Pacifying the Homeland
Pacifying the Homeland
Intelligence Fusion and Mass Supervision
BRENDAN McQUADE
University of California Press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2019 by Brendan McQuade
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McQuade, Brendan, author.
Title: Pacifying the homeland : intelligence fusion and mass supervision / Brendan McQuade.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019004170 (print) | LCCN 2019006629 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520971349 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520299740 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520299757 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Terrorism—United States—Prevention—Information services. | National security—United States—Information services. | Intelligence service—United States—Information services. | Interagency coordination—United States.
Classification: LCC HV6432 (ebook) | LCC HV6432 .M38 2019 (print) | DDC 363.325/170973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019004170
Manufactured in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Silas and Eliot
Contents
PROLOGUE: POLICING CAMDEN’S CRISIS
1. CONNECTING THE DOTS BEYOND COUNTERTERRORISM AND SEEING PAST ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURE
2. THE RISE AND PRESENT DEMISE OF THE WORKFARE-CARCERAL STATE
3. THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF INTELLIGENCE FUSION
4. POLICING DECARCERATION
5. BEYOND COINTELPRO
6. PACIFYING POVERTY
CONCLUSION: THE CAMDEN MODEL AND THE CHICAGO CHALLENGE
Appendix: Research and the World of Official Secrets
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments
While my name is on the cover of this book, a project like this one is never a solitary endeavor. It took me six years to research and write this book. Data collection took me all over New York and New Jersey. The analysis and writing occurred at three different universities. Over the years, many people helped me make this project possible. With this in mind, these acknowledgments should be read as the first draft of a long and extended thank you.
The first thanks must go to my wife, Alison Eromin, who has done so much, big and small, to make my scholarly career possible. The next thank you belongs to my parents, Michael and Diane McQuade, who have always supported and encouraged all my efforts. I also must acknowledge my oldest friends. My way of thinking has certainly been shaped by many conversations with Winslow Behney, Mike Horrigan, Tristan Kading, Chris Morrissey, and Sean Wimpfheimer.
Over these six years, many colleagues and friends have read drafts, provided useful comments at conferences, talked through the various arguments in the book, created opportunities for me to refine my work, and otherwise contributed to this endeavor. Thank you to Apurva, Samantha Applin, Toivo Asheeke, Michael Ashkin, Walden Bello, Matt Birkhold, Raymond Baldino, Carrie Brietbach, Simone Brown, Kade Crockford, Stephen Danley, John Eason, Lynn Eden, Cassie Follett, Samantha Fox, Colandus “Kelly” Francis, Leslie Gates, Zeynep Gönen, Shawn Gude, Darnell Hardwick, Herbert Haines, Euan Hague, Kevin Haggerty, Kevan Harris, Terrence Hoffman, Tim Holland, Will Jackson, George Joseph, Charlotte Kading, Nikolay Karkov, Rafael Khachaturian, Zhandarka Kurti, Jonghwa Kwon, Latoya Lee, Travis Linnemann, Walter Luers, Shiera Malik, William Martin, Alfred McCoy, Michael McIntyre, Reuben Miller, Xhercis Méndez, Jeffrey Monaghan, Torin Monahan, Mark Neocleous, Denis O’Hearn, Roberto Ortiz, Gulden Ozcan, Will Parrish, Brian Perkins, Andrew Pragacz, Joshua Price, Priscilla Regen, George Rigakos, Kevin Revier, Kelvin Santiago-Valles, Esra Sarioglu, Judah Schept, Stuart Schrader, Micol Seigel, Guillermina Seri, Meg Stalcup, Lisa Stampnitzky, Nicholas Walrath, Tyler Wall, Kristian Williams, and Alex Vitale. Out this group, the contributions of William Martin and Leslie Gates warrant an extra mention. Thank you, Bill, for the tireless commitment to your students. I wouldn’t have an academic career without your guidance. Thank you to Leslie for reading every word of every draft of this book. Our writing group improved this book immeasurably and accelerated its passage to publication.
While researching and writing this book I was working with a variety of social movement organizations. My involvement in New York Students Rising, Binghamton Justice Projects, We Charge Genocide, Decarcerate Tompkins County, and the Ithaca chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America did much to shape my thinking. Of my many comrades and friends, a few conversations with Mariame Kaba were especially helpful in getting me to think through some of the wider implications of this study.
Although human subject protection prevents me from thanking them by name, I am also indebted to the many police officers, intelligence analysts, and others who agreed to be interviewed for this project and referred me to others. I am grateful to Gary Hamel, Kate Hoffman, Sabrina Robleh, Nicholle Robertson, Maura Roessner, and Madison Wetzell and all the staff at University of California Press for their professionalism and support. I’m particularly thankful for the faith Maura Roessner showed in me. She believed in this project from day one, when I, a no-name, non-tenure-track professor, first pitched it to her in the summer of 2015. When I finally delivered something substantial to Maura two years later, her enthusiasm had not waned.
Prologue: Policing Camden’s Crisis
Intelligence Fusion, Pacification, and the Fabrication of Social Order
The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was the largest reorganization of the federal government since the reforms following World War II. Since these reforms sought to improve intelligence sharing, they did not remain limited to federal agencies. Not only did state governments set up their own homeland security agencies and offices, they also worked with federal agencies, professional associations, and private companies to build a series of interagency intelligence centers: what is now called the National Network of Fusion Centers. At these secure and secretive government facilities, teams of analysts do the work of “intelligence fusion,” mining disparate data sources and “fusing” them together to create useful information or “intelligence.” In 2004, a year after DHS officially