notedirection
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 255, alias: Directions: Directors, or their designee, please vote for 1 award winner per award category. Only 1 vote per Fusion Center., type: esriFieldTypeString
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leadershipnote
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Candidates for this award have provided exceptional services to their fusion center by leading and enhancing capabilities, increasing collaboration among partners, and instituting positive change. Their actions directly contributed to improving the security posture of their jurisdiction and ultimately our homeland. This may include, but is not limited to, directors, deputy directors, analyst supervisors, lead analysts, individuals leading a group of analysts, acting/serving in a supervisory capacity and/or shows leadership potential., type: esriFieldTypeString
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leadershipaward
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Leadership Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Scott Mathus: Scott Mathus - Alabama Fusion Center - Intelligence Analyst Scott Mathus is nominated for the Fusion Center Leadership award. IA Mathus provided exceptional services to the Alabama Fusion Center as well as the state of Alabama leading up to and throughout the 2022 World Games. The World Games was held in Birmingham, Alabama from July 6 through July 17. The World Games was a SEAR 1 event where 3,600 athletes from over 100 countries participate in 30 different sports at 15 different venues. IA Mathus began his involvement well before the games ever started. IA Mathus played an instrumental role in the application process for the SEAR rating. IA Mathus led a team of Intelligence Analysts, both from the federal level as well as the state and local level, in creating an addendum to the SEAR application. The addendum, titled "The World Games Joint Intelligence Summary," was authored by the Alabama Fusion Center and was the culmination of assessments lead by IA Mathus. Those assessments included cyber security, cultural complexities, targeted violence, human trafficking, civil unrest, and local crime statistics. IA Scott Mathus also lead the team of Alabama Fusion Center analysts during the games by making sure everyone working the event was utilizing the HSIN Adobe connect group created by IA Mathus. Lastly, IA Mathus's strong leadership skills directly resulted in a successful and safe completion of the World Games. It is my pleasure to nominate Intelligence Analyst Scott Mathus for the Fusion Center Leadership award.]
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outreachnote
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Candidates for this award have provided exceptional services to their fusion center. These services or activities have enhanced outreach and liaison programs or efforts and improved the security posture of the jurisdiction and/or the Nation. This may include, but is not limited to, speaking to community centers, schools, private sector engagement and law enforcement training (FLO, TLO, ILO, etc.)., type: esriFieldTypeString
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outreachaward
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Outreach Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Jenny Gibson: Jenny Gibson - GBI/GISAC - Jenny Gibson is a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with GBI-GISAC and is assigned to work at the Investigative Division Office in Thomson, Georgia just outside the city of Augusta. Jenny directly supports the Special Agents, Regional Threat, and Child Abuse Specialists, as well as the local investigators within a 10-county region. Jenny is also assigned to the Georgia Cyber Crime Center (G3C) in Augusta, Georgia and as such is uniquely positioned to work with stakeholders from local, state, federal and private sector organizations. She is beloved by her agents and analyst peers and is always willing to meet offsite to support various GISAC initiatives, specialty assignments, or command posts as needed. She has developed a natural balance in effectively managing the often-competing needs of her high demand offices and her proactive outreach through the GBI-GISAC cyber initiative. Jenny has endeared herself to Investigators and Command staff from agencies across Georgia by the extent to which she assists with their high-profile cases and command posts. This past year, Jenny was asked to help two local sheriff's offices with the homicide of a 25-year-old. For that one investigation, Jenny dedicated weeks to analyze mobile phone data, tower dumps, and geo-fencing returns. She developed association charts, timelines, and scoured through IP-based communications across multiple social media platforms to develop a robust leads tracking system for the local agencies. Throughout her work, Jenny briefed GBI and local agency command staff and investigators so they felt properly informed of the direction the investigation was going. The local agencies felt Jenny worked as one of their own and her assistance was critical and appreciated. Jenny also served as the GBI-GISAC representative for the public safety effort surrounding the 2021 PGA Masters event in Augusta and supported the weeks-long homicide of Ahmaud Arbery trial (Operation Golden Horizon) in Brunswick. Since her appointment to GISAC in March 2021 during a global pandemic, Jenny has managed to prioritize outreach in a way that leaves a lasting impression on her customers and partners. Even amidst COVID-19 restrictions, she has effectively spearheaded a multi-agency Georgia Cyber Intelligence Analyst Working Group along with FBI and the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA). She continues to lead this initiative, scheduling and facilitating regular meetings amongst the members. There have been nine meetings for this group last year. To date, the group has released two ransomware products and is working on a third. Jenny was the main author for the initial ransomware product, as well as an introductory product. She is currently editing a third product authored by a cyber partner and "shepherds" these cooperative joint-product efforts with patience and a sweet spirit that fosters effective collaboration. Outside of the working group, she has developed a Cyber Information Sharing Monthly product, that brings together all of the main cyber information and security releases each month by CISA, FBI, DHS, and other interested federal and state government agencies in one handy document that is easily accessible and referenceable for the targeted audience. Jenny recognized the need for critical cyber information to get to a broader audience, and worked with fellow analysts to make her product available to trusted private sector partners and not just public safety. Since her involvement in these meetings and products, GBI-GISAC has seen a significant increase in engagement and information exchange from new IT Managers and IT Systems persons along with other CIKR representatives. Jenny's natural enthusiasm to include and engage with others has made a lasting, positive impact on GBI-GISAC operations as well as the security posture of Georgia.]
, [Melissa James: Melissa James - LA-SAFE - Analyst, Melissa James has been a tremendous asset to the Louisiana State Analytical & Fusion Exchange (LA-SAFE) in outreach during the last year. James is assigned to the Domestic Extremism Sector for the entire state. James conducts training sessions on domestic extremism including a wide variety of extremist groups along with their trends, tactics, and procedures. She teaches how to identify members of these radical groups using symbols, logos, verbiage, tattoos, etc. Over the course of the last year, James conducted training for over 250 Louisiana State Police (LSP), Capital Area Regional Training Academy (CARTA), and Acadiana Law Enforcement Training Academy (ALETA) cadets. These training courses are 8-12 hour blocks of instruction and are required Louisiana Post-certified classes. Included in the lesson plan is a block on the Fusion Center, which includes information on tools and resources available to the law enforcement community. This Fusion Center block is also used to explain and demonstrate what a successful information sharing environment looks like and how it works. The Fusion Liaison Officer (FLO) Program is also explained and the benefits are outlined during this block. In addition to providing these training courses, James also trained approximately 75 fire marshals and nearly 40 newly elected chiefs of police. In addition, LSP detectives also receive domestic extremism training through our FTA program. The program provides an hour-long overview of domestic extremism to aid our investigators in how to recognize signs of extremism and how to report intelligence to LA-SAFE. James also provided training to state and local offices on First Amendment Auditors who travel to various locations in Louisiana violating laws during their visits to law enforcement offices and government facilities. James's multiple training sessions and outreach are vital to the intelligence led policing concept and are preparing the newest of officers, as well as the seasoned officers, by supplying them with the knowledge needed to identify a radical extremist. Early detection of a lone wolf could assist in thwarting an attack, save lives, and safeguard the homeland. James also participates in the following outreach efforts: Participates and occasionally hosts the LA-SAFE Monthly Intelligence Meeting, Updates participants on domestic extremism activity, upcoming events, trends, and extremist criminal activity in Louisiana. Recruiting of FLOs, Teaches them to recognize and report extremism activity in their area of responsibility. Briefs relevant domestic extremism related topics at LA-SAFE's daily brief to analysts, partners, and commissioned leadership. Over the past year, James has performed various outreach efforts to over approximately 500 law enforcement officers from federal, state, local, and tribal agencies. This has increased awareness of LA-SAFE, but more importantly assisted greatly in officer and public safety efforts. For these reasons, we nominate Melissa James for the Fusion Center Outreach Award.]
, [Shemiracle King: Shemiracle King - Arkansas State Fusion Center -Shemiracle King is an Arkansas State Police (ASP) Senior Intelligence Analyst (SIA) currently assigned to the Arkansas State Fusion Center (ASFC). As the ASFC School Safety Analyst, SIA King established the first ever partnership between the Arkansas Center for School Safety and the ASFC. SIA King's efforts in creating this partnership greatly improved communication between school districts across the state and set the foundation for effective real-time threat-based response coordination across all 261 school districts within Arkansas. SIA King was instrumental in developing curriculum for the state's newly created School Resource Officer (SRO) Training Academy in effort to standardize training for all SROs within the state. Additionally, SIA King's recommendations for a standardized school incident/tip reporting system were adopted by the Arkansas School Safety Commission and passed on to the governor for approval. Furthermore, SIA King expanded ASFC Weekly Activity Report to include specific information pertaining to our Homeland Security Liaison Officers, School Resource Officers, and For Official Use Only customers greatly increasing partner situational awareness within the AOR. Finally, SIA King's dedication to excellence in analysis served as the cornerstone in an international investigation of a multi-national illegal vehicle import/export operation. leading to criminal indictments in the Canadian court system. SIA King continually brings great credit upon herself, the Arkansas State Police, and the Arkansas State Fusion Center, and is my great pleasure to nominate her for the Fusion Center Outreach Award.]
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analysisnote
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Candidates for this award have provided exceptional services to their fusion center and the NNFC. These particular services have enhanced analytical programs and improved the security posture of the jurisdiction and/or the Nation. This may include, but is not limited to, individuals who excel in a specific area of analysis (for example Cyber, Terrorism, OSINT, Critical Infrastructure, Tactical, Operational etc.) and collaborative analytic efforts., type: esriFieldTypeString
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analysisaward
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Analysis Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
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[Jasmine Greene: Jasmine Greene - Alabama Fusion Center - Intelligence Analyst Jasmine Greene is nominated for the Fusion Center Analysis award. IA Greene has worked on a variety of projects all showcasing her ability to enhance analytical programs with the Alabama Fusion Center. IA Greene most recently showcased her strong analytical talents by working alongside DHS Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) during the 2022 World Games. IA Greene was a part of the anti-human trafficking initiative lead by HSI during the duration of the SEAR 1 event. IA Greene assisted by providing enhanced capabilities and resources to these investigations which was aimed at protecting both adults and minors from exploitation. Dozens of people were arrested along with having multiple human trafficking victims rescued. IA Greene worked diligently to provide this task force with top-notch investigative and analytical support. It is my pleasure to nominate Intelligence Analyst Jasmine Greene for the Fusion Center Analysis award.]
, [Nicole McKendree: Nicole McKendree - Arkansas State Fusion Center - Nicole McKendree is an Arkansas State Police Senior Intelligence Analyst (SIA) assigned to the Arkansas State Fusion Center. Mrs. McKendree co-authored a Field Analysis Report regarding Domestic Violent Extremism within Arkansas. Her product was briefed to I&A senior leadership including the Director of the Department of Homeland Security. SIA McKendree's work was lauded by the Acting Deputy Director of I&A's Field Operations Division who referred to the product as "outstanding" and recommended it as the benchmark for all other regions in the enterprise to follow. Additionally, Mrs. McKendree's analysis efforts resulted in the disruption of five illegal gambling operations across the state leading to several arrests and the confiscation of 100 gambling machines. She continually demonstrates exceptional knowledge, skills, and abilities in the areas of research and product development. SIA McKendree employed these skills to analyze, identify, and link a transnational organized criminal organization involved in the robbery and threatening of religious houses of worship across multiple states. Her efforts resulted in disruption of the criminal activity, as well as, successfully placing five members of the organization on the Department of Homeland Security's watchlist. SIA McKendree's attention to detail and dedication to excellence prompted her to reach out to federal partners after receiving a tip from a local agency regarding a failed pharmacy break-in. Her analysis efforts resulted in the identification of multiple suspects linked to previous pharmacy burglaries across multiple states and filled critical information gaps for the federal agency prompting the establishment of an on-going federal and state multi-agency operation. SIA McKendree continually brings great credit upon herself, the Arkansas State Police, and the Arkansas State Fusion Center, and is my great pleasure to nominate her for the Fusion Center Analysis Award.]
, [Daniel Saunders: Daniel Saunders - GBI/GISAC - Crime Intelligence Analyst II John "Wyatt" Rothwell is the counterterrorism and targeted violence analyst at the Florida Fusion Center (FFC). He is also an outstanding analyst and teammate. In his role, he has developed 17 products over the last year, including a monthly school safety bulletin and 6 stand-alone products. Wyatt is also the lead for the FFC on holiday/ special event joint intelligence products and other joint products developed across Florida. He has collaborated on eight of these products over the last year, including two in which he was the lead. With his strong writing and editing skills, he has also served as the lead editor and coordinator for major projects such as the FFC's annual threat assessment which requires contributions from each member of the strategic analysis team. In an effort to reduce terrorism and targeted violence, Wyatt also works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement public information office to develop tripwires that are shared publicly to help businesses and other members of the public identify what suspicious activity might look like in their environment. Additionally, Wyatt is the FFC lead for geographic information services (GIS). Over the last year he has developed a dashboard highlighting key critical infrastructure sectors across the state. He also develops maps for finished intelligence products developed by other analysts, as necessary, and was responsible for submitting Florida- based data to the national elections incident mapping. Due to his experience, Wyatt has also filled in when the FFC has had vacancies, taking on coordination of meetings with liaisons, monthly calls with Florida Fusion Center Network analysts across the state, serving as the backup security liaison, and a variety of special projects. Teammates regularly ask for his input and guidance in their analysis and he's also helped provide training on production, editing, and tradecraft. Wyatt is a skilled analyst who continues to work to hone his craft and to grow his skillset. He's a vital component of the FFC team and is strongly recommended for consideration for the Southern Shield analyst award.]
)
membernote
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Candidates for this award have provided exceptional services to their fusion center by leading and enhancing capabilities, increasing collaboration among partners, and instituting positive change. Their actions directly contributed to improving the security posture of their jurisdiction and ultimately our homeland. This may include, but is not limited to, directors, deputy directors, analyst supervisors, lead analysts, individuals leading a group of analysts, acting/serving in a supervisory capacity and/or shows leadership potential., type: esriFieldTypeString
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memberaward
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Member Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Jennifer Brescher: Jennifer Brescher - LA-SAFE - Analyst, Jennifer Brescher has become an incredible asset to the Louisiana State Analytical & Fusion Exchange (LA-SAFE), through her hard work, dedication, service-before-self, and excellence in all she does. Brescher's open-source research ability is extremely regarded in LA-SAFE as she continues to be a "go-to" when we need assistance in locating someone. As an example, Brescher worked a case where an unknown individual posted on Instagram that he was going to shoot a town sheriff in the head. Through diligent investigation, Brescher was able to positively identify this individual, as he was livestreaming with several other individuals on Instagram. In the course of this livestream, the subject shot video of a gas station and lube joint that he was going in, as well as the vehicle he was driving, along with the license plate. Through a query of the plate, it was discovered that the vehicle was observed in Houston, TX just two days earlier. Collaborating with another analyst, she was able to pinpoint where exactly that vehicle was last located down to the gas station in Texas. Through her diligent efforts, she was able to hone in on where the subject likely was and the information was subsequently forwarded to Houston PD to make an arrest. This ability and passion to think outside of the box and use her critical thinking skills led to the arrest of a dangerous suspect and possibly saved a life. In another case, Brescher was recognized by a supervisor for her diligent teamwork. Her level of cooperation and teamwork in dividing tasks, assisting one another and communicating any located and pertinent information in order to complete the highly time-sensitive task accomplished was commended. Brescher demonstrated forward thinking and extreme attention to detail to identify a subject from extremely limited information. Brescher sets exceptionally high work standards and her quality of work exceeds expectations on every occasion. She was recently appointed the School Safety Analyst and has encompassed these duties fully into her job. She played a key role in Louisiana State Police's Annual School Safety Summit, as well as the DARE School Safety Conference, speaking at each and spreading the Fusion Center's educational outreach far and wide. At the DARE conference, she spoke about the Fusion Center and its role in school safety. She also provided an overview of different trends involving students in schools such as TikTok challenges, etc. She went over the school safety applications that are free and available to Louisiana schools to report active shooters, medical emergencies, or report anonymous tips. Brescher upkeeps and enters school threat data into the HSIN School Safety COI, which has already proven beneficial to our command staff by providing statistics on school threats in grade school and higher education. She is working hard to set new goals for the School Safety program, so it will continue to grow and progress in the coming year. Brescher is also involved in the following: VICAP program –Brescher has been researching and working on an overview to provide to command staff in an effort to become more involved in the VICAP program. LA-SAFE Monthly Intel Meeting – Brescher is the LA-SAFE Intel Meeting POC who sets the meeting dates and assigns the hosts. Brescher also hosts many meetings. LA-SAFE Training – Brescher is a valuable member of the training team. She was instrumental in teaching one of our newest analysts. The training program includes 440 hours of hands on training. Brescher took on this responsibility with ease and was able to manage and balance her other duties while also providing quality training to a new analyst. Brescher has responded admirably to changing and sometimes challenging situations, always retaining her professional demeanor and positive attitude. Even after working on all of these specialized responsibilities, Brescher was able to process and complete over 957 requests for information (RFIs) over the last year. She also supported cases and worked Operation Golden Eagle and Operation Silver Bear in New Orleans, in which her efforts led to the arrest of multiple violent offenders. Brescher has achieved numerous successes this year and we look forward to seeing growth in her new roles in the coming year. Because of her excellence at LA-SAFE, we nominate her for Member of the Year Award.]
, [Lindsey "Lyn" LaFave: Lindsey "Lyn" LaFave - GBI/GISAC - Lindsey "Lyn" LaFave is a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with GBI-GISAC directly situated in the FBI Atlanta who remotely supports GBI work units and the overall GISAC mission. She is assigned to the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO) and has gone above and beyond in assuming several specialty initiatives such as the Private Sector and CIKR Outreach. Lyn handles an enormous volume of analytical requests on the tactical support side (completing more than 700 requests last year). In addition to those hundreds of requests, Lyn has developed dozens of intelligence reports, value-added or higher level intelligence and research publications. This year, Lyn expressed interest in pursuing a role as GISAC's first ever strategic analyst. In this capacity, Lyn will flex her analytical writing skill muscles and focus on developing actionable products, bulletins, and briefings to keep GBI-GISAC positioned to be Georgia's best source for intelligence-led public safety strategies. She regularly supports (and is often the first to volunteer for) command posts for major events (including the Peachtree Road Race and the murder trial of Ahmaud Arbery) as well as large-scale drug operations involving coordinated arrests and search warrants concluding months-long investigations. For these, Lyn often spearheads intelligence collection on dozens of subjects, developing target packages of pertinent information and officer safety concerns on subjects assigned out to individual team members. This is in addition to the day-to-day support provided to the Agents in the months leading up to the takedown. Such support consists of urgent lead development while agents are on surveillance and Lyn generate comprehensive intelligence packets on subjects from a single vehicle tag called into her from an investigator in the field. Lyn thinks outside the box and enjoys a challenge. She is organized, driven, disciplined, and eager to help others. She takes on peer-review duties and has the heart of a teacher when approaching analysts about helping develop their writing skills. Her Agent and Analyst peers hold Lyn in high regard and go out of their way to recognize and express appreciation for her contributions, work ethic, and willingness to help others. She is naturally gifted with an innate ability to balance immediate or real-time tactical checks with in-depth analytical work on complex cases. Lyn shows great attention to detail and is thorough in her research, lead development, and follow-through. More importantly, Lyn still makes time to assist analysts with their investigations or intelligence products. Her investigators (as well as GISAC supervision) recognize the tremendous workload Lyn manages. In the past year alone, CIA LaFave provided advanced analytical work products in more than a dozen (often overlapping) comprehensive investigations while assisting local agencies with advanced analysis on aggravated assaults and armed robbery investigations. Lyn continues to integrate new technologies into her daily work and has a willingness to pursue developmental trainings. She is always up for a challenge and takes the initiative to find and apply for collaborative training opportunities such as advanced FBI Report Writing and DHS analyst exchange programs. She employs what she learns from these types of information exchanges into her daily casework and in helping fellow analysts with their investigations. CIA LaFave works in close partnership with her drug agents in addition to her peers and stakeholders in the FBI Atlanta community. Even amidst lingering COVID-19 disruptions or personnel changes (like assignments to offices), she has maintained connectivity with fellow analysts and her Investigators. Lyn goes above and beyond to generate and develop relationships with private sector partners as well as law enforcement stakeholders. She is working closely with GISAC Supervision to build out a more robust critical infrastructure and key resources protection initiative that involves cooperation with the private sector. CIA LaFave recognizes how GISAC, and the GBI Investigative Division's success is built on personnel establishing connectivity with partner agencies. These partnerships ensure the flow of accurate information and is critical to the GBI's success in addressing issues like drug and gang activity. In furtherance of this mission, Lyn remains an active participant in the FBI Infragard program and the Fusion Center network. She attended the National Fusion Center Association training event in April 2022 and took an active role in best practice discussions and networking events. She volunteered to lead a joint analyst writing workshop for the upcoming Southern Shield training with the hopes of developing the first joint Southern Shield product in several years. CIA Lafave continues to add value to almost every single aspect of the GISAC mission. She is a natural team-player and goes the extra mile to assist others. Her developing role as a strategic analyst will give her more opportunities to work with others and foster growth within the work unit. Her willingness to support command post and other initiatives is appreciated. She is a valued member of the GISAC team and a tremendous help to the supervisory analysts. In the next year, she will increasingly be relied upon to help mentor newer analysts on which databases, technologies, or tools work appropriately for different cases or investigations. Her spirit, smile, and enthusiastic commitment significantly enhance the GBI-GISAC and National Fusion Center missions.]
, [Christin Miller: Christin Miller - Tennessee Fusion Center - Intelligence Analyst (IA) Christin Miller displays professionalism, subject matter expertise, and personal commitment as a fusion center analyst significantly contributing to meticulous coordination and situational awareness that enhances the security posture of numerous states for the Tennessee Fusion Center (TFC) and the National Network of Fusion Centers information sharing mission, thereby greatly enhancing the analysis, production, and dissemination of intelligence tailored to the federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners. For example, through superb performance and thoroughness, and while respecting the right to free speech and paying attention to any public safety concerns, IA Miller, coordinated, collected, analyzed, and deconflicted information over several days to provide as accurate of a picture as possible of a protest convoy that was moving across several states on its way to Washington, DC. IA Miller utilized various databases and contacted numerous local law enforcement agencies to get real-time information on the size of the convoy, as well as likely issues that any disruption might cause. By doing so, IA Miller determined the convoy's size and any potential risks to the public's safety. She provided key intelligence to jurisdictions through which the convoy traveled and provided leadership with daily briefings so they could decide how to manage the convoy as it moved through their regions. In summary, IA Christin Miller's commitment to duty to the Tennessee Fusion Center and the complete network of fusion centers are all greatly lauded by our federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners. Intelligence Analyst Christin Miller has established standards for planning and communicating with the community to ensure they are well equipped to manage any issue relating to public safety which will have a major impact on the ability of the TFC organization to perform its mission in an exemplary manner in the future.]
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