Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center (NVRIC) received the Fusion Center of the Year award from the National Fusion Center Association. The award recognizes NVRIC for a collaborative approach to violence prevention through its threat assessment and management initiative.
In 2022, the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships awarded a Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grant to Fairfax County Police Department, a co-leader of NVRIC, to launch a new Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) unit. The new unit includes law enforcement detectives and analysts, mental health providers, and community services professionals.
NVRIC is one of 80 fusion centers across the U.S. that collects and shares information from national and local sources to help communities prevent and respond to potential threats. The goal of threat assessment and management is to determine whether an individual is on a pathway to violence and provide appropriate resources to ensure community safety, while respecting individual privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.
The NVRIC TAM unit responded to an estimated 500 tips, leads, and requests for information since August 2023, without loss of life or “successful incidents of violence.” According to the TAM unit, collaboration with multiple partners almost certainly prevented a mass violence incident at a local house of worship.
NVRIC also provides training to help community members recognize concerning behaviors and refer individuals to the TAM unit or law enforcement when there is immediate risk of harm.
Jointly operated by the Fairfax County Police Department, Virginia State Police, and other local, state, and federal agencies, the NVRIC collaboration brings together resources, expertise, and information to bolster safety in communities across northern Virginia.
“Partnerships with multidisciplinary partners are crucial, as the primary goal of this approach is to provide individuals with support services before the threat rises to a level requiring law enforcement intervention,” according to a Fairfax County Police Department statement.
NVRIC includes 20 local, state, and federal agencies:
- Alexandria Police Department
- Arlington County Police Department
- Army CID Protective Intelligence
- ATF Washington Field Office
- Diplomatic Security Services, Threat Investigations
- Fairfax City Police Department
- Falls Church Police Department
- FBI Washington Field Office
- George Mason University Police Department
- Herndon Police Department
- Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- Leesburg Police Department
- Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
- Manassas City Police Department
- Metro Transit Police Department
- Northern Virginia Community College Police Department
- Prince William County Police Department
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Intelligence and Analysis
- Virginia State Police/Virginia Fusion Center