Intelligence Analysis : Building a Criminal Intelligence Analyst Program
Terri St . Romain
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation had a long-standing Intelligence Unit with intelligence analysts assigned to assist GBI special agents and local law enforcement officers with their cases . These analysts provided information and intelligence on persons , places , and situations ; relationship charts and timelines ; phone call analysis ; and other analytical products . September 11 , 2001 , changed nearly every aspect of society , including public safety . Many in law enforcement ( at all levels ) acknowledged the collection and sharing of intelligence was a major factor that could have changed the outcome of that day . Shortly thereafter , Georgia ’ s fusion center , the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center ( GISAC ) was created to address intelligence sharing challenges related to homeland security and terrorism matters . At that time , two intelligence analysts from the GBI Intelligence Unit were assigned to support GISAC investigations but that quickly expanded to seven by 2005 . Most of these analysts had little to no previous intelligence or law enforcement experience .
Georgia Terrorism Intelligence Project The Georgia Terrorism Intelligence Project ( GTIP or The Project ) was created and developed by GBI and GISAC in late 2004 to develop effective strategies to meet the various needs of intelligence sharing between agencies at all levels . This strategic development recognized that effective intelligence sharing required higher-level intelligence analysis and specialized analysts to do it . The Project was conceived with the object of providing basic and advanced analytical training to analysts across the state of Georgia and to create a collaborative and secure anti-terrorism information sharing network between GISAC , the GBI Intelligence Unit , and select local law enforcement agencies located in all regions of the State of Georgia . In 2005 , it started with agencies in the metro-Atlanta area and each year expanded to include law enforcement agencies across the state .
One major benefit of GTIP has been the increasing law enforcement agency connectivity with GISAC and with one another regarding terrorism , precursor activity reporting , suspicious activity reporting , and criminal intelligence collaboration . It continues to be an excellent conduit for collaborative efforts and ensures that analysts from each agency have that state and local level contact stream for sharing information and intelligence for all criminal matters . It is this networking component of the GTIP trainings that can bring one of the best agency benefits . GBI-GISAC analysts and those from the GTIP agencies are already familiar with and used to working together , improving communication and information sharing among agencies , especially when matters may be ongoing and time-sensitive .
Another benefit of GTIP was how it brought an amount and level of training ( at little to no cost to them ) for intelligence analysts to agencies that may not have had access to it in the past . The Project
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