DHS Could Do More to Address the Threats of Domestic Terrorism

Submitting OIG:

Report Description:

The objective was to determine the extent to which DHS is positioned to prevent and reduce domestic terrorism in the United States. We determined that DHS has taken steps to help the United States counter terrorism, but those efforts have not always been consistent.

Date Issued:

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Department of Homeland Security

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

OIG-22-49

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Type of Report:

Audit

Questioned Costs:

Funds for Better Use:

Number of Recommendations:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
OIG-22-49-July22.pdf	5.46 MB

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
1	Open	No
We recommend the Counterterrorism Coordinator, with support from the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and the Management Directorate perform a needs assessment to identify the staffing and budget necessary for overseeing the department-wide mission to counter domestic terrorism.
2	Open	No
We recommend the Counterterrorism Coordinator use the results of the needs assessment to establish a long-term governing body to oversee and coordinate the Department’s efforts to counter domestic terrorism by creating: • a charter with business rules and roles and responsibilities for longterm action; • a formalized documented process to monitor and track completion of action items; and • a formalized documented feedback process to review, update, and measure the impact of priority actions taken in response to changes in the domestic terrorism threat environment.
3	Open	No
We recommend the DHS Secretary work with the Attorney General and the appropriate congressional committees, to ensure each Department collects and shares direct access to domestic terrorism information. Specifically:  The Under Secretary of Intelligence and Analysis should immediately begin working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ensure Office of Intelligence and Analysis domestic terrorism analysts have appropriate access to Federal Bureau of Investigation case information
4	Open	No
We recommend the Under Secretary of Science and Technology and the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans partner with agencies or Department of Homeland Security components to obtain access to appropriate information that may inform development of nationallevel statistics on terrorism and targeted violence
5	Open	No
We recommend the Under Secretary of Intelligence and Analysis:  use the information collected in the domestic terrorism incident tracker to create national-level statistics on domestic terrorism; and  share statistics with other Department of Homeland Security components.
6	Open	No
We recommend the Counterterrorism Coordinator use the results of the needs assessment to ensure a dedicated level of staff support and resources to execute National Terrorism Advisory System functions.

Recommendation Number

Recommendation Status

Significant Recommendation

Additional Details

Open

We recommend the Counterterrorism Coordinator, with support from the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and the Management Directorate perform a needs assessment to identify the staffing and budget necessary for overseeing the department-wide mission to counter domestic terrorism.

Open

We recommend the Counterterrorism Coordinator use the results of the needs assessment to establish a long-term governing body to oversee and coordinate the Department’s efforts to counter domestic terrorism by creating: • a charter with business rules and roles and responsibilities for longterm action; • a formalized documented process to monitor and track completion of action items; and • a formalized documented feedback process to review, update, and measure the impact of priority actions taken in response to changes in the domestic terrorism threat environment.

Open

We recommend the DHS Secretary work with the Attorney General and the appropriate congressional committees, to ensure each Department collects and shares direct access to domestic terrorism information. Specifically:  The Under Secretary of Intelligence and Analysis should immediately begin working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ensure Office of Intelligence and Analysis domestic terrorism analysts have appropriate access to Federal Bureau of Investigation case information

Open

We recommend the Under Secretary of Science and Technology and the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans partner with agencies or Department of Homeland Security components to obtain access to appropriate information that may inform development of nationallevel statistics on terrorism and targeted violence