Domestic Security: Confronting a Changing Threat to Ensure Public Safety and Civil Liberties       

The terrorist threat to the United States has not abated. Instead, it is fundamentally different
than it was on September 11, 2001: greater numbers; more sophisticated communications strategies, including through the use of technology; decentralized leadership and geographic dispersal; homegrown radicalization; and returning foreign fighters.

This report primarily examines U.S. domestic counterterrorism systems and processes, and explores broader issues associated with domestic intelligence efforts in connection with other domestic
national security threats.

A Member Task Force composed of four New York based BENS members conducted a dedicated primary research effort. Over a period of three years, the Task Force met with over 100 senior and knowledgeable people in the intelligence community, its overseers, managers, and consumers, including visits to fusion centers in six states and meeting with a number of state and local law enforcement agencies.