Citation

Jackson C, Brent LS, Paxton R, Damphousse KR. Int. J. Comp. Appl. Crim. Justice 2008; 32(1): 23-42.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, American Society of Criminology's Division of International Criminology, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Although terrorism research has made significant strides during the past five years, even the most rudimentary patterns of terrorists’ behaviors remain unknown to scholars and analysts. In the current study, we analyze spatial and temporal patterns of criminal acts related to a variety of American terrorism cases and attempt to provide insight into these questions: 1) where do terrorists live in relation to the targets they select, 2) do they plan and prepare their acts of terrorism relatively close to the target or do they intentionally conduct these activities far from the target, 3) what types of preparatory activities do the terrorists usually commit, and 4) how long is this planning process and does it vary by group type? Results from this study allow us to draw the following conclusions. First, about one-half of terrorists both reside and prepare for their terrorist incidents within a thirty-mile radius of their residences, although the radius of activity shows significant variation based on group type. Second, the temporal dimensions of terrorist activity reveal that terrorist planning and preparation is more complex than originally anticipated. Finally, while the interaction between time and space has not been addressed, our initial impressions of our temporal and spatial data suggest a scenario much like a predator closing in on a prey as the planned incident draws nearer temporally, the spatial events also draw nearer to the target location. What our initial data have not revealed is whether these events are temporally and spatially sequenced in such a way that they can be of predictive value. Our study suggests the importance of further research in specific areas, including the identification of the prevalent types of preparatory and ancillary crimes terrorists commit in preparation for a terrorist incident, the identification of patterns of preparatory criminal activity that might either alert law enforcement officials to the existence of terrorist group activities or identify characteristic preparatory offenses, temporal sequencing of preparatory acts in relation to completed acts of terrorism, and geographic patterns to assist in threat assessment.