Fusion Centers: Enthusiasm and Apprehension
By Robert Barker, Infoglide Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer
Identity resolution is a vital technology for law enforcement fusion centers, and we’ve often followed developments with links to stories in this area. When overlapping and adjacent jurisdictions share data with each other, uncovering hidden identities and linkages greatly accelerates the detection of criminal activity.
This map shows current and planned deployments of state and local fusion centers. Mention “fusion center” and you’re likely to get one of two divergent reactions:
- “Great idea – law enforcement agencies not combining forces and sharing data with each other to catch criminals wastes energy and taxpayer dollars.”
- “This sounds like another step toward Big Brother government snooping around looking for some reason to harass private citizens.”
On the “great idea” side, we’ve seen editorial and popular support for fusion centers in Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, and other states. Strong federal support for state-based centers is also evident in recent announcements from the Department of Homeland Security. On the “Big Brother” side of the discussion, projects having ominous overtones like the National Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative have drawn attention and suspicion from privacy rights groups like the ACLU.
Take a case in point. In Austin TX the formation of an Austin Regional Intelligence Center was recently proposed. On the one hand, local law enforcement leaders are enthusiastic about the ability to “stitch together information collected by various agencies to create new files on suspects in criminal cases or on suspects they think may be planning to carry out crimes and merit further surveillance.”
On the other hand, privacy advocates express concern about the use of unchecked power and the establishment of clear policies for how private citizens will be protected from intrusive surveillance. “If you start to go above and beyond the lawful means of data information collection, we are well on our way down a slippery slope where there is no return,” said Chuck Young, founder and treasurer of the civil liberties group Texans for Accountable Government.
The City of Austin police have been diligent in addressing privacy concerns very directly. David Carter, the assistant police chief responsible for the project, said that “we do recognize that there are concerns in some people’s minds concerning fusion centers in general,” and the department has taken care to meet early with representatives of the ACLU and other concerned citizens to determine how best to achieve security objectives while protecting the privacy of individuals.
We believe a forum like IdentityResolutionDaily allows everyone to share views and information on this long-standing and complex issue and is the best way to enable open communication among all concerned parties. Let us hear from you.
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