Many states and larger cities have created state and local fusion centers to share information and intelligence within their jurisdictions as well as with the federal government. The Department, through the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, provides personnel with operational and intelligence skills to the fusion centers. This support is tailored to the unique needs of the locality and serves to:

help the classified and unclassified information flow,
provide expertise,
coordinate with local law enforcement and other agencies, and
provide local awareness and access.
As of March 2008, there were 58 fusion centers around the country. The Department has deployed 23 officers as of March 2008 and plans to have 35 professionals deployed by the end of FY 2008. The Department has provided more than $254 million from FY 2004-2007 to state and local governments to support the centers.

The Homeland Security Data Network (HSDN), which allows the federal government to move information and intelligence to the states at the Secret level, is deployed at 19 fusion centers. Through HSDN, fusion center staff can access the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), a classified portal of the most current terrorism-related information.

The Department has deployed intelligence officers to state fusion centers in:

Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Georgia
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
South Carolina
Virginia
Washington
The Department has also deployed support to fusion centers in New York City, Los Angeles and the Dallas region.

The FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
The move comes in addition to other proposals to expand the collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retain years' worth of Americans' phone records and even increase so-called "black bag" secret entry operations, the Blotter reports.


Though the FBI has decided not to completely adopt CIA training methods on recruiting informants, which include bribery, extortion, and other patently illegal acts, the two are to work closely together on the program.

Though the reasoning is, as ever, to target terror cells in the US, the report also states that "some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants".

Within the last two years it has come to light that the FBI, along with the Pentagon and the NSA has been spying on antiwar activists, rights groups and peace campaigners within the US, labeling some of them as "terrorists" and placing them within their databases.

It appears operations are now to be stepped up to include the Stasi like recruiting of informants within such groups to report what is deemed to be politically subversive behavior among American citizens