I&A are doing all we can to meet our goals of supporting two-way

information flow with state, local, tribal and private sector partners, the Secretary directed I&A

to outline a Department-wide initiative to strengthen the baseline capabilities and analytic

capacity of state and major urban area fusion centers. The proposal our office developed

articulates that fusion centers must be better able to:

* Operate at a more consistent level.
* Rapidly identify and disseminate information regarding emerging terrorism, criminal, and
other homeland security threats.
* Support and enhance a state and urban area intelligence platform for risk-based, information-
driven decision making by state, local, tribal, territorial and federal homeland security and law
enforcement officials. (Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Posted on: 25th September 2009 ).

References

( Allen Testimony, Sep. 24, 2008 )

(Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) 2008)

(DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan January 2006)

(U.S. Congress, Joint Hearing of the Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Risk Assessment

Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Terrorism, Human Intelligence,

Analysis, and Counterintelligence Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on

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Intelligence, “DHS Second Stage Review: The Role of the Chief Intelligence Officer,” Testimony of

Charles Allen, DHS Chief Intelligence Officer, 109th Cong., 2nd sess., October 19, 2005.

Hereafter: Allen Testimony, Oct. 19, 2005).

(Allen Testimony, Oct. 19, 2005).

(Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Posted on: 25th September 2009).

(Executive Office of the President, Homeland Security Council, National Strategy for Homeland Security,

Oct. 2007). & (DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan, Oct. 2006).