Legal Research

U.S. Homeland Security To Scrap $90 Million Information Network

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, January 18, 2008.

"The U.S. Homeland Security Department spent more than $90 million to create a network for sharing sensitive anti-terrorism information with state and local governments that it has decided to replace, reports the Washington Post. The decision was made late last year but was not announced. It was outlined in an Oct. 27 memorandum that listed the network's flaws and asserted that DHS's counterterrorism, immigration enforcemen, and disaster management missions were ampered by the proliferation of more than 100 Web 'portals' that provide poorly coordinated information. The department 'will replace' the current system, known as the Homeland Security Information Network."

"The decision underscores recurring criticism about the department's effectiveness at sharing information with government and private partners involved in counterterrorism efforts five years after it was formed. The department's information-sharing efforts, meant to fulfill a key security priority since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, have faltered from the beginning. Two years ago, the Government Accountability Office listed the network as a 'high-risk area.' " 

Washington Post

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on January 18, 2008 (boomark / email).