For police executives, criminal intelligence is both an operational necessity and a leadership responsibility. Information and intelligence can help police agencies identify threats, connect cases, support investigations, and protect communities. However, collecting, maintaining, and sharing criminal intelligence also carries significant responsibilities. Agencies must ensure that intelligence activities are conducted lawfully, ethically, and in a manner that protects individual privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties (P/CRCL). The most effective intelligence programs help personnel share information quickly and lawfully while ensuring that information is collected, retained, reviewed, and disseminated for legitimate criminal justice purposes, thus protecting individual P/CRCL.

For U.S. police executives, one of the most important frameworks governing criminal intelligence systems is 28 Code of Federal Regulations Part 23 (28 CFR Part 23). The regulation was developed to establish operating principles for federally funded criminal intelligence systems. It provides agencies with practical guidance for managing intelligence information while balancing public safety needs with constitutional protections. The 28 CFR Part 23 regulation has become the recognized U.S. standard for criminal intelligence collection, maintenance, and dissemination.¹

As agencies increasingly engage in information sharing through fusion centers, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), task forces, and other multijurisdictional partnerships, understanding and implementing 28 CFR Part 23 is more important than ever. When agency leaders understand the regulation and ensure that personnel are trained to abide by it, they strengthen investigations, reduce liability, improve information quality, and build confidence among partner agencies and the public.