A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) tracked in new START study

A new research report from START, formally titled “Validation of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative: Identifying Suspicious Activities from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and the American Terrorism Study (ATS)” compares pre-incident activities of terrorists and violent extremists in the United States from the ATS and ECDB to the 16 Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) categories outlines in the ISE-SAR Functional Standard.

The report, which was funded by DHS, is authored by START researchers Jeff Gruenewald, William Parkin, Brent Smith, Steven Chermak, Joshua Freilich, Paxton Roberts, and Brent Klein.

The research draws on two databases which limit inclusion of cases to extremist crime, the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), a START project, and the American Terrorism Study (ATS) out of the University of Arkansas. Both databases track information on individual extremists, both lone-actors, and those that are part of a terrorist group.

The report found that pre-incident activities occurring prior to acts of terrorism and extremist crimes often align with existing SAR indicators, and the SAR indicators with the highest prevalence were weapons discover, materials acquisition/storage, expressed or implied threats, and observation/surveillance. Additionally, the researchers found that many of these indicators were not only observable prior to terrorist attacks, but also that there was evidence that some indicators were observed by the public.

Researchers Jeff Gruenewald and William Parkin will present their research at START on the afternoon of Mar. 24.

To read the full report, click here.

The read the Research Brief, click here.