Napolitano Beefs Up Fusion Centers, Cites Local Cooperation

Saturday, December 19th, 2009 10:11 am

Responding to an increase in terrorism cases involving American suspects, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is deploying more intelligence analysts nationwide and expanding teams that do outreach with Muslim communities, reports the Los Angeles Times. She also is stepping up intelligence sharing with state and city law enforcement agencies.

Napolitano has issued a strong warning about “home-based terrorism.” She said it was hard to pinpoint reasons for the trend, but she noted that economic hard times spur anger and disenchantment. She also cited a wave of propaganda aimed at aspiring American extremists. Napolitano has re-deployed about 36 intelligence analysts from Washington to beef up 72 “fusion centers” created during the George W. Bush administration. She intends to send more analysts to those centers, where federal officials work with local investigators to share intelligence and provide training on detecting potential threats.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-napolitano19-2009dec19,0,6459458.story

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