At the first summit of its kind in 15 years, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and various national law enforcement organizations gathered in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 17-18, 2022, to network and improve information sharing on national and public security.
“In the 20 years since 9/11, our law enforcement and homeland security community has made great progress in reshaping our information sharing environment – working together, we put policies and processes in place that help us to be safer and more secure than we were years ago,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners gathered to develop a foundation for domestic information sharing previously unseen, specifically to tackle terrorist threats. DHS maintains that threats have only continued to evolve ever since and that a meeting like the 2022 Intelligence Summit helps law enforcement to stay ahead, stay collaborative, and stay committed.
“We are committed to building on this foundation, as we are facing a more complex, diverse, and dynamic threat landscape than ever before,” Mayorkas said. “The wide array of threats we face impact the safety and security of local communities of every size and location across our great country. The most effective way in which we address these challenges is through our partnerships, working together with one another.”
Participants, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, sought ways to improve information sharing at all levels of government. Doing this quickly and at the lowest classification level possible was among the top concerns for the summit, alongside how to proceed without sacrificing protections on privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. The Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC) – which advises the U.S. Attorney General and supports state, local, and tribal law enforcement and homeland security agencies on criminal intelligence and information sharing – was underlined as critical for coordinating such efforts nationwide.
Attendees also discussed opportunities to improve the identification and reporting of suspicious activity through the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative and the value of the Fusion Center Engagement and Information Sharing Strategy. The latter serves as a statement of DHS pledges to support law enforcement partners and how fusion centers enable information sharing related to national security.