The HIDTA program has provided more than 1,300 participating local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies with the framework and funding for a national information sharing system. The HIDTA Intelligence System relies upon the Department of Justice’s Regional Information Sharing System (RISS) program’s secure but unclassified national information technology network called RISS.net. The HIDTA program was begun in 1988, and has grown from five original HIDTA's -- Houston, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, South Florida, and the Southwest Border. The overall objective of HIDTA is to reduce the availability of illicit drugs by providing structure and funding to participating law enforcement agencies to better share resources and information as well as implement cooperative initiative in HIDTA designated areas. The HIDTA Intelligence System has over 1,500 law enforcement personnel, mostly criminal intelligence analysts, participation full-time in more than 60 intelligence initiatives in the 28 HIDTA-designated areas throughout the United States. While it is a counterdrug program the HIDTA intelligence centers operate in a general criminal intelligence environment, leveraging all criminal intelligence information for the program’s primary mission. The core missions of each individual HIDTA Intelligence Center are to provide tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence support to its HIDTA executive board; develop regional threat assessments; and provide event and target deconfliction. All HIDTA Intelligence Centers were connected via RISS.net in mid-2003. The HIDTA Program Office has commissioned interagency and interdisciplinary working committees to develop a national information sharing plan to focus on issues relating to legal, agency policy, privacy, technical, and logistical information sharing matters.