February 2008

8Tips & Best Practices for Using Emergency Personnel as Intelligence Sensors

By Michael Petrie

The use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel as intelligence sensors or information collectors to provide information to Terrorism Early Warning Groups (TEWGs) and other local and state government intelligence fusion centers is recommended by numerous academic papers, professional articles and presentations, and US Department of Homeland Security best-practice documents. These documents identify EMS personnel as valuable intelligence sensors in part because they have access to locations not routinely available to law enforcement or intelligence communities that may contain indicators of terrorism. This article offers tips on how best to use emergency personnel in this capacity.

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