Anti-Terrorism Network Launched

Anti-Terrorism Network Launched:

System Allows Agencies Across Country to Share Data Instantaneously

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 25, 2004; Page B01

Hundreds of federal, state and local intelligence and law enforcement agencies will be able to share threat reports, investigative leads and potential evidence instantaneously under a new counter-terrorism computer system announced yesterday by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Developed since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the Homeland Security Information Network is part of a sweeping data-sharing policy adapted by federal authorities. The network, created in response to presidential priorities, is designed to prevent acts of terror and to give local police chiefs, mayors and governors greater access to federal intelligence.

Ridge announced the launch of the system in the Joint Operations Command Center at Washington's police headquarters, where he was joined by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and officials from New York City and California, who developed the system with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

'In this new post-9/11 era, a new philosophy is required -- a philosophy of shared responsibility, shared leadership and shared accountability,' Ridge said. 'The federal government cannot micromanage the protection of America."