Gov. Scott Walker said yesterday that both of Wisconsin’s intelligence fusion centers, the Wisconsin Statewide Information Center near Madison and the Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center (STAC) in Milwaukee, “are working closely with their law enforcement and homeland security partners in Boston and on a national level” following a grisly bombing at the Boston Marathon that the White House has called an “act of terror.”
The STAC is located within the larger fusion center at the Milwaukee Police Department, where federal analysts work behind a closed door that not even Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn has seen beyond, according to our March feature (“The Watchmen”) on the unit’s counter-terrorism and local crime-fighting operations. While much of the work at the fusion center is directed toward stopping violence in the city, analysts working behind the closed door of the STAC have the ability to link up with other fusion centers around the country (including the one near Madison that’s overseen by the state Department of Justice) in the event of an attack.
Three have died and more than 100 people were injured after a pair of explosive packed with shrapnel exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Witnesses described a bloody scene that was located, luckily, near one of the race’s medical tents, meaning most victims received medical attention almost immediately.
Despite rumors that other explosives were planted throughout the city, the FBI said this morning that no others had been found and there appeared to be no further threat. Police are searching an apartment in Boston that may be linked to the attack and have not yet taken anyone into custody.
