[Infowarrior] - LA opens JRIC fusion center

Sat Aug 19 23:57:26 EDT 2006

Sleek snoop center still leans on human factor

By Joris Evers
http://news.com.com/Sleek+snoop+center+still+leans+on+human+factor/2100-7350
_3-6107464.html

Story last modified Sat Aug 19 17:20:50 PDT 2006

NORWALK, Calif.--A new law enforcement center--quite possibly the best
real-world likeness of the fictitious high-tech "Counter Terrorist Unit" in
the popular show "24"--relies on a surprisingly low-tech feature: low
cubicle walls.

Located in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk, the first-of-its-kind Joint
Regional Intelligence Center joins federal, state and local law enforcement
in one facility as part of a post-9/11 effort to improve law enforcement
collaboration. Analysts and investigators at the center handle intelligence
from the various agencies on potential threats to national security, in
particular terrorism, and correlate the data.
JRIC

"We are connecting the dots," Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, said on Friday after touring the recently
opened center.

The facility--housed in a nondescript office building in suburbia, near
fast-food restaurants and bland government offices--is equipped with some $2
million worth of technology, including numerous projectors that display onto
walls maps, information on terrorists, and other data from public and
nonpublic sources.

Yet despite all the high-tech eye candy, JRIC relies on people for
data-sharing.

"Technology enables us to analyze a lot of information quickly and get
access quickly," Chertoff said. "But the human element is important here."

JRIC is the first of 38 such centers meant to prevent potentially valuable
intelligence from going unnoticed, Chertoff said. Intelligence agencies have
worked together in the past, but not at this scale, JRIC participants said.

At JRIC, pronounced "jay-rick," data such as tips and field reports from a
multitude of agencies is analyzed to identify patterns and trends. Agencies
that are part of JRIC include the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los
Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sherriff's Department and the
Department of Homeland Security.

Recently, JRIC staffers worked long hours after a suspected terror plot to
blow up transatlantic airliners was unraveled. The center operated extended
hours, from 5 a.m. Pacific until midnight, some JRIC employees said. It will
become a 24/7 operation in the future.

Currently some 30 analysts and investigators are in place at JRIC.
Eventually, the center will house around 60 people from about 15 agencies.
Click here to Play

Video: Behind the scenes at JRIC
CNET News.com's Joris Evers gets inside the first Joint Regional
Intelligence Center, whose workforce is drawn from the FBI, Homeland
Security and regional agencies.

"For law enforcement this is cutting-edge," Stanley Salas, a section chief
at JRIC and a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, said in an
interview. "We're cops, we're used to arresting people, not building places
like this."

Individuals at the center represent their own agencies and are tapped into
their own data sources. There is no universal access to multiple data
sources. People have to make the information-sharing happen, so everyone is
put together in an open bullpen instead of cloistered cubicles.

There is a vision for JRIC to unify all data from the various agencies in a
single database and offer broad access to personnel, but that doesn't exist
today. That's not because of technical limitations, but because of red tape
and access restrictions, said Mario Cruz, technology director at JRIC.

"Today we do not have a logical connection (between different agency
databases); right now it is the people," he said.

The various agencies involved need to agree on protocols for sharing their
data, and that may take a while. "We always have the tech answers and
solutions in place before the actual agreements have been hammered out,"
Cruz said.

As a result, Gregory Hisel, a battalion chief for the Los Angeles County
Fire Department stationed at JRIC, has access to his department's dispatch
system, but others at JRIC don't. "Technology has not eliminated the need
for physical contact," he said. "It is more important that we've come
together under one roof."

As another example, the FBI has access to its classified network of
information at JRIC, but only in a separate room off the main floor that
requires special clearance. "Kiefer Sutherland runs through here all the
time," joked one JRIC analyst, referring to the actor who plays agent Jack
Bauer on "24."

The "multimedia boards" that display on walls crucial information are also
used to present and share information, Hisel said. "We use them on a daily
basis," he said.

A collection of flat-panel TVs hanging from the ceiling shows news channels,
including the Arab network Aljazeera. Each workstation has a high-end
Windows PC, two flat-panel screens and a voice over Internet Protocol phone.
A terabyte of storage capacity is available for intelligence data.

New systems should make the gathering of intelligence, analysis and case
management easier. One of those was designed by Memex, a company Cruz worked
for prior to joining JRIC. Memex has also helped Scotland Yard in England
and sells tools for intelligence management and analysis.

The network has multiple layers of security and also utilizes encryption,
Cruz said. The building has backup power to keep it up and running should
there be a power failure. A backup facility that mirrors JRIC has been set
up at the Los Angeles Police Department, should the entire building go down,
Salas said.

Chertoff made a quick pitch for more intelligence analysts, especially those
with language skills.

To fuel cooperation between the different agencies, representatives at JRIC
might be managed by somebody from another agency. For example, a Los Angeles
Police Department staffer could report to an FBI agent, a JRIC
representative said.

JRIC aims to prevent terrorist strikes and combat crime in a 44,000-square
mile territory surrounding Los Angeles, a region that spans seven counties
and encompasses 18 million people. Some potential high-profile terror
targets in the area include Los Angeles International Airport and the Long
Beach port.

"This area is a very significant target of opportunity for terrorists," said
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who also visited the JRIC on Friday.

Besides the goal of improved intelligence analysis, the facility is meant to
help eliminate duplication in effort and speed information flow.

It all comes down to old-fashioned police work, Salas said. "Technology is
fun, but we could do this on index cards, if we had to do it and had the
right information."