The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to monitor intelligence-gathering centers across the country, warning that a de facto domestic intelligence system might be in the works. The so-called “Fusion Centers” are state, local and regional institutions that were originally created to bolster anti-terrorism intelligence sharing among different law enforcement agencies, according to the ACLU.

The centers share intelligence information with participation from other government entities and the military, but operate under their own sets of policies and standards, said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

“The system is ripe for abuse. ... There is no one model, one set of procedures, standards or oversight that ensures all of us that our rights are being protected,” she said.

“These [centers] are growing willy-nilly, they’re implementing different polices, they have different practices, and that’s a danger. ... Congress needs to impose checks and balances.”

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A recent ACLU lawsuit revealed that Maryland state police spied on law-abiding peace groups for 14 months and reported their findings to federal agencies, one of which is linked to the Maryland fusion center and therefore accessible by numerous agencies.

“Once [the information] is in one database and everybody can link to it, we don’t know where it goes,” said Mike German, a former FBI agent with the ACLU National Security Policy Counsel.

“Fusion centers are all networked together, and it becomes problematic to know where these things go.”

Some activists’ names, such as Baltimore peace activist Max Obsuzewski, were added to a federal database of suspected terrorists.

“How can he be sure that [his name] hasn’t spread like a virus through the intelligence community, and how can he get his good name back?” asked Jay Stanley, an ACLU Technology and Liberty Program spokesman.

Stanley said fusion centers are part of a growing surveillance society, in which local police are used as “the eyes and ears” for intelligence gathering rather than everyday crime prevention. Gov. Martin O’Malley has called the activist surveillance “a total waste of police assets.” He said on WTOP radio Tuesday morning that “all of us are rightly disturbed” and that he would not resist a federal investigation. Maryland congressmen, including Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, have also expressed support for a federal probe.

Staff Writer Len Lazarick contributed to this story.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com