notedirection
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 255, alias: Directors, or their designee, please vote for 1 award winner per award category. Only 1 vote per Fusion Center., type: esriFieldTypeString
)
leadershipnote
(
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
)
leadershipaward
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Leadership Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Jonathan Cute: Jonathan Cute - Central Florida Intelligence Exchange - Jon has leveraged his vast array of contacts and his passion for the job to improve the reputation of CFIX within Region 5 of Florida as well as the rest of the state by spending time with stakeholders and giving briefings of the functions and capabilities of CFIX. Jon has overseen administrative improvements at CFIX to include updating the policies and procedures, updating the privacy policy and enhancing privacy training, initiating the Protective Intelligence program to address foreign malign collection of sensitive defense and space information, has overseen the internship program with the University of Central Florida and has run point on organizing the 2023 Southern Shield conference. Jon has labored to introduce his own police agency as well as many other agencies in the Region to CFIX and the assistance that the analytical staff can provide. Jon has also been instrumental in building solid relationships with Federal and private sector partners alike all while cultivating comradery and performance excellence in the CFIX staff. Jon's passion and drive in this role as the Deputy Director of CFIX has made him an indispensable member of the leadership staff and much deserving of recognition.]
, [Jennifer Andrus: Jennifer Andrus - Alabama Fusion Center & FBI - FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Jennifer Andrus has been an instrumental leader within the Alabama Fusion Center since 2015. Since being assigned to the Alabama Fusion Center, Jennifer has always been steadfast, energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate about her job. Jennifer is a peer, mentor and leader within our fusion center. Jennifer is not only the Alabama Fusion Center liaison to the FBI but equally serves as the FBI liaison for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. On numerous occasions, Jennifer has been called upon by our Secretary of Law Enforcement to assist with training, case support, and threat-to-life liaison support. She has always shown great leadership skills. Since 2019, Jennifer has volunteered for and been the leader of 3 successful table-top exercises regarding the Southeast Field-Based Regional Integration and Coordination Plan. For all 3 exercises, Jennifer organized, built, and executed the exercise with participants from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina fusion centers, Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These exercises have been recognized by the FBI Headquarters' Office of Partner Engagement and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as a standard for other regional training exercises. Since arriving in Alabama, Jennifer has presented at numerous training events held by the Alabama Fusion Center to include our annual Fusion Liaison Officer Training, Interdiction for the Protection of Children, Alabama's Basic Police Academy, the Alabama Trooper Academy, and our monthly Intelligence Working Group Meeting. Jennifer is a proven leader in our fusion center, our state, and within her own department. In addition to being a great leader in Alabama, Jennifer is known regionally and nationally as a subject matter expert on numerous topics. Besides being a subject matter expert, she is nationally known for her leadership skills and has directly contributed to the continued successful relationship between the FBI and the National Network of Fusion Center as well as with the NFCA. For all these reasons, I highly recommend SIA Jennifer Andrus for the Fusion Center Leadership Award.]
, [Brian Neil: Brian Neil - North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center - The staff of the North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NC ISAAC) take great pleasure in nominating Director Brian C. Neil for the 2023 Southern Shield Fusion Center Leadership Award. Special Agent in Charge Neil has worked in the ISAAC for almost twelve years in a variety of roles: first assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), then as Deputy Director of the fusion center, and finally as the ISAAC's Director. We have been able to witness firsthand the significant positive impacts he has made on the staff of the ISAAC, its partners, and the communities and agencies we serve. Throughout his career with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the ISAAC, Director Neil has been instrumental in creating and improving several areas of North Carolina's intelligence sharing community. In 2022, Director Neil brought together several stakeholder agencies and spearheaded the creation of a Microsoft Teams channel for all School Resources Officers (SROs) in North Carolina. This initiative integrates previously unconnected partners and provides real-time access to information about trends and school threat incidents across the state and nation, allowing local agencies to learn about potential threats in advance and create intelligence-led response and mitigation plans. Director Neil facilitated the set-up of this initiative by working with IT staff to ensure smooth participation and personally encouraged SROs and analysts to join when speaking at conferences and meetings. Membership currently stands at 85 School Resource Officers representing 27 agencies across the state and continues to grow. The channel has also become an additional data collection source, enhancing the ISAAC's capabilities to make assessments about school safety. During his tenure at the ISAAC, Director Neil's professionalism, trustworthiness, and outreach to other agencies increased the number of ISAAC personnel from three task force officers to nine task force officers and eight task force analysts. While the ISAAC's Deputy Director, he assisted with the creation of the ISAAC's Field Liaison Officer (FLO) Program and as Director, he had the foresight to challenge the unit's management to create new ways to train and retain FLOs. Due to Director Neil's leadership, the quality of the involvement of the ISAAC's FLOs and their information exchange has enhanced dramatically. Director Neil also led the merge of the SBI's Criminal Intelligence Unit and the ISAAC under one roof and one title in 2015, enhancing resource allocation, creating new career opportunities, and boosting information sharing within the agency and the state. Director Neil is well-deserving of this award, and we recommend him without reservation. His implementation of the SRO Teams channel, his ability to build relationships with other agencies that result in an increased number of ISAAC task force members, his vision for the FLO Program, and his dedication to the analyst profession have enhanced the effectiveness of information sharing throughout the state. Director Neil is preparing to retire from the SBI in early 2024, but his achievements will positively affect the field of intelligence, the fusion center community, and the state of North Carolina for years to come. It is our hope that the examples and descriptions of Director Neil's work have showcased his exceptional service to the ISAAC, to the state of North Carolina, and ultimately to our homeland.]
)
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
)
outreachaward
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Outreach Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Christie Varnado: Christie Varnado - LA-SAFE - Analyst supervisor Christie Varnado has been instrumental in LA-SAFE's outreach efforts. Varnado is the Fusion Liaison Officer (FLO) Program Coordinator for LA-SAFE. Not only has Varnado worked to recruit new FLOs, but she has taken this program and worked diligently to revitalize and motivate the several hundred established LA-SAFE FLOs from several years ago. More specifically, Varnado worked during the year to separate the commissioned law enforcement from the non-commissioned to better tailor the information and resources we provide to our FLOs. Varnado re-engaged the non-law enforcement sector with a new FLO class, which hasn't been offered in several years. In the last year, Varnado conducted FLO classes around the state, yielding 105 new FLOs. Sixty-two different law enforcement agencies were represented in these classes, with 34 new agencies added to the FLO roster. During the year, Varnado worked to provide outreach to various agencies in an effort to recruit new FLOs and gain interest in the program. The FLO program is only one area of outreach that Varnado excels. She also works to provide outreach so officers across the state are aware of our tools and support but also aware of the trends and tactics in their areas. Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office Juvenile Academy (14), Louisiana Financial and Fraud Investigators Association Conference (100+), Louisiana City Marshal's Conference (30), Louisiana Narcotics Officers Association Conference (150), LSP Troop A area (35), LSP Troop D area (20), LSP Troop E area (76), LSP Troop L area (11) Varnado also provides a presentation to the LSP troopers entering the Bureau of Investigations (BOI). She informs and educates them on the fusion center and the resources that are available to them. With the assistance of one of our Criminal Intelligence Unit investigators, Varnado hosted LA-SAFE's first FLO class with a group of school resource officers from the St. Tammany Parish area. This class was well received and a huge success in bridging the gap between school resource officers and fusion centers. This initiative is something Varnado is planning to bring to all parishes within Louisiana, as school safety has become such a vital section of our fusion center. During the year, Varnado worked to identify ways to engage the FLOs and provide incentives to enhance their FLO membership. For example, Varnado consistently identifies training classes around the state that might benefit the FLOs. Not only does she inform them of these available training classes, but she also ensures that LA-SAFE hosted classes are offered to the FLOs first, and if possible, free of registration fees. Varnado also provides the FLOs with Intel summaries containing information collected during the LA-SAFE Monthly Intelligence Meeting. Over the past year, Varnado has provided various outreach efforts to approximately 550+ law enforcement officers from federal, state, local, and tribal agencies. These efforts have resulted in numerous professional relationships that will yield better communication and information sharing during a significant event. These efforts have also provided officers who weren't aware of fusion centers an opportunity to learn and tap into our resources and support, ultimately leading to solving more cases. Lastly, these efforts of providing law enforcement with the tactics and trends in their areas will undoubtedly enhance officer and public safety. For these reasons, we nominate Christie Varnado for the Fusion Center Outreach Award.]
, [Shelly Teague: Shelly Teague - Arkansas State Fusion Center - Shelly Teague is an Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) Senior Intelligence Analyst (SIA) assigned to the Arkansas State Fusion Center (ASFC) since February 2018. As the ASFC Critical Infrastructure Analyst, SIA Teague's expertise provides the AFSC with the information necessary to answer key intelligence questions for our federal, state, and local partners, as well as help identify intelligence gaps and vulnerabilities affecting our area of responsibility (AOR). Shelly established and maintained strong partnerships with multiple public and private sector partners including Little Rock Metro Healthcare Coalition Outreach and Partnership; Joint Chemical and Water Sector Outreach and Partnership; Entergy Partnership Building and Coordination; Arkansas Rural Water Association, Rogers Water Utility, Southern Shield member; Mid-south Maritime Outreach and Partnership; Security of States Office and the Department of Homeland Security. As the liaison between ADEM and the ASFC, over this past year, Shelly has built critical infrastructure distribution lists including groups such as: Agriculture, Critical Manufacturing, Cyber, Election, Dams, Energy, Financial, Government Facilities, Healthcare, House of worship, Transportation, Emergency Services, and water. Since the culmination of the distribution lists, she has authored and disseminated 25 products and advisories to critical infrastructure stakeholders and anticipates intelligence sharing to more than double over the next year. Her efforts have greatly improved information sharing and product dissemination specific to critical infrastructure between private sector stakeholders and local, state, and federal decision makers. The relationships Shelly forged proved invaluable during the state's emergency response to a devasting EF 3 tornado that tore through the Little Rock Metroplex on 31 March 2023, allowing her to gather information quickly and accurately in support of recovery efforts. The private sector relationships she established led to her assignment as the Planning Section Chief for the State Emergency Operations Center where she was responsible for preparing the governor's daily situational brief for disaster response and recovery. Additionally, she provided food, shelter, and mental health resources to citizens throughout the region affected by the storm. Shelly developed and supported multiple projects and events such as Election Outreach, working with multiple counties on Election Security partnering with SOS and DHS Election security; Urban Search and Rescue Training; Bikes Blues and BBQ (Event & County Support); Election Security in Lonoke County, Pine Bluff and Perryville; Rogers Water Utility - Multiple NW Arkansas Security Assist Visit and Assessment Activity; Port Authority – Assistance with Infrastructure Visualization Platform; she was stationed at the Little Rock Marathon Command Post for both marathons; and she worked with the Arkansas Rural Water Association Outreach and Partnership Building. Shelly has also developed new and revised current intelligence briefs to ensure valuable and timely information is shared with stakeholders as necessary. These briefs are very time consuming, and she has created professional and relevant documents for distribution. Shelly demonstrates initiative and professionalism in her work resulting in innovative and quality work products She identified a critical need to add a CI section to all current and future Major Event Threat Assessments (META) produced by the ASFC, allowing the ASFC to identify vulnerable CI targets, quickly assess threats, and provide mitigation measures to our customers. Lastly, Shelly has filled the gap left by our CYBER analyst, by identifying the need and creating a cyber security distro list facilitating the flow of time sensitive cyber security information between our federal, state, and local partners. Shelly has been a great asset to the ASFC, and it is with great pleasure to nominate Shelly Teague for the Fusion Center Outreach Award.]
, [Jasmine Greene: Jasmine Grenne - Alabama Fusion Center -Intelligence Analyst Jasmine Greene is nominated for the Fusion Center Outreach Award. As the Fusion Liaison Officer (FLO) coordinator for the Alabama Fusion Center (AFC), IA Greene is responsible for outreach and partner engagement within Alabama. IA Greene recently rejuvenated and overhauled the FLO program at the AFC. She began this overhaul through assessing our training and outreach approach by conducting extensive interviews with our partners including law enforcement, emergency management, fire, Department of Defense, academia, and the private sector. IA Greene's next step was to identify the training and outreach gaps, produce a plan to fill those gaps, and execute that plan. She did this flawlessly. Culminating a statewide approach to cover all seven regions within Alabama, IA Greene has completed her seventh FLO training event. Not only has she met her goal of training 280 new FLOs statewide, but IA Greene has exceeded her goal by almost 20%. She has shown great leadership skills by methodically carrying out her mission of seven outreach events and handling everything from the marketing of the training, to agenda development, to even empowering regional analysts to present subject matter expertise within their assigned regions. In addition to the statewide FLO training events held this past year, IA Greene also hosted 2 private-sector engagement day-long training events. Once again, IA Greene showed great leadership skills by taking on this additional project and putting together our first ever all private sector training. In addition to FLO training and Private Sector engagement, IA Greene consistently goes above and beyond when it comes to outreach. For example, once per quarter, she works with Global Ties Alabama to brief international law enforcement on the Alabama Fusion Center and information sharing. Additionally, our Secretary of Law Enforcement, Hal Taylor, has asked IA Greene to speak on behalf of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on topics ranging from human trafficking, missing persons and information sharing. IA Greene is a role model to her peers, an inspiration to work around and is extremely professional in her outreach efforts. It is for these reasons she is being nominated for the Fusion Center Outreach Award.]
, ...1 more...
)
analysisnote
(
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
)
analysisaward
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Analysis Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Cheonte Harding: Cheonte Harding - Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center / Virginia Fusion Center - I am nominating Lead Analyst Cheonte Harding for the Fusion Center Analysis award. Lead Analyst Harding has been assigned to the Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center and Virginia Fusion Center for nearly three years and has greatly contributed to the intelligence production and analytical tradecraft of the NVRIC and the NNFC as a whole. During her tenure, Lead Analyst Harding has sought out analytical tradecraft and briefing trainings to improve her own knowledge and skills as well as to make recommendations for the NVRIC processes and mentor new analysts. She has quickly become the go-to resource within the NVRIC for analytic tradecraft and strategic analysis. Lead Analyst Harding has provided exceptional services to the NVRIC and NNFC in a variety of ways. In addition to her role in overseeing strategic intelligence production, Lead Analyst Harding has created product templates for the NVRIC based on analytic tradecraft learned at trainings, updated the training program for new analysts, led the Foreign Visitor program development for the NVRIC, and collaborated with other fusion centers to create joint products or share best practices. She has done this in spite of staffing shortages and resulting additional workload. As a result of Lead Analyst Harding's efforts, the NVRIC continues to produce actionable products for its partners based on analytic tradecraft. Her efforts to develop the Foreign Visitor program have led to requests for briefings and processes to replicate at other fusion centers. She is working with federal and fusion center partners to further refine the program to ensure its continued success. Her efforts to collaborate have led to joint products and sharing of best practices among the fusion center network.]
, [Cleyton Bray and Adam Walker: Cleyton Bray and Adam Walker - Central Florida Intelligence Exchanger - Cleyton Bray and Adam Walker have been a driving force behind standing up a Protective Intelligence working group at CFIX in order to address the problem of malign collection of intelligence and sensitive data from both defense and space industry partners in Region 5 of Florida. Cleyton has spearheaded the outreach to Space X, Blue Origen, Relativity, Space Force and NASA , among others, in order to connect the security components of each organization and Adam has labored to meet with and also connect these and many other defense and space industry partners to local, state and federal resources aimed at protecting sensitive information. Both Adam and Cleyton have traveled to other areas of the state of Florida in order to brief and educate various partners on the Protective Intelligence program at CFIX and have interacted with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in order to build out a state-wide framework for identifying and deterring malicious actors from collecting sensitive data from projects and persons with National Security concerns. Both Cleyton and Adam have reached out to partners in new Jersey and California to better understand counterintelligence issues from a local perspective and they have assisted federal partners in hardening the Region against collection as well as case support on related investigations. I am nominating both Adam and Cleyton equally as Analysts who have gone the extra mile well and above their original mandate to help secure our national security on a Regional and state level.]
)
membernote
(
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
)
memberaward
(
nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 10000, alias: Fusion Center Member Nominees:, type: esriFieldTypeString
, Coded Values:
[Danny Watkins: Danny Watkins - Arkansas State Fusion Center - Intel Analyst Supervisor Danny Watkins has been with the AR State Fusion Center/AR State Police since July 2019. He started as a Sr Intel Analyst with a focus on human trafficking and was promoted to the supervisory position in December 2020. Danny's previous career was with the U.S. Air force for 21 years as a signals analyst. Danny Watkins realized that Arkansas may be missing human trafficking victims and was lagging behind other states in the fight against trafficking. Danny recognized that to be able to build a solid foundation, Arkansas would need to obtain proper training in this field. From his position as the Intel Analyst Supervisor at the Arkansas State Fusion Center, he attempted to bring skills based professional training to Arkansas, but this was not met enthusiastically by everyone, and Danny was told there was no funding for such an endeavor. This did not stop him as he reached out and began partnering with non-profit groups and private business groups to locate funding to train the police. He built partnerships and cooperation within the community and in September of 2021 Danny brought the Human Trafficking Training Center to Arkansas where they conducted their first human trafficking training in Searcy, Arkansas. This training was such a success that trainings then followed in multiple other cities over the next 12 months with some 400-500 officers being trained. This has resulted in the identification of some 8 human trafficking victims from around the state. For 2023, more trainings were scheduled which allowed more officers being trained, which in turn will allow for more victims being identified and helped and more traffickers arrested. This program attracted the attention of the Arkansas Attorney General, the Arkansas Lt Governor, the Arkansas First Lady and Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services, all have supported the trainings. Since these training, several law enforcement agencies have come together to execute a human trafficking operation. Danny provided intelligence analysis and case support for Operation Rolling Fire - a multi-agency operation targeting child predators and human traffickers in the NW Arkansas area. The operation brought together approximately 20 law enforcement officers and non-governmental organization representatives working to identify, arrest, and prosecute individuals seeking to sexually exploit children. Additionally, the operation identified, rescued, and provided critical services to adult victims being sexually exploited by others. The 3-day joint operations yielded the following results: 12 Criminal Arrests (child predators); 7 Seizures; 3 Adult HT victim rescues; 7 case referrals; 13 disruptions. Additionally, a 2-year-old child and a 5.5-month infant (non-trafficking victims but endangered) where placed into DHS care. Another multi-agency HT operation is in the works. Due to the need for continued training to recognize trafficking victims, Danny has applied for a grant to be able to help with the efforts of combating trafficking within the state of Arkansas. Lastly, Danny has co-authored a DHS/ASFC joint regional intel note focusing on New Labor Trafficking tactics, techniques, and procedures on an Arkansas-based victim. The DUSIEO congratulated the ASFC on the product being included in the S1's daily brief session. This submission in the session led to a discussion about how ORI field personnel work with Fusion Centers to produce products like this. This would not have happened without the efforts of one person and his attitude of not accepting NO as an answer. Danny Watkins is this person, and we are very proud to work with him and the citizens of Arkansas are very lucky to have him. It is with great pleasure to nominate Danny for the Fusion Center Member Award.]
)