“Whether a plan for a terrorist attack is homegrown or originates
overseas, important knowledge that may forewarn of a future attack
may be derived from information gathered by State, local, and tribal
government personnel in the course of routine law enforcement and
other activities.”
- National Strategy for Information Sharing, October 2007
The Nationwide SAR Initiative
The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) is an outgrowth of a number of
separate but related activities over the last several years that respond directly to the mandate to
establish a “unified process for reporting, tracking, and accessing [SARs]” in a manner that rigorously
protects the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, as called for in the National Strategy for
Information Sharing.
The NSI strategy is to develop, evaluate, and implement common processes and policies for gathering,
documenting, processing, analyzing, and sharing information about terrorism-related suspicious
activities. The long-term goal is for state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement organizations,
as well as private sector entities, to participate in the NSI, allowing them to share information about
suspicious activity that is potentially terrorism-related.
On December 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was named the Executive Agent to establish
and operate the Program Management Office (PMO) for the NSI. The PMO is responsible for nationwide
implementation of the SAR process by coordinating existing resources and managing additional support.
In March 2010, DOJ established a Program Management Office (PMO) within the Bureau of Justice Assistance
to support nationwide implementation of the SAR process.
NSI Overview
