Joint Regional Information Exchange System
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The Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES) began in December 2002 as an all-source intelligence / information sharing system, designed initially as a grassroots pilot system to connect the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, the New York Police Department, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
These groups designed JRIES, which was first deployed in February 2003, to facilitate the exchange of suspicious activity reports, register events potentially related to terrorist activity, and foster real-time intelligence and law enforcement collaboration in a secure environment across federal, state, and local jurisdictions. JRIES used a commercial, off-the-shelf software collaboration tool application to enable multiple groups to share the information securely. A JRIES executive board, composed of representatives from the participating groups, provided guidance and structure to help manage the system. JRIES proved useful during the northeast blackout in 2003 when information posted on the system allowed users across the country to quickly learn that the event was not related to terrorism. The system provided a very simple and efficient way for the law enforcement community to obtain situational awareness concurrently, without the need for hundreds of phone calls.
Transfer to DHS
Although DIA originally operated and maintained JRIES, DIA transferred program management of the system to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in September 2003, due to funding constraints. DIA was concerned that managing JRIES to support domestic intelligence activities conflicted with its military intelligence role. As of February 2004, approximately 100 organizations–with more than 1,000 law enforcement and intelligence analysts from federal, state, and local government agencies—were using JRIES.