Yup, they claimed they needed the powers for terrorists, remember?
It's the same thing, no matter what government! WAKE UP, America!!!
"Antiterrorism center goals vary, GAO finds; Sites set up after 9/11 had no guidelines" by Eileen Sullivan/Associated Press November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON - Local intelligence-sharing centers set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have had their antiterrorism mission diluted by a focus on run-of-the-mill street crime and hazards such as hurricanes, a government report concludes.
Of 43 "fusion centers," only two focus exclusively on preventing terrorism, the Government Accountability Office found in a national survey obtained by the Associated Press. The original concept behind fusion centers was to coordinate the resources, expertise, and information of intelligence agencies so the country could detect and prevent terrorist acts.
The concept has been widely embraced, particularly by the Sept. 11 commission, and the federal government has provided $130 million to help get them off the ground.
Centers in Kansas and Rhode Island are the only two focused solely on counterterrorism. Other centers focus on all crimes, including drugs and gangs, said the GAO, Congress' investigative and auditing arm. Washington state's fusion center, for instance, has an all-hazards mission so it can focus on natural disasters and public health epidemics in addition to terrorism.
"Although many of the centers initially had purely counterterrorism goals, for numerous reasons they have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," according to a June Congressional Research Service report.
Most of the centers are run by state police or other law enforcement agencies, but many also have representatives from a wide range of other agencies, including fire and public works departments and state gambling regulators. This has raised concerns about privacy as those agencies become linked to a broader intelligence-sharing network. Most of the centers also include federal officials such as analysts from the FBI and the Homeland Security Department.
Some centers are even housed together with federal agencies, which can be a benefit. Minnesota's fusion center, for example, is in the same building as the FBI, which makes it easier for local officials to access the FBI's networks. The centers can potentially tap into five federal databases containing case files on investigations, reports on suspicious incidents and research material on terrorist weapons and tactics.
Last month that the Bush administration published a strategy paper advising fusion centers to share information about all criminal activity, saying the information could lead to uncovering a terrorist plot.
At the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center, watch commander Lori Norris said, "There's got to be a clearer definition as to when that information goes out and who it goes out to." It's not uncommon, she said, for law enforcement officers to learn of important developments first from the news media."
And they are getting their info from what is in front of me?
Then WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SPY SHIT? WASTED MONEY?!?!
Welcome to the police state, readers!
How do you know a center isn't down the street, reader?
How would you know?
