CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Supervisory Intelligence Officer James Cotter with the State of Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security was the guest speaker for the Downtown Kiwanis meeting on January 12.
Officer Cotter spoke on fusion centers, which were created after 9/11. The purpose of the center is to collect public information specific to the state. Examples would be court records and social media without compromising the profile security of an individual.
Officer Cotter said, “We are a hub for information exchange and we are the bridge between the federal components and the state and local components.”
Tennessee is an all-crimes fusion center unit, according to Cotter, who specifically works with international and domestic terrorism and transnational organized crime.
Officer Cotter also discussed a few topics that have been of concern on the state and national level. One topic was the process of refugees coming to the United States. He specially spoke about the Syrian refugee process saying, “There are a lot of checks and balances where they can be kicked out, sent back to the beginning or sent back to wherever.”
He also stated that the process takes anywhere from 18 months to two years. When asked if the collection of information for a citizen of the United States was different than that of refugees who come to the United States, Cotter said there is not a difference.
Officer Cotter also spoke on a reported terrorist “Training Camp” located in Dover.
“All this stuff about the training camp part of it where they have jungle gyms up, that’s not going on up there,” he said. Cotter also pointed out that the gun fire heard in the area is coming from a gun range next to the location.
Cotter also mentioned a Shelbyville “Training Camp” did not exist.