Inside DHS' Intelligence Mission

"I&As successes are real and significant, ranging from the creation of a first-ever requirements process for the homeland intelligence enterprise, driving the establishment of State-owned fusion centers and connecting them with the federal government via the relatively new Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), negotiating a host of information sharing agreements with the National Counterterrorism Center and others, and serving as the DHS leadership hub for ingesting, producing and disseminating finished intelligence.

But I&A remains an incomplete product. It has yet to settle on an enduring analytic focus: whether it should be an operational enabler for DHS components or an analytic hub for strategic analysis, and how it’s statutes and authorities – especially around the use of U.S. Persons information, for homeland-centric products relates to the larger intelligence community. I&A also is still evolving in how it supports and advocates for non-federal members of the homeland security enterprise at state, local, and private sector stake-holder levels, as well as its often fraught relationship with the FBI."