Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches

The term homeland security intelligence is heard fairly frequently in the post-911 era. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States hereafter the 911 Commission stated one of the challenges in preventing such attacks is bridging the foreign-domestic divide. The 911 Commission used this term for the divide that it found not only within the Intelligence Community IC, but also between the agencies of the IC dedicated to the traditional foreign intelligence mission, and those agencies responsible for the homeland security intelligence HSINT and law enforcement missions. Some might categorize security intelligence and law enforcement criminal intelligence as non-traditional intelligence. Yet, the scope and composition of this non-traditional or homeland security intelligence remains somewhat nebulous.