The Virginia Fusion Center (VFC) was created as a partnership between the Virginia State Police and Virginia Department of Emergency Management to improve the Commonwealth of Virginia’s preparedness against terrorist attacks and to deter criminal activity. The Center provides a vital conduit for information exchange allowing the VFC to communicate with its’ partners.
The information provided to the VFC may be used by national entities to assist them in formulating a strategic view of the threats facing our nation. The VFC is also responsible for the rapid and efficient dissemination of threat and protective information affecting Virginia to assist partners in their homeland security responsibilities.
The VFC operates on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis, and is staffed by personnel representing several state and federal agencies.
The VFC has partnerships in the following areas:
The exchange of information and resources from VFC partnerships is fundamental to providing a coordinated response to terrorism and criminal-related issues affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Information received and generated by the VFC is used to:
The VFC was designed to facilitate information exchange and collaboration among participating agencies. The coordination of information and resources from key critical response elements is fundamental in providing a well-orchestrated and coordinated response to terrorism and criminal-related issues affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Fuse together key counter terrorism resources from local, state and federal agencies as well as private industries in a secure, centralized location, to facilitate information collection, prioritization, classification, analysis and sharing, in order to better defend the Commonwealth against terrorist threats and/or attack and to deter criminal activity.
In support of the Virginia Emergency Operations Center, centralize information and resources to provide a comprehensive, coordinated and effective response in the event of a terrorist attack, in order to neutralize the situation and allow an effective recovery process to be implemented and managed.
Privacy Policy
The purpose of the privacy policy of the Virginia Fusion Center (VFC) is to have established guidelines which will protect the civil rights and civil liberties of the citizens we serve as it relates to the collection, submission, disclosure, and retention of personal identifiable information with a nexus to criminal and/or terrorist activity that could impact public health or safety.
It will be the mission of the VFC to ensure that information collectors not seek information about an individual or organization solely on the basis of their religious, social, or political views, or their race, ethnicity, citizenship, place of origin, age, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.
Any comments or concerns related to potential or actual violations of the above policy and guidelines should be directed to the VFC Privacy Officer through email at: vfcprivacyofficer@vsp.virginia.gov.
Virginia Statutes Regarding the Virginia Fusion Center
In accordance with Virginia Code Section 52-48:
- “Papers, records, documents, reports, materials, databases, or other evidence or information relative to criminal intelligence or any terrorism investigation in the possession of the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center shall be confidential and shall not be subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) or the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.).”
- “No person or agency receiving information from the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center shall release or disseminate that information without prior authorization from the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center.”
- “Any person who knowingly disseminates information in violation of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If such unauthorized dissemination results in death or serious bodily injury to another person, such person is guilty of a Class 4 felony.”
Further, in accordance with Virginia Code Section 52-49:
- “No cause of action for defamation, invasion of privacy, or negligence shall arise against any person for reason of that person's furnishing of information concerning any suspected, anticipated, or completed criminal violation when the information is provided to or received from the Department or any federal or state governmental entity established for the purposes of detecting and preventing acts of terrorism.”
- “No person shall be subject to such cause of action for cooperating with, or furnishing evidence or information regarding any suspected criminal violation to, the Department.”
- "This section shall not provide immunity for those disclosing or furnishing false information with malice or willful intent to injure any person.”
