The Information Sharing Environment is a nationwide initiative intended to support public safety in the post-9/11 era. Within its architecture, electronic communications systems enable law enforcement agencies across government to share Sensitive But Unclassified information that can prevent or mitigate threats to citizens and critical infrastructure. However, few scholars have studied these systems. This study synthesized interdisciplinary research to identify what factors influence agency use of electronic information sharing systems, and to explore the linkage between system use and flows of law enforcement intelligence. A survey methodology was used to collect data from two samples of law enforcement personnel attending intelligence trainings. Of 335 responses from individuals who were employed at 147 local, county, or state agencies in the United States, quantitative analyses centered on 45 agencies to investigate the use of five federal networks. The findings highlight extensive use of sharing systems by small and large agencies, with those at the state level appearing to be most active. Regular access to these systems does not necessarily result in more frequent exchanges of intelligence products. Technical-rational and institutional factors do not appear to explain variation in system use. The discussion presents possible interpretations of these findings along with their implications for policymakers, agency leaders, and sharing system administrators. Among these are the adequacy of self-learning as a source of systems training and the role of system champions at lower levels of authority. One limitation of the study is the sensitivity of law enforcement intelligence practices and the willingness of law enforcement to report on them. For theoretical and methodological reasons, future researchers may consider a different study design to explore the contextual use of law enforcement systems for sharing information and intelligence.
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