CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When someone killed three people sniper-style six years ago in Kanawha County, various law enforcement agencies received countless phone tips. Most were no good.

Police could have used a central location where analysts could sort leads and share them with the proper agencies, say proponents of the year-old West Virginia Intelligence/Fusion Center.

"It takes a ton of information to get an ounce of intelligence," center director Thom Kirk said.

Many West Virginians have never heard of a "fusion center," but there are more than 40 across the country. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security asked states to develop them after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The centers are used to share information about all types of crime, natural disasters and public health hazards.

Law enforcement and other public safety agencies are supposed to cooperate with each other, but "the simple fact is, they don't," said Kirk, a former West Virginia State Police superintendent and Putnam County assistant prosecutor. He and others at the center say fusion centers help agencies better protect the public.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia says the center hasn't been forthcoming about exactly what it's doing. And state Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, recently called for a legislative committee to oversee the center.

"The jury's out on whether there is a lawful, constitutional use for these taxpayer-funded information collection centers," said Frank Crabtree, director of the state ACLU.

Fusion centers could step on citizens' privacy rights when collecting information, he said.

"We don't have any sense of wrongdoing, but we have a sense of the potential for abuse," Crabtree said. "Our national office has great concern about this nationally."

For instance, the national ACLU has voiced concern over the Department of Homeland Security's role in the Maryland State Police's surveillance of nonviolent anti-war activists.

Last year, the West Virginia ACLU submitted two Freedom of Information Act requests to the center. The requests sought information such as the center's privacy-protection policy, and which databases the fusion center could access.

"We've received no substantive answer," Crabtree said.

Kirk said he has met with an ACLU representative about their concerns. The center will finish a draft of its policies and procedures by mid-March, and "we definitely will seek out their input," he said.

Many aspects of the center at the Capitol Complex are still taking shape. When Kirk was hired, he said, the paint was peeling, the carpet was torn up, and there were only two working phones.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When someone killed three people sniper-style six years ago in Kanawha County, various law enforcement agencies received countless phone tips. Most were no good.

Police could have used a central location where analysts could sort leads and share them with the proper agencies, say proponents of the year-old West Virginia Intelligence/Fusion Center.

"It takes a ton of information to get an ounce of intelligence," center director Thom Kirk said.

Many West Virginians have never heard of a "fusion center," but there are more than 40 across the country. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security asked states to develop them after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The centers are used to share information about all types of crime, natural disasters and public health hazards.

Law enforcement and other public safety agencies are supposed to cooperate with each other, but "the simple fact is, they don't," said Kirk, a former West Virginia State Police superintendent and Putnam County assistant prosecutor. He and others at the center say fusion centers help agencies better protect the public.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia says the center hasn't been forthcoming about exactly what it's doing. And state Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, recently called for a legislative committee to oversee the center.

"The jury's out on whether there is a lawful, constitutional use for these taxpayer-funded information collection centers," said Frank Crabtree, director of the state ACLU.

Fusion centers could step on citizens' privacy rights when collecting information, he said.

"We don't have any sense of wrongdoing, but we have a sense of the potential for abuse," Crabtree said. "Our national office has great concern about this nationally."

For instance, the national ACLU has voiced concern over the Department of Homeland Security's role in the Maryland State Police's surveillance of nonviolent anti-war activists.

Last year, the West Virginia ACLU submitted two Freedom of Information Act requests to the center. The requests sought information such as the center's privacy-protection policy, and which databases the fusion center could access.

"We've received no substantive answer," Crabtree said.

Kirk said he has met with an ACLU representative about their concerns. The center will finish a draft of its policies and procedures by mid-March, and "we definitely will seek out their input," he said.

Many aspects of the center at the Capitol Complex are still taking shape. When Kirk was hired, he said, the paint was peeling, the carpet was torn up, and there were only two working phones.

"It took two to three months just to get it livable," he said.

Now, representatives of agencies including the Division of Corrections and the National Guard work at the center "anywhere from four hours a month to every day," Kirk said.

The center includes conference rooms, computer equipment and a room with multiple television screens broadcasting national and international news. It also houses equipment such as a plotter, where analysts can produce maps that track criminal activity and other patterns.

During the presidential and gubernatorial inaugurations, center analysts were in constant contact with federal and state officials, Kirk said. Last year, when an explosion occurred at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute, the fusion center was the point of contact for the Department of Homeland Security.

The center still does not have certification to receive information classified as secret, Kirk said. That requires a soundproof room and certain types of secure phone and Internet lines.

Last month, state Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary James Spears asked members of the Senate and House finance committees for nearly $500,000 for the center in 2009-10.

But several days before the hearing, "no one in the Legislature was even aware of the fusion center," said Barnes, the Randolph County senator.

He has called for a legislative oversight committee. "As with many things that go on with Homeland Security, sometimes there is very little information and oversight," he said.

Among his concerns is that other fusion centers have engaged in data-mining.

Many fusion centers have corporate partners, and Barnes worries they could exploit information for commercial purposes. Politics also could come into play, he said, because the centers are government-run.

"We have departed from what I call old-fashioned police work, and the Fourth Amendment protection of unreasonable searches by the government," Barnes said.

Kirk said the center wants to be open with the public. It is developing a Web site and a public outreach campaign, he said.

He also plans to expand the center in terms of staffing. By the end of the month, state officials hope to get an analyst from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They're planning on having analysts from the FBI and Homeland Security by early 2010.

"We obviously are sold on this idea," Kirk said.

Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.