The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, altered the landscape of law enforcement intelligence, forcing it into a much more central position within the law enforcement community. This article underscores the importance of developing an intelligence capacity in all police agencies, if only to have one person who understands the language, process, and products of law enforcement intelligence. Broadly, intelligence capacity within a law enforcement agency serves two purposes: to prevent crime and to strategically allocate police resources. The author presents several considerations for police agencies developing an intelligence capacity, including accountability issues, the requirements of intelligence operations, intelligence dissemination processes, and standards and initiatives of law enforcement intelligence. Legal constraints in the collection of intelligence information are considered, such as when police information needs surpass the privacy rights of individuals. Written guidelines and clear policies are suggested to avoid legal problems. Several law enforcement intelligence standards are identified as the author urges police agencies to review them and consider adopting such standards within local police policies. Finally, the burgeoning need for intelligence functions within law enforcement is only expected to grow as law enforcement evolves to effectively combat evolving criminals. Endnotes