There is no single model for how each center is structured or operates. Finally, the report will provide Congress with a number of legislative options for consideration. The foreign intelligence agencies were watching overseas, alert to foreign threats to U.S. interests there. In the absence of a common understanding about what constitutes intelligence, fusion center development and progress may be impeded. Most of the fusion center representatives interviewed for this report appeared to be aware of the need to be respectful of privacy and civil liberties as a result of 28 CFR Part 23, the Fusion Center Guidelines, the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP), DHS/Department of Justice (DOJ)-sponsored fusion center conferences, and DHS—provided Technical Assistance Training, as well as interactions with peer fusion centers. Prior to 9/11, the benefits of collocation, coordination of resources, and information sharing across agencies was apparent to many in the law enforcement communities, and there were several states and regions that were looking to replicate the HIDTA model in their communities. 8 encourages an all-hazards approach to homeland security preparedness and specifically defines "all-hazards preparedness" as "preparedness for domestic terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies." While some states have seen limited success in integrating federal intelligence community analysis into their fusion centers, research indicates most continue to struggle with developing a "true fusion process" which includes value added analysis of broad streams of intelligence, identification of gaps, and fulfillment of those gaps, to prevent criminal and terrorist acts. If fusion centers are serving both state, local, and federal ends, one of the central questions becomes what is the role of the federal government in supporting these centers, and what products and services can the federal government reasonably expect the centers to produce, given federal funding levels. The question of what the federal government collectively defines as a "mature" center, or what the minimum level of capability for a fusion center is from a federal perspective, it could be argued, hampers the development of a long-term and sustained partnership between the federal government and the state and regional fusion centers. Under ISE Guideline 2, one recommendation is that DOJ and DHS, in consultation with the Program Manager's Office, develop standards to: (1) specify the means through which State, local and tribal data related to terrorist risks and threats and associated requirements and tasks is communicated to federal authorities and private sector entities and (2) develop, maintain and disseminate assessments of terrorist risks and threats gathered at the state, local or tribal levels, and (3) develop processes and protocols to ensure Suspicious Incident Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports are reported to appropriate law enforcement authorities. Located within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Program Manger for ISE has been working to integrate fusion centers into a broad initiative to enhance information and intelligence between the federal government, and state and local law enforcement and public safety entities, as well as the private sector. Congressional remedies could potentially involve a broad range of possible actions including, but not limited to, oversight of federal agencies and entities engaged in interaction with fusion centers, requesting Executive Branch action on any number of fusion center-related issues, establishing a statutory basis for fusion centers, convening additional hearings which include state and local fusion center leaders as expert witnesses, adjusting future funding levels for fusion centers, and/or considering the extent to which, if at all, any future federal funding may be conditioned on certain performance benchmarks being met. Ultimate goals and performance measures. Although the centers may all have some core functions, the financial and personnel resources they have to dedicate to those functions differ widely. Establishment of a National Fusion Center Representative Organization

Today, there are more than 40 plus fusion centers operating, largely independently, around the country. It is important to explain that there are different definitions of "intelligence," and those used by the fusion centers often differ from the more "pure," conception of "intelligence" outlined immediately above.
Although elements of the information and intelligence fusion function were conducted prior to 9/11, often at state police criminal intelligence bureaus, the events of 9/11 provided the primary catalyst for the formal establishment of more than 40 state, local, and regional fusion centers across the country.
The value proposition for fusion centers is that by integrating various streams of information and intelligence, including that flowing from the federal government, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector, a more accurate picture of risks to people, economic infrastructure, and communities can be developed and translated into protective action. The ultimate goal of fusion is to prevent manmade (terrorist) attacks and to respond to natural disasters and manmade threats quickly and efficiently should they occur. As recipients of federal government-provided national intelligence, another goal of fusion centers is to model how events inimical to U.S. interests overseas may be manifested in their communities, and align protective resources accordingly. There are several risks to the fusion center concept—including potential privacy and civil liberties violations, and the possible inability of fusion centers to demonstrate utility in the absence of future terrorist attacks, particularly during periods of relative state fiscal austerity.
Fusion centers are state-created entities largely financed and staffed by the states, and there is no one "model" for how a center should be structured. State and local law enforcement and criminal intelligence seem to be at the core of many of the centers. Although many of the centers initially had purely counterterrorism goals, for numerous reasons, they have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach. While many of the centers have prevention of attacks as a high priority, little "true fusion," or analysis of disparate data sources, identification of intelligence gaps, and pro-active collection of intelligence against those gaps which could contribute to prevention is occurring. Some centers are collocated with local offices of federal entities, yet in the absence of a functioning intelligence cycle process, collocation alone does not constitute fusion.
The federal role in supporting fusion centers consists largely of providing financial assistance, the majority of which has flowed through the Homeland Security Grant Program; sponsoring security clearances; providing human resources; producing some fusion center guidance and training; and providing congressional authorization and appropriation of national foreign intelligence program resources, as well as oversight hearings. This report includes over 30 options for congressional consideration to clarify and potentially enhance the federal government's relationship with fusion centers. One of the central options is the potential drafting of a formal national fusion center strategy that would outline, among other elements, the federal government's clear expectations of fusion centers, its position on sustainment funding, metrics for assessing fusion center performance, and definition of what constitutes a "mature" fusion center. This report will be updated.