In a secretive operation that is alarming civil-liberties advocates, 18 civilian analysts examine criminal data and 23 intelligence officers — State Police troopers who have the power to arrest — work in the field. Raytheon Co. won a $2.2 million contract to develop intelligence-sharing software for the state that aims to integrate databases and help analysts root out criminal trends.
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Analysts will have rapid access to financial information about individuals suspected of a crime, Smith said, ”but we always have had access to it. If there’s a predicated criminal offense, we can do searches.”
Last week, state officials allowed a Globe reporter to visit the center, which is accessible only to analysts who work there and three high-ranking members of the State Police. Inside, the 1,600-square-foot office is mundane, outfitted with 23 narrow work stations. Five flat-screen televisions monitoring local and national news cover one wall, and in the room are a conference table, mini-refrigerators, a microwave, and toaster oven. Someone brought in a bundt cake. Analysts’ pods are tacked with snapshots of friends and children; there was a wall poster of a kitten.
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Critics say the fusion centers are unnecessary bureaucracy. Christopher H. Pyle, a former Army intelligence officer who exposed the military's surveillance of citizens during the 1960s and 1970s and who now is a professor of politics at Mount Holyoke College, said that the FBI's Boston office would be better suited for the job than the State Police.
via Fusion Center takes aim at terror - The Boston Globe.
