Terrorism Awareness and Physical Security
What counts as terrorism
Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or civilian population in furtherance of political or social objectives. Distinguish international from domestic terrorism by the actors' ties and motives, not by appearance or religion. Recognize the lone actor, the small cell, and the person radicalized online without ever meeting a recruiter.
Pre-incident indicators
Behavior, not appearance, is the indicator. Watch for unusual or repeated surveillance of a facility, photography of security cameras and access points, questioning staff about schedules and procedures (elicitation), deliberate testing of security response, attempts to acquire unusual quantities of chemicals or equipment, rental of storage without apparent need, use of false or multiple identities, and rehearsals or dry runs. Suspicious activity reporting should relay articulable behavior, with time, place, and description.
Devices and scene response
Recognize indicators of an unattended or improvised device: protruding wires, unusual odor, leaking substance, ticking, excessive postage, oily stains, misspelled or wrong addressee, or a package left after an evacuation. Do not touch it. Move people away, establish a cordon, avoid transmitting on radios near the item, and notify the bomb squad. Be alert for secondary devices aimed at responders, and treat vehicle-borne devices as requiring a larger cordon than a package.
Physical security
Foundational controls include access control, key and credential management, lighting, natural surveillance, defensible-space design, visitor screening, background checks, and insider-threat awareness.
Trap and rule of thumb
Questions punish profiling - describing a suspect by ethnicity rather than behavior. Report facts, not fears.