Michigan State Police brief House committee on fusion‑center work, school tipline and critical‑infrastructure monitoring

At a meeting of the Michigan House Communications and Technology Committee (date not specified), Michigan State Police officials described how the agency’s Intelligence Operations Division runs the state fusion center, operates a 24‑hour watch desk and fields a school tipline known as “Okay to Say.” Captain Liz Rich, of the Michigan State Police Intelligence Operations Division, told lawmakers the fusion‑center model combines strategic and tactical intelligence, cyber analysts and continuous operations to share timely information with local, state and federal partners.

The presentation detailed the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center (MIAC) and a southeast Michigan node (DECEMEC), and described functions that include missing‑person coordination, behavioral threat assessment and management, and analysts embedded with narcotics and violent‑crime teams. “The best thing that we can do is we can encourage those that are affected by it to report it because that is the best…information that we can report back out,” Captain Liz Rich said, describing why agencies and private partners must report cyber intrusions and suspicious activity.

Why it matters: fusion centers are designed to fuse tips and incident reporting from a range of partners—law enforcement, schools, hospitals and private industry—to detect threats and distribute actionable intelligence. Rich and other presenters said the fusion center issues unclassified situational‑awareness bulletins and law‑enforcement‑sensitive advisories and supports investigations with tools such as cell‑mapping and link charts.

Officials summarized several programs and units: the MIAC (the DHS‑recognized state fusion center), a Detroit‑area node that serves southeast counties, a Missing Persons Coordination Unit that works with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and a Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Unit focused on individuals on a pathway to violence. Rich said analysts also support Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel assigned in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit.

The presenters highlighted outreach and reporting channels. “Okay to Say runs through our shop and we have dedicated texts that are listening to phone calls and receiving text messages at all times,” Rich said, describing how people can report via web, text, phone or the app. She also described a Fusion Liaison Officer program that brings non‑law enforcement partners—fire departments, hospitals and others—into the information flow and trains them to identify red flags.

Committee members asked how the state supports municipalities that suffer cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Rich recommended timely reporting as the primary tool: identifying breaches enables the state to share indicators so other facilities can patch vulnerabilities. “Lieutenant Hoffman…is a huge advocate for that and the Michigan Cyber Command Center,” she said, urging continued education and reporting.

Representative Koontz noted a bill to print Okay to Say contact information on the back of student ID cards; Rich confirmed an annual report exists and said she would provide it to committee liaisons. Representative Shriver asked whether election systems are treated as critical infrastructure; Rich said, “It’s not my area of expertise, but I do not believe that it is.”

The officials closed by urging more reporting and stronger relationships between public and private partners as the most effective means to prevent and mitigate cyber and safety incidents.

Ending: Rich told the committee she would arrange distribution of the program’s annual report and follow up on requests for statistics about suspicious activity reports and outcomes.