NCJ Number
203835
Date Published
October 2002
Length
174 pages
Annotation
This document discusses a new national framework to enhance national security.
Abstract
The needs of a new national framework are discussed, including what information is needed to protect Americans at home; how the government can better employ private sector practices in managing information and developing technology; and how government agencies can more effectively gather, analyze, and use national security information. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can be the central hub for decision about what information needs to be collected and stored -- in the government or in the private sector -- and about where the information should be analyzed and how. The Federal Government must build an operating system that can harness the distributed power of local, State, and Federal officials and analysts across the Nation. One aspect of the organizational problem is to sort out the roles of key Federal agencies, especially the DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Department of Justice and the FBI should be the lead agencies for law enforcement, exercising the power to investigate crimes, charge people with crimes, and prepare cases for trial and appeal. The DHS should be the lead agency for shaping domestic intelligence products to inform policymakers, especially on the analytical side, so that there is some separation between the attitudes and priorities of intelligence analysis and the different, more concentrated, focus of law enforcement personnel authorized to use force on the street to make arrests and pursue or detain citizens. The DHS should take the lead in collecting information that is publicly available or voluntarily obtained and in analyzing domestic information and intelligence from all sources and setting overall priorities for new collection efforts, working within an interagency process that will include the FBI and other relevant agencies in the intelligence community. It should coordinate the national organization of homeland security task forces in States, regions, and metropolitan areas across the country. The DHS must also develop science and engineering strengths to be able to incorporate advanced technologies that are available in the private sector. 360 endnotes