FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(202) 514-2007 | TDD (202) 514-1888
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
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FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2004
FACT SHEET: NATIONAL CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE SHARING PLAN
"This plan represents
law enforcement's commitment to take it upon itself to ensure that the dots
are connected,
be it in crime or terrorism. The plan
is the outcome of an unprecedented effort by law enforcement agencies, with
the strong support of the Department of Justice, to strengthen the nation's
security through better intelligence analysis and sharing."
- Attorney General John Ashcroft, May 14, 2004
The Department of Justice is effectively pursuing the goals of the National
Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan by ensuring that all of its components are
effectively sharing information with each other and the rest of the nation's
law enforcement community.
Activities by DOJ and Related Agencies:
- Through the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative, the Attorney
General captures the views of more than 30 groups representing 1.2 million
justice professionals from all levels of government. Global members wrote the
National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan and published guides, best practices,
and standards for information sharing.
- The Department's
Chief Information Officer, under the authority of the Deputy Attorney
General, has formed a Law Enforcement Information Sharing Initiative
to establish a strategy for the Department of Justice to routinely
share information
to all levels of the law enforcement community and to guide the investment
of resources in information systems that will further this goal. The
strategy identifies how the Department of Justice will support the
implementation of
the Plan.
- The newly established
Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC) under Global will
serve to set national-level policies to implement the Plan
and monitor its progress on the state and local level. The CICC will
work with the Department's Law Enforcement Information Strategy Initiative
and with the
Justice Intelligence Coordinating Council, created by a directive
of the Attorney General, to improve the flow of intelligence information
among federal, state,
and local law enforcement agencies.
- The Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) has built an enterprise-wide intelligence program
to fulfill its responsibility to get vital information about those
who would do us harm to those who can act to prevent that harm.
To that end, the FBI has built robust intelligence production and sharing
processes enabled
by technologies developed and operated by the Criminal Justice
Information Systems (CJIS) Division. The FBI has established an intelligence
requirements
process to both drive its investigative work against common threats
and to satisfy the information needs of the larger U.S. national security
community,
including other partners in law enforcement. This process ensures
that the FBI produces not only the information it can produce, but also
the information
it must produce to safeguard the nation.
In addition, the FBI has
implemented a policy of "writing to release" to
ensure the maximum amount of information is pushed to key customers and partners
at the lowest possible classification level. The FBI Intelligence Webpage on
Law Enforcement Online was created to make this information available at the
unclassified level for FBI partners in state, local, and tribal law enforcement.
Finally, the FBI has established Field Intelligence Groups (FIG) in each FBI
field office to ensure the execution of the intelligence program in FBI field
divisions. The FIGs are the bridge that joins national intelligence with regional
and local intelligence information through entities like the Joint Terrorism
Task Forces.
- The Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), in partnership with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area Program and the Regional Information Sharing
Systems (RISS), is developing the National Virtual Pointer System (NVPS)
that will allow federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies
access
to pointer databases through a single point of entry. Through NVPS, participating
agencies will be able to determine if any other law enforcement entity
is focused on the same investigative target-regardless of the crime. They
will be linked
to the agent or law enforcement officer who has information on the related
case. Information will be transmitted over the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System and RISSnet, the secure web-based communication
system operated by a
collaborative organization of state and local justice officials.
- All components of
the Department of Justice have adopted a common language for sharing information
among differing computer systems, the Justice XML Data
Dictionary. All federal grant programs to criminal justice agencies will
also include a special condition calling for the use of this standard.
- The Department of Justice,
through the FBI, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Office of Community-Oriented
Policing Services (COPS), is providing
training and technical assistance to criminal justice policy leaders, law
enforcement professionals, and information technology professionals in
standards and policies
to enable information sharing, improve the use of intelligence by law enforcement,
and build systems that tie into the nation's existing information-sharing
networks.
- The Department of Justice
is investing in research and development of new tools and methods to improve
the use of intelligence in law enforcement. This
work includes the continued development of XML standards, new analytical
tools, security standards, and policing methods to improve the safety and
effectiveness
of police officers. In addition, through OJP and COPS, the Department is
sponsoring pilot projects across the nation to improve the interoperability
of information
systems and show the impact of improved information sharing on fighting
crime and terrorism.
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