The Public Safety Team at the BCEC and Hynes have taken their experiences to develop a comprehensive crisis management and emergency preparedness training program. So far in our series on these topics we covered the 5 steps to developing a crisis communications plan for your event, the latest venue and event trends in safety and security, and how to make your events safer with layered security.
The final installment of our series focuses on the Suspicion Indicator Recognition & Assessment (SIRA) system, which is at the center of BCEC and Hynes’ emergency preparedness program. SIRA incorporates many highly effective threat detection and mitigation protocols, allowing trained individuals to identify high-risk targets and prevent violent incidents from happening.
In most cases, terrorist attacks require diligent planning and preparation and namely this pre-incident cycle is the best time to identify and prevent a threat. This period can last anywhere from 6 months to 5 years and includes multiple stages like target selection, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and rehearsal. In addition, the majority (80%) of active shooters follow a well-developed plan and 100% of them are familiar with their target, according to FBI assessments.
Even though terrorist organizations and their methods are constantly evolving, the single attribute that all terrorists share is the intent to cause harm which is expressed through a combination of actions, belongings, attire, and behavior. A SIRA-trained individual can establish intent by looking for specific suspicious indicators, some of which are listed down below.
According to SIRA’s principles, suspicious doesn’t automatically mean guilty, but every suspicion should be deemed a threat until it is refuted. That’s done through a security interview (a few minutes to half-hour long) where the information provided by the suspect is validated.
When looking for suspicious indicators, it’s helpful to look for clusters of behaviors and think about the contextual profile (what appearance, behavior, and belongings are different from the established typical profile of the environment and are linked to aggression).
Suspicious Actions
Associated with the surveillance stage:
- Avoidance
- Taking videos and pictures in a covert manner
- Observation of operational measures, security, and non-security personnel
- Examining structural elements like walls, places of concealment, support columns, etc.
- Asking questions about maintenance, operations, security practices, housekeeping, etc.
- Drawing diagrams of the building and taking notes
- Employees wandering in areas they don’t belong and asking unusual questions about operations
Associated with the rehearsal stage:
- Placement of vehicles
- Trying to access restricted parts of the building
- Infiltration and concealment of weapons
- Testing security protocols
- Carrying unusual belongings
- Leaving personal items unattended and observing response
- Videotaping emergency procedures
Appearance and behavior
- Oddness
- Sweating
- Stiff parts of the body
- Nervousness
- Trying to hide connections to other people in the building
- Don’t fit the group that they’re with
- Belongings or attire don’t fit the context of the environment
- Excessive number, size, or volume of luggage
- Luggage is carried in a concealed or strange manner
- Wires, switches, power sources coming out of bag
- Walking with a stiff arm might be sign of a potential weapon
During security interview:
- Touching of the face and body reveals stress – the higher on the body, the higher the level of stress.
Documentation
- No ID
- Counterfeit ID
- Fake identity
- Passport with suspicious travel history
- No travel history on an old passport
Vehicles
- Non-matching front and back plates
- Signs of theft
- Chemical smell (Clorox)
- Overweight
- Unusual location
- Physically blocked or black windows
Training more members of your staff in behavioral detection extends your surveillance efforts to those directly interacting with attendees, giving you a tremendous advantage when it comes to identifying and stopping a threat. That’s why, our Public Safety Team is not the only team that is trained to identify and report suspicious behavior. At the BCEC and the Hynes, all staff is required to attend a SIRA training session at least once a year.
Download our Safety & Security whitepaper where we share lessons from two major events that took place in Boston: the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and the 2015 Pokémon World Championship. The paper further explores tactics and techniques employed by our security team and partners at the Massachusetts Large Venue Security Task Force, the Boston Police, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.
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