Erkennen terroristischer Aktivitäten im erweiterten öffentlichen Raum

Abstract

Assassinations of single persons, mostly politicians and other prominent people, frequently occur in public areas. Therefore, security personnel have to identify potentially dangerous people in a large crowd of innocent bystanders often relying on intuition alone before an attack happens. Previous research has shown that potentially dangerous people show specific behaviour that can be identified using so-called 'behavioural indicators' that vary drastically compared to a baseline of bystanders. In this experiment it will be evaluated how security personnel and observation techniques from people without a security background vary and can be improved upon by giving them systematic instruction regarding 'behavioural indicators'. These behavioural markers are consistent with those experienced bodyguards treat as 'red flags' but often fail to describe in detail. For this reason, Eye-Trackers were used to fully document observation patterns and track changes between different groups of observers. As new forms of terrorism become more common every day effective counter measures have to be developed with behavioural observation being a promising approach regarding preventive measures.