Routing Around the Damage

Buried in this story about possible threatened terrorist attacks on our around the September 11 anniversary is an interesting bit of good news/bad news:

The Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I. have stepped up their ability to collect and analyze information on possible threats and spread it quickly to federal, state and local officials.

But some local law enforcement officials say they are still not getting all of the information they need from the federal government, leading some police departments to form their own informal intelligence network to share terrorist information.

The bad news: the 9/11 commission's vaunted centralization of federal-level intelligence has seemingly added another level of bureaucracy to the collection and dissemination of information that at least partially counters any efficiencies gained by creating the "czar" and his attendant level of bureaucracy.

The good news? Local law enforcement is able to decentralize itself, and create a network that routes information around the roadblock.

Yes, I know. That's a pollyannaish view; it's an improvement made in the breach. And yet the fact that it happens at all is a good thing.

Or at least better than the alternative.

Posted by Mitch at August 12, 2005 06:36 PM | TrackBack