toward daily. “With resources and
critical tools ranging from geospatial
offerings, secure communications,
real-time information sharing, and
active collaboration capabilities in
one secure location, HSIN users
can maintain heightened situational
awareness, streamline operation and
coordinate responses across multiple
agencies and jurisdictions, regardl ess
of location,” said Sloan.
The GISAC team works diligently
each day to keep HSIN and its
communities working efficiently to
ensure information can be received
and shared in real-time to support
the law enforcement communities
in Georgia. This keeps citizens safe
and moves everyone toward the
common public safety mission of
making the state and nation safer
for everyone. ■
For more information on accessing
HSIN as a user or an agency,
contact Michael Polynice at
[email protected]
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2017-Year-in-Review.pdf
one fusion center, Georgia ranks sixth
in the nation in active users who use
the network to share information,
behind larger intelligence commu-
nities such as New York, California,
Texas, Florida and Maryland/DC.
“There is a very diverse and robust
user base in Georgia with seven
communities of interest, including
cyber security, gang intelligence,
law enforcement, emergency
management, critical infrastructure
and campus and school safety,” said
Michael Polynice, HSIN Coordinator
for Georgia Emergency Management
and Homeland Security Agency.
“This network serves more than 3000
users in Georgia and serves the entire
homeland security enterprise here.”
While HSIN communities are
relied upon for major event coor-
dination and daily operations, they’re
also used by colleges and universities
to keep campuses and students safe.
The Georgia College Campus and
K-12 School Safety Community is
the first of its kind in the nation and
contains case management systems
for campus police throughout the
state. “This is an invaluable tool for
sharing information across schools
and campuses,” said Jeff Hunnicutt,
physical security specialist with Geor-
gia Institute of Technology Police
Department.
Working with law enforcement
officers at other schools, such as Eric
Aguiar, crime prevention officer at
Georgia State University, Hunnicutt
believes HSIN is an excellent
repository of information whose
biggest value is a vetted audience
and secure connection to ensure
information does not fall into the
wrong hands. For Aguiar, HSIN is a
way of sharing information to provide
a collective public safety front. “There
are several intelligence intersections
inside HSIN,” he said, “but we’re all
serving one public safety mission.”
Sloan says the seamless inter-
agency collaboration allows different
organizations to work together as a
team, which is exactly what Georgia
communities of interest are working
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