D.C. wants states to pay for intel centers

By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers • Published June 01, 2008

WASHINGTON – It has an innocuous sounding name and a low public profile, but to law enforcement officials throughout the state, the Washington Joint Analytical Center is a key to tracking international and home-grown terrorists who could be planning attacks.

The center, located in a Seattle office building, involves about 20 local, state and federal police officials along with a team of analysts to review intelligence gathered statewide.

"We think it has prevented things," Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste said.

The state is potentially a target-rich environment for terrorists, with everything from jumbo ferries and massive dams to the Tacoma Narrows bridges, he said. But the federal Department of Homeland Security wants to cut funding for such centers and slough the costs off on states, Batiste and members of Washington's congressional delegation said.

The Seattle center is funded through about $2 million in federal homeland security grants.

Batiste and others said the federal agency has decided the grant money no longer can be used to pay for analysts in the 58 intelligence centers, known as fusion centers, nationwide. The grants can be used to hire new analysts, but they will pay for them only for several years.

Batiste and Washington's congressional delegation said that could force the Seattle center to close, as state and local law enforcement agencies already have tight budgets. The state has asked for a waiver to the grant rules.

"For them to walk away is ludicrous," Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and a former Bellingham police chief, said of the Department of Homeland Security.

"We believe this is one of the most important things we are doing, if not the most important thing when it comes to homeland security," he said. "They are pulling the rug out from under us."

Batiste agreed. "We're already running on bailing wire and duct tape," he said. "They asked us to do something. We did. And now, they don't help us. It's an oxymoron I am struggling with."