The Best Practices CoE was created to enable HSIN users to focus on their homeland security mission, fostering ideas to create solutions that utilize HSIN and build knowledge and experience with the confidence and support of the HSIN Program Management Office. Comprised of HSIN users who share their knowledge and best practices, the CoE delivers innovative ideas and continuous improvement as it relates to the use of HSIN. Best Practice sessions are held monthly, offering prime examples of HSIN's real world success stories to promote the use of best practices and to support stakeholders across HSIN communities from major event planning, maximizing use of HSIN tools and capabilities, to training.
As a user-driven program, the HSIN User Working Group (HUWG) continues to be HSIN's primary governance body for the capture and oversight of user feedback. The HUWG and its subcommittees open dialogue with HSIN users, giving them the opportunity to share their unique experiences and insight with both the program and each other. HSIN users have a role in the development and validation of the requirements that drive HSIN, testing of new capabilities, development of new policies and procedures, and the recommendation and validation of messaging strategies and communication products.
In FY 2016, the HUWG Requirements and Testing subcommittee brought together key stakeholders to provide the program feedback on a key area of improvement, HSIN Exchange, the program's RFI tool. The HSIN Exchange sessions consisted of analysts and other fusion center personnel from across the country, as well as representatives from the TSC, Cyber Intelligence Network and the office of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment, to provide the program direct feedback on how HSIN could provide an easy and transparent way to track and accurately report on RFIs managed by each fusion center individually and by the National Network of Fusion Centers as a whole. The HUWG Requirements and Testing subcommittee also met several times throughout FY 2016 to gather and validate users' functional requirements for two other major customer engagements, the Criminal Intelligence Enterprise Community and the NPPD NCCIC portal migration. Through sessions like these, HSIN is able to reach out to users and gather operational feedback to make daily operations more efficient and effective.
The HSIN Advisory Committee (HSINAC) is a discretionary advisory committee that provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security on matters relating to HSIN. These matters include system requirements, operating policies, community organization, knowledge management, interoperability and federation with other systems, and any other aspect of HSIN that supports the operations of DHS and all its mission partners. The HSINAC held two meetings in FY 2016, a virtual session and an in-person meeting, at which time recommendations were developed and submitted to the Secretary. The members provided recommendations to the Secretary focusing on the near and long-term outlook for the HSIN Program, including program priority support when it migrates to the cloud environment, developing tools and features to increase information sharing effectiveness, and reinforcing HSIN as the target platform for information sharing by directing SBU information-sharing platforms within DHS and its components to consolidate on HSIN or to pursue single sign-on capabilities with HSIN.
HSINAC members are critical to HSIN's continued success as they are able to provide fresh, mission-specific guidance and ideas to the program that assist in the advancement of information sharing across the homeland security enterprise.
The mission of the Executive Steering Committee (ESC) is to provide effective governance, oversight and guidance to the HSIN Program Management Office to ensure that users' mission critical requirements are met accurately, on time and on budget. The ESC has a strong relationship with the Information Sharing and Safeguarding Governance Board (ISSGB). The ESC provides analytical support and makes recommendations to the ISSGB, and defers to the ISSGB or its leadership on information sharing policy and portfolio management issues.
The Houston Police Department and Texas Joint Crime Information Center used HSIN to support the largest simultaneous warrant execution effort to date; collaboratively serving 26 warrants over 11 hours and disabling a large-scale human trafficking operation. This exercise made it possible for HSIN communities to be set up as soon as they are needed for future operations.
"I thought of HSIN right away. I thought this would be a great platform to organize all of this information in one place. We had a map of all the locations so we could start checking off each location as it was cleared, giving us a 'geo-perspective' of the operation as it was underway."
Jessica Garcia
Human Trafficking Intelligence Analyst, Texas Joint Crime Information Center
The Detroit Southeast Michigan Information and Intelligence Center used HSIN to maintain public safety and enhance security by supporting suspicious activity reporting, incident monitoring operations and real-time data analysis among regional partners. Mission partners included the Detroit Police Department, City of Detroit Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Michigan State Police, and the Department of Transportation.
"We had unprecedented cooperation during this year's event. In addition to the collaborating agencies, other partners that needed to maintain situational awareness were able to jump on HSIN and check things out without having to make a phone call."
Peter Hoffman
Intelligence Analyst, Detroit and Southeast Michigan Information and Intelligence Center
Arizona has worked with HSIN to develop communities for the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), including a community for law enforcement operations in the greater Phoenix region during planned and unplanned events; and the ACTIC's Community Liaison Partnership program site. As a result, HSIN was successfully used to collaborate and disseminate information with private sector partners during unplanned protests occurring in the financial center of Phoenix, Arizona.
"Because everything gets posted to HSIN, we are assured of the information's security and we don't have to dedicate time to bring individuals up to speed. All the information is there for our partners to review when they need it so we can focus on ongoing operations and analysis."
Sgt. Anthony Jones
Phoenix Police Department's Homeland Defense Bureau and the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center
HSIN provided the information sharing tools and environment that helped mission partners achieve seamless multi-agency collaboration during the 2016 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Across federal, state, local and private sector agencies, HSIN worked with key stakeholders from law enforcement, intelligence, and emergency services during the events to support operational information sharing, incident tracking and overall situational awareness.
"HSIN was a vital part of the communications network to keep Ohio partners outside the Cleveland area in the loop. HSIN played an important role in every element of our operations."
Brian Quinn
Director, Ohio Homeland Security Strategic Analysis and Information Center
HSIN enhanced collaboration among homeland security enterprise personnel by providing 18 months of planning support, during which 700 officials from 50 partner agencies used HSIN to coordinate public safety efforts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
"During Super Bowl 50, I saw firsthand how HSIN can enhance collaboration among homeland security enterprise personnel during a large event. DHS officials were able to use HSIN in tandem with local law enforcement and public safety partners, providing a broader operational view."
Caitlin Durkovich
Former DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection
During the Ryder Cup, the Chaska Police Department used HSIN incident monitoring and HSIN Connect tools to support on-site operations among federal, state and local partners. Through mutual aid, a tribal partner, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community provided dispatch support to track over 250 fire, emergency medical services and law enforcement incidents in HSIN during the event.
"We've been using HSIN for nearly two years and already knew the benefits it could provide. We made sure every partner was aware of the HSIN community, knew how to use it and entered everything that could be of interest to any one of the partners involved. Our role was to break down the silos that traditionally exist between agencies."
Greg Hayes
Director of Public Safety, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is known for hosting the Indianapolis 500, but the 2016 event was like none other. The 100th running of the Indy 500 had a sold-out crowd of 350,000 fans, the largest crowd in history for a single sporting event. Maintaining public safety and situational awareness for the nearly one square mile venue required a complex, interagency effort that began with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis two weeks before the big event. HSIN on-site support coordinated the efforts of seven operations centers in the region.
"As the primary law enforcement user for HSIN during the Indianapolis 500, I was thrilled with the ease of use in the programming, and the extent to which DHS worked to strategically map all the key areas of the Motor Speedway to facilitate documenting the activity going on, and providing a platform for all users to be able to view and keep aware of new and ongoing incidents."
Sarah Edie
Administrator of Management Systems and Communications, Speedway Police Department
With over 700,000 attendees at the four-day festival in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico's Fusion Center used HSIN for real-time information sharing between officers in the field and the various emergency operation centers in the area. Through HSIN, the Puerto Rico Police Department explosives division, canine teams from the San Juan Police Department, FBI, and officers from ICE Homeland Security Investigations had immediate access to the same information.
"Every agency that collaborated during SanSe gave HSIN high marks. The way the fusion center supported ongoing investigations set a high bar and is creating a standard for the way to approach major events."
Eli Maisonet
Intelligence Officer, DHS Intelligence and Analysis
After unprecedented attacks on law enforcement offices in Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Michigan and Louisiana over the summer of 2016, authorities responded using the National Situational Awareness Room, or SitRoom. The National SitRoom and HSIN are available to the National Network of Fusion Centers and its partners, locally operated by states and major cities to quickly share information during significant events.
"HSIN provides one of our greatest assets—the National Situational Awareness Room. Having the ability to share raw data from the field, as it happens, and obtain the support of mission partners across the country as we face potential threats or are actively working an investigation is essential."
Mike Sena
Executive Director, Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, President of the National Fusion Center Association
Pope Francis visited Ciudad Juarez as the last stop during his trip to Mexico and held Mass within 300 yards of the U.S.–Mexico border. Throughout the Pope's visit and in the weeks leading up to it, HSIN was used by federal, state and local partners to support information sharing and situational awareness. Partner agencies used HSIN to share status updates to support public safety personnel, including schedules, travel and threat assessments.
"HSIN was instrumental to our information sharing efforts. We were able to share information with other federal and state agencies as well as officers in the field."
Felipe Payan
Crime Analyst, Multi-Agency Tactical Response Information eXchange (MATRIX) Fusion Center
For U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Honolulu, search and rescue makes up a large part of their regular operations. Keeping search and rescue mission coordinators and all supporting staff informed with the latest information is vital. HSIN made it possible for everyone to have access to the same information, no matter whether they were in the office, on a vessel or at home. When two U.S. Marine helicopters collided and 12 service members were lost at sea, USCG Honolulu Sector mission coordinators expanded search and rescue to include non-traditional partners. Using HSIN, everyone was able to coordinate their efforts so that the search could be executed as efficiently and broadly as possible.
"We post everything to HSIN—images of the vessel in distress, screen shots of intended search patterns and everything for our physical status board in the office. Because [a search and rescue mission coordinator] has to stand duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we can provide a verbal brief over the phone while they access all the supporting details on HSIN."
Command Intelligence Officer Lt. Scott Branner
U.S. Coast Guard
Every year, governors from across the nation come together to develop innovative solutions and share best practices and ideas to improve state government. The 2016 National Governors' Association Summer Meeting was supported by the Iowa Department of Public Safety's Iowa Division of Intelligence, who used HSIN as a virtual command post for the entire event and provided the ability to share meeting agendas, provide suspicious incident updates and deliver other data in real-time, which supported active operational information sharing.
"[HSIN] gave us something that nothing else could, which is a common operating picture for our team leaders spread out across locations. With HSIN, we were able to know where every governor attending the NGA meeting was at any given time."
C.J. Noelck
Special Agent in Charge, Department of Public Safety Iowa Division of Intelligence
During HSIN's sixth year of support for the Kentucky Derby, partners in the Louisville metro area expanded their use of the platform for operational support from day-of efforts to the entire two-week festival to collect crowd metrics and coordinate incident response. In addition to the ability to coordinate more closely with external partners, the Louisville Metro Police Department also relied on HSIN to share information with plain-clothes officers in the field without the need to rely on conspicuous radio communications.
"Our officers were able to keep abreast of the latest incidents and operational information simply by looking at their phone. They could appear the same as everyone else in the crowd."
Lieutenant Tim Burkett
Special Operations Unit of the Louisville Metro Police Department
In late June, the United States Conference of Mayors held its 84th annual meeting in Indianapolis. In addition to welcoming more than 200 mayors from around the country, the conference also hosted a number of high-profile speakers, including the Dalai Lama, Lady Gaga and others. Public safety officials from the Marion County Sheriffs' Department and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department used HSIN to track incidents and enhance communication among regional operations centers, the bomb management center and onsite command posts.
"HSIN enabled valuable communications between our various locations and forward operating centers. We were able to focus our communications within our various teams while supporting overall situational awareness."
Commander Ted Fries
Homeland Security Bureau of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
