Photos: Intelligence center in action

Intelligence work is serious business, but that doesn't mean law enforcement personnel don't like their toys. In the rear, the projector shows the news map, a tool that uses Google News to display the most-reported stories on the Net.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

A typical workstation at the Joint Regional Intelligence Center. Many of the PCs are Dell, while the monitors come from ViewSonic and the telephones come from Cisco Systems. The printer is a Hewlett-Packard. In the background, the news map tool projected on the wall to gauge which news stories are biggest.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

Six flat-panel televisions suspended from the ceiling display various TV news stations, including Arab channel Aljazeera in the top-right corner.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

Richard Diaz (left), captain, and Gregory Hisel, battalion chief, represent the Los Angeles County Fire Department at the Joint Regional Intelligence Center.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

JRIC personnel chat in front of a giant display of Los Angeles area air traffic.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff addresses the media after a short tour of the Joint Regional Intelligence Center, JRIC, in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com

Stanley Salas, a section chief at JRIC and a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. "Technology is fun, but we could do this on index cards if we had to do it and had the right information," he said.

Joris Evers/CNET News.com