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Ohio Fusion Center

Ohio Homeland Security Fusion Center is one of the nation’s 72 fusion centers (Ohio
Homeland Security). Officially called the Strategic Analysis and Information Center (SAIC), the
state’s fusion center was created in 2005 with the goal of supporting national intelligence
community and increasing homeland security through developing and supporting an information
sharing environment across the whole state (Ohio Homeland Security). Since its formation, the
Ohio fusion center has been ranked among the best fusion centers in the country. It has been
awarded for providing excellent environment for different law enforcement agencies to
collaborate. It has also been recognized for carrying out its duties while adhering to strong civil
liberties and privacy policies (Ohio Homeland Security). This achievements are largely a result
of the center’s strict adherence to the guidelines for fusion centers that seek to enhance not just
uniformity of the fusion centers but also their effectiveness (Department of Justice, 2005).
How Ohio fusion center enhances public safety in Ohio
Ohio fusion center, like other fusion centers, enhances security of the state through
providing timely and useful information to investigative authorities at both local and federal
levels handling terrorism and other related criminal activities. Without collaboration of various
agencies, each law enforcement agency would have to collect and analyze information that
would it help it combat terrorism activities. Apart from being expensive, such an approach is also
ineffective. By bringing together all investigative and law enforcement agencies, and
collaborating with members of the general public in information gathering, the Ohio fusion
center not only makes it easier to collect the relevant information but also ensures that the
agencies involved in preventing terrorist activities share their information (Ohio Homeland

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Security). In this way, law enforcement agencies are able to quickly identify, analyze, and act on
intelligence about terrorism thus increasing the security of the residents of the state of Ohio.
How fusion center works with law enforcement agencies
One of the guidelines for fusion centers is to create a collaborative environment for the
sharing of information and intelligence among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies
(Department of Justice, 2005). Such collaboration not only leverages expertise and resources but
also improves the ability of law enforcement agencies to detect and prevent crime and terrorist
attacks. Effective collaboration of such kind can only be achieved when there is significant trust
among the collaborating agencies. This is because they do not just need to share information and
intelligence but also make collective decisions and own the consequences of the decisions.
Ohio’s Strategic Analysis and Information Center (SAIC) achieves this goal of high level
collaboration among state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies by including
representatives from these entities as its members (Ohio Homeland Security). Additionally, it
holds regular meetings that bring together representatives from local, state, and federal levels of
government (Ohio Homeland Security). Through such meetings, key intelligence and
information got from various sources such as members of the public is easily disseminated for
use by the concerned agencies.
Ohio fusion center, therefore, plays a central role in maintenance of safety and security in
the state of Ohio. As a result of the work of the fusion center, the state has been able to
effectively meet the security needs of the state while using fewer resources than it would have
used if the law enforcement agencies working in the state would work separately.

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References
Department of Justice (2005). Fusion Center Guidelines
Ohio Homeland Security (n.a). Strategic Analysis and Information Center. Ohio.gov. Retrieved
from https://homelandsecurity.ohio.gov/saic.stm on 21st February, 2020.