Mass attackers rarely hide all warning signs of potential violence or conflict ahead of a confrontation. Instead, many present red flags or proximal warning behaviors that together form patterns of risk. The Terrorist Radicalization Assessment Protocol (TRAP-18) identifies eight unique proximal warning behaviors and an additional 10 characteristics more closely tied to the potential attacker’s motives, and this methodology has been used across the United States and Europe to evaluate individuals of concern.
After the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, authorities put together a project management team made up of representatives of the agencies that responded to the incident to review the response and provide an after-action report. The analysis highlighted the strong relationships and successfully unified command structure that led the response to the bombings.
