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  • Essay / Intelligence Analysis: Homeland Security News Wire

    The certification process would create a format that all analysts would use when creating their analytical products. Therefore, when intelligence consumers receive an intelligence product from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) or DHS, the content differs but the format is the same. The certification program would resemble the current FBI analyst certification program. The FBI requires its analysts to complete a certification program known as the Intelligence Officer Certification Program. A similar certification process should be implemented across the I/C community. Through certification, the information consumer would not only receive a higher quality product, but also a standardized format that is easier to read. Beyond intelligence accuracy, analysts must also produce intelligence products that are relevant and consistent with current and future threats. If intelligence products are highly accurate, but the intelligence lacks relevance, then intelligence consumers will be left with irrelevant information. Irrelevant information may be the result of an over-reliance on technology as a method of intelligence gathering. Homeland Security News Wire addresses this issue in its July 2014 article and states that intelligence gathered by the intelligence community relies almost entirely on intelligence collection technology. Further evidence of this over-reliance on technology is highlighted in Gabriel Margolis' article on the lack of HUMINIT. He says: “A craze for technological methods of intelligence gathering has developed within many intelligence organizations, often leaving the centuries-old practice of espionage in the background. Due to the focus on the middle of the paper, the entity needs information about a suspect who may have a record in the federal system and can contact their representative at the fusion center. The fusion center representative can immediately speak with an agent and relay the necessary information. Additionally, if federal authorities are working on a case and need help from the local population, they can immediately contact their fusion center partners. Even the level of information sharing horizontally, between local and local agencies, increases exponentially in this type of environment. I personally witness this environment of unfettered information sharing across agencies every day in our Fusion Center. The concept of “team” is what makes this model work. For this type of model to succeed; however, I advocate the creation of a fusion center in every major urban area in the country..