Intelligence sharingHouse passes measure requiring review of intelligence sharing practices
In the bill is the first legislation written in response to shortcomings revealed by the Boston marathon bombings,the House of Representatives last Friday approved a measure which requires the FBI, DHS, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to review their information sharing practices and report back to Congress within ninety days. Post-bombing investigation concluded that had intelligence agencies shared information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, prior to the incident, local law enforcement authorities may have been able to monitor Tsarnaev’s actions.
Last Friday the House of Representatives approved legislation aimed to help improve information sharing among several intelligence agencies. The measure is an amendment to a bill that funds the intelligence agencies, and is in response to investigations that show that had intelligence agencies shared information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, prior to the incident, local law enforcement authorities may have been able to monitor Tsarnaev’s actions.
The Boston Globe reports that the bill is the first legislation in response to the bombings, and requires the FBI, DHS, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to review their information sharing practices and report back to Congress within ninety days.
“It’s something that’s plagued us since 9/11, this lack of information sharing,” said Representative Bill Keating (D-Massachusetts) who wrote the legislation. “This is why we have breakdowns. They’re not talking to each other, they’re not sharing information, they don’t have a prearranged agreement that they will share information.”
If approved by the Senate, the legislation would require the agencies to review the agreements they have with each other regarding when, how, and what information can be shared. The agencies have to evaluate, and recommend ways to improve portions of the agreements that currently limit the sharing of valuable information.
Former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis testified that federal investigators did not inform local officials of their 2011 investigation into Tsarnaev, noting that he was first told of the FBI’s investigation only after the FBI identified Tsarnaev’s dead body. Though awareness of the investigation would have been helpful, Davis did not say that it could have prevented the bombing, but local enforcement would have looked further into Tsarnaev after a triple homicide in Waltham.
In response to Davis’s testimony, FBI officials said that Massachusetts and Boston law enforcement officials had access to a database containing information about the threat reports and investigations into Tsarnaev, but Davis said he was not aware that the information existed in the database.
The Globe notes that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Boston, which includes representatives from various state, federal, and local law enforcement agencies, should have shared the available information on Tsarnaev. The task force was established to provide a venue for sharing information, said the Globe.
