Thursday, January 26, 2012

Counterterror, Emergency Response Centers Not Sharing Information

G.W. Schulz, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 24, 2012

From the article: "Dozens of high-tech command centers built or beefed up throughout the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to promote better information sharing and disaster preparation have struggled to do just that.

A decade later, federal auditors found that two networks – one heavily focused on law enforcement and the other on emergency management – are often unaware of what the other is doing and in the process might be missing critical opportunities to improve efficiency. “Some fusion centers are all-crimes oriented and do not consider emergency operations centers as partners in their operations,” according to a new report [PDF] from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. “Many emergency operations center officials view fusion centers as solely law enforcement entities and either do not see a need or do not know how to effectively coordinate with them.”  Read more

See Also
Relationships Between Fusion Centers and Emergency Operations Centers
Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Dec. 6, 2011