Intelligence and Crime Terminology: A Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

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During my nearly 50 years of working in intelligence and crime analysis, I have compiled a list of words, acronyms, and abbreviations associated with the profession. It dawned on me that pulling together the most frequent terms, with their definitions, might make a useful resource for all analysts. These definitions come from a large number of United States Intelligence Community members. I do, in some instances, give alternative definitions and indicate from what area or field they come from, such as crime analysis or the military. When I found close definitions of the same word from a number of organizations, I defaulted to the CIA or National Counterterrorism Center definitions. In a few cases I have reworked the definitions to make them fit a wider number of intelligence agencies. Unfortunately when I began making the list I had no idea that someday I would try to publish it, so I cannot identify where I got all the definitions for the acronyms. I plan on updating and/or correcting the list annually. If anyone reading this has additional words or acronyms, and their definitions, to suggest please contact me. The same is true if you find any errors. Given the size of the U.S. Intelligence Community, I am sure I have left out something. I also know that intelligence terminology is not stagnant. So please help me make the list more complete and useful. I hope you find this a useful publication beneficial and helpful for your work.