The departments of Homeland Security and
Justice must provide additional support to state and local fusion
centers and inform them of their long-term plan for providing resources
to sustain them, according to a report from the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) released Thursday.
The report, titled "Homeland Security: Federal
Efforts Are Helping to Alleviate Some Challenges Encountered by State
and Local Information Fusion Centers," described some of the
accomplishments the federal government had made in supporting fusion
centers. The report noted that out of a total of 58 fusion centers
nationwide, 43 of them were considered fully operational. Thirty-four
of those had become operational since January 2004.
While state law enforcement agencies generally
managed the fusion centers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
and the FBI generally assigned staff members to them to empower
information sharing. DHS had assigned personnel to 17 of the fusion
centers while the FBI had personnel in three-quarters of the centers.
But challenges remaining in establishing
fusion centers as a valuable tool for information sharing, the report
warned, and DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are tackling some
of those challenges.
"DHS and DOJ have provided many fusion centers
access to their information systems, but fusion center officials cited
challenges accessing and managing multiple information systems," the
report read. "Both DHS and the FBI have provided security clearances
for state and local personnel and set timeliness goals. However,
officials cited challenges obtaining and using security clearances."
Forty-three of the fusion centers reported
problems in obtaining personnel to be assigned there, while 54 centers
reported shortfalls in funding.
"The officials said that these issues made it
difficult to plan for the future and created concerns about the fusion
centers' ability to sustain their capability for the long-term," the
report declared.
While some initiatives in federal grants have
helped to fund the centers, DHS and DOJ have not articulated a
long-term plan for providing financial support to sustain fusion
centers, the report said.
The Program Manager for the Information
Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), located in the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence, has primary responsibility for information
sharing across the government. PM-ISE could do more to set standards
for training fusion center analysts to the same levels and to assist
with setting baseline capabilities of fusion centers, the report found.
The full report is online at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0835.pdf.
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