The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reorganizing its intelligence branch to better support its core customers, including state and local partners, and to make better use of its collective resources, the new head of the DHS Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) Office told Congress yesterday.
“I&A’s proposed realignment consolidates similar activities, invests more resources in areas of required core competencies, and frees up existing resources for new endeavors,” Caryn Wagner, under secretary for I&A and the DHS Chief Intelligence Officer, said in her prepared remarks to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Information Sharing. She became the DHS intelligence chief three months ago.
Wagner said that vertical information sharing, that is, between DHS and its state and local partners, is a priority and needs to be a two-way street.
Under the realignment, Wagner proposes four core offices for I&A. These are Analysis, Enterprise and Mission Support, a Joint Fusion Center Program Management Office (JFC- PMO), and Plans, Policy and Performance Management, she said. The JFC-PMO will be overseen by a director and the three other offices by a deputy under secretary.
The existing State and Local Program Office will be absorbed by the JFC-PMO.
Wagner said she is focused on four areas. One is improved information sharing through the state, local and major urban area fusion centers. She said the JFC-PMO, which was formally approved by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in March, would bring all of DHS’ resources to support its state, local and tribal partners.
Despite Wagner’s attention to improving information sharing with state and local partners, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the subcommittee chair, said that her prepared remarks focused too much on I&A’s relationships with other federal intelligence agencies.
Second, Wagner said, is strengthening the DHS intelligence enterprise. Here, several things are underway, including her chairmanship of the Homeland Security Intelligence Council that brings together intelligence leaders and other officials from the DHS components and agencies.
There is also a DHS Threat Task Force that stands up as needed and is composed of I&A analysts and operational component representatives so that “all the department is brought to bear on an issue or investigation,” she said.
I&A has also documented the intelligence and information needs of DHS through Standing Information Needs (SINS) that “improve DHS’ ability to participate in the IC’s collection management processes and the quality and quantity of information received in the support of those needs,” Wagner said.
The third focus area is providing “first rate” analytic information to core customers, which are aligned with the SINS, Wagner said. Given recent trends, she said that I&A is working with the intelligence community to “develop a framework for analysis of homegrown violent extremism that is consistent with protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties.”
Privacy and civil issues are being addressed up front for any measures that are put in place relating ferreting out homegrown terrorists, Wagner said.
The final focus area is improving the management and processes within I&A. This includes establishing a deputy under secretary for Plans, Policy and Performance Management under the new organizational alignment to “enable a more streamlined and integrated strategic planning, programming and performance measurement, and budgeting life-cycle process,” Wagner said.