Intelligence community

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are not synonymous

With the ongoing threat of ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks, active shooter incidents and non-financially motivated cyber-attacks; there has been increased public discussion about how law enforcement and intelligence keeps tabs on suspected threats. 

While similar public and political discourse led to an end to the NSA’s metadata collection program, it would be important to clarify the difference between the roles of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and their capabilities in today’s overlapping war on terrorism.

A major problem when addressing this issue lies in the fact that Americans have been fed a steady diet of television and movie plots centered on CIA operations on American soil. These fictional stories, such as the Showtime cable drama “Homeland,” are so pervasive that most Americans are totally unaware that the CIA has no charter to operate on American soil.