State and major urban area fusion centers (fusion centers) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s Field Intelligence Groups (FIGs) help protect our nation by serving as valuable conduits for sharing vital homeland security information with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT), and private sector partners.
However, these field-based information sharing organizations each play a unique yet complimentary role in securing the homeland. Fusion centers lawfully gather, analyze, and share comprehensive crimes, hazards, and terrorism information to inform local, regional, and national threat analysis and prevention efforts. In contrast, FIGs function as the primary mechanism through which FBI field offices develop human intelligence; identify, evaluate, and prioritize threats and emerging trends within their areas of responsibility; and support the FBI’s investigative efforts.
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Fusion Centers |
Field Intelligence Groups |
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Receive, analyze, gather, produce, and disseminate a broad array of threat-related information and actionable intelligence to appropriate law enforcement and homeland security agencies. |
Collect, gather, analyze, produce, and disseminate actionable intelligence to lead and support FBI investigative and intelligence programs, and to inform Intelligence Community (IC) and other federal and SLTT law enforcement partners. |
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Focus on terrorism, criminal, and public safety matters in support of securing communities and enhancing the national threat picture. |
Focus on broad counterterrorism, national security, and criminal intelligence collection operations and serve as the FBI's primary intelligence link with fusion centers, the IC, and Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs). |
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Owned and operated by state and local authorities and include federal, SLTT, and private sector partners from multiple disciplines (including law enforcement, public safety, fire service, emergency response, public health, and critical infrastructure). |
Operated by the FBI and staffed with FBI intelligence analysts, language analysts, and special agents.
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State, regional, and local focus. |
Local, regional, national, and international focus. |
Fusion centers and FIGs collaboratively leverage their analytic and investigative capabilities to safeguard our homeland and prevent criminal and terrorist activities by:
- Collaborating to improve understanding of overlapping local, state, and federal threat priorities;
- Developing partnerships and conduits for the sharing and integration of local, regional, and national information; and,
- Providing access and/or disseminating a broad array of intelligence products and reports, as appropriate.