« BarneyCam VI: "Holiday In the National Parks" | Main | Report Shows Costs, Benefits Of Boosting IP Protection »
ACLU 'Fusion Centers' Report Creates Stir
The American Civil Liberties Union put out a report on Wednesday slamming government-run, information sharing "fusion centers" but some security experts and congressional leaders weren't too pleased with the group's allegations. Read Technology Daily's PM Edition for details.
In addition to those quoted in the article, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., weighed in. He defended the centers, noting that they "play an increasingly important role in preventing terrorism and other criminal activities around the country."
Lieberman said policymakers must provide "adequate resources, better guidelines, standards, and training regimens for them, and ensure that they connect federal, state, local and tribal agencies." While the ACLU report recognizes the need for vigilance, "we must ensure that our oversight is careful and reasoned," he added.
The Homeland Security Department, which helps fund the programs, did not offer an official comment by deadline but Robert Riegle, the agency's point person for fusion centers, told us the document was packed with "egregious inaccuracies" and he thought it was "wholly in error."
Update: Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke called late in the afternoon and discussed the report at length. He called the ACLU's work "ill-conceived" and said it "shows yet again that the ACLU's strategy for security is to stick their head in the sand and wish a problem away."
Knocke said the report's authors, Mike German and Jay Stanley, "lack any evidence to support their theories" and put forward a document that "pushes an agenda instead of objective dialogue and viewpoints on an important issue."
Posted by Andrew on December 12, 2007 04:06 PM | Permalink
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://amcblog.nationaljournal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3661
