Intelligence and information sharing between all levels of law enforcement and the intelligence community as well as private and public stakeholders is paramount in securing the homeland in post 9/11 America. Connecting the dots is crucial to detecting, deterring and preventing terrorism on a domestic and international level. This week, you will write an essay addressing the following:

The challenges of building grassroots intelligence and analytic initiatives with state and local partners based on national intelligence and threat information.

The role of fusion centers in providing state and local partners with effective threat analysis to include current terrorism trends, vulnerabilities and threat mitigation, protective measures, and terrorism indicators.

• The importance of suspicious activity reporting and building a robust public outreach and community engagement program.
• Training local law enforcement and homeland security partners on countering violent extremism (CVE) in accordance with DHS’s
  Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Training Guidance and Best Practices.  

Resources for Assignment

Textbook Reading: Introduction to Homeland Security 6th Ed, Chapter 5

• Fusion Centers 
• Fusion Centers and Intelligence Sharing 
• How Do We Know What Information Sharing Is Really Worth: Exploring Methodologies to Measure the Value of Information Sharing and Fusion Efforts