We should have a better idea soon how a diminishing pool of federal funds will be divvied up among state agencies that share responsibility for Colorado’s anti-terror protection.
One of those agencies is an intelligence sharing office known as the Colorado Information Analysis Center. CIAC is comprised of local, state and federal agents who collect and analyze terrorism-related intelligence and provide it to the appropriate offices around the country. The state’s Department of Public Safety is in fierce competition for part of a shrinking $3 million federal pie (reduced from $5 million last year) to expand the State Patrol presence in the center.
CIAC is a worthwhile program, but it’s competing with other worthwhile anti-terror initiatives, including one geared to safeguard state agriculture and another to develop an improved statewide communications system. And it’s not clear how adding more patrol officers will improve CIAC.
A spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety suggested recently that CIAC might have to shut down due to a shortage of federal funds, but George Epp, who heads the Division of Emergency Management, which oversees federal grant funds, said “there’s no plan to close it.”
But, Epp told us Monday that changes are in store. Officials from various agencies plan to meet Wednesday to review all requests for federal funds and discuss possible allocations.
Epp, a former sheriff and former head of the state’s sheriff’s association, wants to review CIAC’s operations “and look at ways we can make intelligence information sharing more efficient and effective.” That’s an excellent idea.
Public Safety spokesman Lance Clem said the state had hoped to expand its CIAC contingent from four troopers to 20 and had asked the Joint Budget Committee for $1.6 million during the last legislative session. JBC Chair Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said “as tight as our budget is, this was something the JBC was not willing to do.”
Epp indicated there is confusion regarding CIAC’s future. “There’s one school of thought that says just add personnel. There’s another school of thought that says review the whole thing and see if a different organizational structure or philosophy will give us better results.
“The discussion we’ve had is CIAC has been successful in some respects, but we think there is more that can be done in terms of sharing law enforcement intelligence information.”
Coloradans can appreciate Epp’s determination to seek consensus and proper resources for CIAC and its mission.
