The Threat Screening Center (formerly Terrorist Screening Center) or the TSC, is a division of the National Security Branch of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. It is the duty of the TSC to identify suspected or potential

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

s. Though housed within the FBI, the TSC is a multi-agency organization, including representatives from the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

, the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...

, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

, and various private contractors. It is located in

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, ...

, near Virginia State Route 123. Established by

presidential directive In the United States, a presidential directive, or executive action, is a written or oral instruction or declaration issued by the president of the United States, which may draw upon the powers vested in the president by the Constitution of the Uni ...

in the wake of the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the TSC's funding and manpower have significantly increased since that time. In March 2025, the FBI renamed the division from Terrorist Screening Center to the Threat Screening Center.

Duties

The Threat Screening Center maintains a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

, the

Terrorist Screening Database The Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) is the central terrorist watchlist consolidated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Center and used by multiple agencies to compile their specific watchlists and for screening. The li ...

(TSDB), the aim of which is to contain information about all known or suspected terrorists, and makes this information available to a number of different government agencies, including the federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, the U.S. State Department, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

Leadership

The Threat Screening Center is headed by a director, who reports to the executive assistant director of the FBI National Security Branch. The current director is Michael Glasheen.

Organization

The Threat Screening Center has three branches: * Information Technology Branch – oversees IT planning and systems architecture, including the design, maintenance, and modification of the TSDB that houses the consolidated watch list information * Administration Branch – handles personnel matters, security and guard services, budgetary issues, and logistics and physical space * Operations Branch – houses the TSC's 24-hour, 7-day a week call center, handling inquiries, complaints, and comments from law enforcement ** Nominations Group – responsible for additions, deletions, and modifications to the consolidated watch list. ** Tactical Analysis Group – performs analysis on encounters with potential terrorists to identify usable intelligence and forwards the information to the necessary parties

References

External links

* *
The Terrorist Screening Center homepage

Federal Bureau of Investigation Counterterrorism in the United States 2003 establishments in the United States {{US-law-enforcement-agency-stub

Duties

Leadership

Organization

See also

References

External links