Reducing Risk Through Suspicious Activity Reporting

Since the terrorists’ attacks of 9/11, a wide range of new initiatives has been developed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reduce the risk of future attacks against the US. One of the most comprehensive initiatives has been the wide integration of new law enforcement intelligence standards to enhance the sharing of substantive threat information among America’s law enforcement agencies. ¹ The fundamental premise of intelligence initiatives is to identify threats and prevent them from reaching fruition. ² However, to truly stop a threat, good information is needed to “feed” the intelligence process. While law enforcement agencies have a diverse array of information resources, perhaps the consistently most valuable information comes from observations made by community members. However, community members often do not recognize some behaviors as criminally suspicious, may not feel the need to report such behavior, or may mistake lawful behavior as “suspicious” because it does not conform to their values or perceptions. As a result, there must be guidance as to what types of information need to be collected and how that information may be shared. These are the foundations on which new initiatives of suspicious activity reporting are based.