Facilitating suspicious activity reporting at the community level

Research report on leveraging community partnerships to facilitate suspicious activity reporting.

Overview

Family members in particular play an important part in targeted violence and terrorism prevention (TVTP), whether it be with deradicalization and disengagement, or by alerting authorities when concerned for the safety of their loved one(s) and/or others. Given the threat posed by homegrown violent extremists (HVE) in the United States, including the inevitable release of the many convicted terrorists currently incarcerated, a better understanding of the families and homelives of HVE is warranted.

This report is part of the larger NCITE funded project “Facilitating Suspicious Activity Reporting at the Community Level,” which aims to identify how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other law enforcement agencies can leverage community partnerships to help minimize risk of targeted violence and to provide actionable insights on what technological, social, and financial barriers exist for families of extremists in reporting suspicious activities. The findings outlined in this report provide the foundation for reaching these long-term research goals by offering a rich description of the home and family lives of HVE.

Research Question

What are the barriers to acknowledging and reporting suspicious behavior among family members of homegrown violent extremists?

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