For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
Denver—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today delivered remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Denver, Colo., emphasizing her commitment to enhanced information sharing with state and local law enforcement partners to combat threats of terrorism.
“Effective information sharing is essential to our partnerships with state and local law enforcement as we work together to secure our country,” said Secretary Napolitano. “DHS will continue to strengthen fusion centers and other collaborative initiatives across the country to enhance our capabilities to combat terrorism and serious crime.”
In her remarks, Secretary Napolitano stressed the Department of Homeland Security’s role as the central conduit of information for state and local partners regarding all threats to the homeland—including terrorism, drug trafficking and border security.
She discussed the vital role of partnerships between DHS and federal, state and local law enforcement and highlighted the success of collaborative initiatives—including the Joint Terrorism Task Forces that strengthen information-sharing between federal partners and 72 fusions centers nationwide.
Secretary Napolitano also outlined the ways DHS is strengthening these partnerships—from creating a new program management office to coordinate the Department’s support of fusion centers to collaborating on the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative that trains frontline officers across the country to identify and document activities possibly linked to terrorism-related crime.
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