Fusion Centers in the South

Fusion Centers are a core infrastructure in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) surveillance apparatus. The National Network of Fusion Centers was started after the formation of DHS in order to increase the collection of surveillance data across the country and ensure that it is shared across all levels of police agencies, from the local through federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Since 2005, the Department of Homeland Security has granted more than $28 billion in funding through core grant programs designed to build a comprehensive national surveillance apparatus, including funding for Fusion Centers.

These grant programs give shape to how Fusion Centers are built and operate through a set of grant guidelines but local governing authorities decide on how grant funds are allocated.

The Department of Homeland Security describes these centers in the following way:

“Fusion Centers are state-owned and operated centers that serve as focal points in states and major urban areas for the receipt, analysis, gathering and sharing of threat-related information between State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT), federal and private sector partners.

The National Network of Fusion Centers (National Network) brings critical context and value to Homeland Security and Law Enforcement that no other federal or local organization can replicate. Fusion Centers accomplish this through sharing information, providing partners with a unique perspective on threats to their state or locality and being the primary contact between frontline personnel, state and local leadership and the rest of the Homeland Security Enterprise.”(source)

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

Pacifying the Homeland: Intelligence Fusion and Mass Supervision by Brendan McQuade

DHS Open for Business: How Tech Corporations Bring the War on Terror to Our Neighborhoods

Get the BRIC Out of Boston from the Muslim Justice League

Ending Fusion Center Abuses from the Brennan Center for Justice

This is mostly collected via open source research and will be updated over time. Please contact us at sassisouth@proton.me if you would like to contribute to this.