By Homeland1 Staff

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI need to improve information sharing and establish partnerships with local and tribal officials along borders, a report issued Tuesday said.

The Government Accountability Office report also recommends identifying ways to develop border intelligence products within fusion centers and defining the suspicious activities that officials in border communities should report and how to report them.

Of the 20 local and tribal agencies contacted in the report, 13 said that federal agencies had not defined which suspicious activities or indicators qualify as potential terrorist threats and should be reported.

DHS has agreed with the findings and said it is developing plans to add personnel at fusion centers in border states and federal agencies are working to standardize suspicious activity reporting.

While DHS has helped develop border intelligence products for fusion centers, the report stresses the need for obtaining feedback from local and tribal officials.

"Additional efforts to obtain such feedback would support DHS and FBI efforts to improve the utility and quality of future products," the report said.

It also found that discussing information needs with local and tribal agencies has so far helped establish partnerships to relay useful intelligence to the border agencies.

As a result of the findings, the report recommends federal agencies identify the information needs of border agencies where information sharing is lacking.