Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Homeland and Civil Security
A Research-Based Introduction
Edited By Alexander Siedschlag
5 The Role of Intelligence in Homeland Security
Extract
5
The Role of Intelligence in Homeland Security
WILLIAM J. RYAN
Intelligence Types and Collection Platforms
Securing the homeland is a challenging task in today’s environment, and government agencies at all levels (federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial), private sector entities, and the general public play a vital role. The key mission areas of homeland security are prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. An integral ingredient in the effort to accomplish the overall homeland security mission is intelligence. Actually, the influence of accurate and timely intelligence can be seen across all of the aforementioned mission areas. Intelligence in its basic form is information that is not publicly available, is relevant, and is timely. When used in the homeland security context, intelligence can be broken down into multiple categories. For the purpose of this chapter, we will focus on the following: foreign intelligence, military intelligence, domestic intelligence, criminal intelligence, and business intelligence. Understanding the difference among these types of intelligence is integral to understanding how they can be useful:
These types of intelligence can easily cross over. For example, the collection of foreign intelligence can wind up uncovering criminal intelligence; the discovery of a planned terrorist attack is obviously the discovery of a planned criminal event; and military intelligence is also a form of foreign intelligence. However, in the United States, for example, there are laws that govern the collection of the different types of intelligence. One such law...
You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.
This site requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books or journals.
Do you have any questions? Contact us.
Or login to access all content.