On 9/11/01 The United States came under attack by terrorist. This set the stage for federal, state, and local law enforcement on not sharing information. This focused the public attention on the need for better information sharing between law enforcement at every level. During this time different law enforcements had a piece of the puzzle, but no one had the whole picture. Since 9/11/01 Homeland Security has become a federal law enforcement office.
Homeland Security has to begin at the local home town level of law enforcement. Local law enforcement are the back bone of defense against attacks. They are the eyes and ears on the ground every day. Federal, state and local law enforcement departments has to have a partnership to ensure public safety across the United States.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has worked to set up a network to get information, tools, and resource out to all law enforcement at every level. This has helped improve how law enforcement communicate and share information. The information strengthens the capabilities of better awareness of new and emerging threats for everyone.
Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) is set up to get information out to the local levels and get information back from local police. The network provides law enforcement officials at every level of government with the means to securely collaborate with every partnership in law enforcement without jurisdictional boundaries.
Local law enforcement interact with the communities every day. They are the first ones to have access to local information. Sharing of information is critical to not only homeland security, but also to the public safety. HSIN is a key to providing agencies with the tools and resources necessary for developing gathering, accessing, receiving, and sharing information.