Place of Worship Security: Protection Strategies x Attack Cycle

Understanding Protection Strategies for Places of Worship

The Principles of Protection, comprising Comprehensive, Integrated, Layered, Redundant, and Enduring aspects, provide context for security planning efforts and resource allocation.  These protection principles ensure that security measures are thorough, coordinated, and sustainable over time.

The Forms of Protection include Deterrence, Detection, Delay, and Response, which provide a method to develop and employ security capabilities.  These protection strategies reflect the continuous nature of security and offer a structured approach to implementing protective measures.

Combining the Forms and Principles of Protection creates a comprehensive security strategy that enhances the safety of congregants, visitors, and staff at houses of worship.

Terrorist Attack Cycle: Implications for Place of Worship Security

Understanding the Terrorist Attack Cycle is crucial for developing effective protection strategies. This cycle, consisting of eight phases from preliminary target selection to attack execution, provides a framework for identifying potential threats and implementing preventive measures. Religious institutions are often targeted due to their open nature, perceived lack of security, and symbolic significance. 

The 8-Phase Terrorist Attack Cycle:

• Phase 1: Preliminary Target Selection.
• Phase 2: Initial Surveillance.
• Phase 3: Final Target Selection.
• Phase 4: Planning.
• Phase 5: Rehearsals.
• Phase 6: Pre-Attack Surveillance.
• Phase 7: Execution.
• Phase 8: Escape and Exploitation.

Impact of Protection Strategies on the Attack Cycle

Phase 1 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Preliminary Target Selection

Terrorist Perspective:

• The group or individual is deciding who to target. 
• Political motivation, target vulnerability, and perceived likelihood of success play major roles in this phase.

Terrorist Activities:

• Internet and other forms of research on a broad set of infrastructure or personnel targets. 

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Deterrence and detection play a critical role in safeguarding religious communities in this phase of the attack cycle. 
• Proper lighting, highly visible security cameras, and an overt armed security presence may dissuade threat actors from selecting a particular target. 
• Digital monitoring solutions can help identify any compromised or publicly available personally identifiable information (PII) that may enable the selection of a specific target.

Phase 2 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Initial Surveillance

Terrorist Perspective:

• The target list is narrowed down based on the findings from Phase 1. 
• The target vulnerability, likelihood of attack success, and attack alignment with overall political goals will be further refined in this phase.

Terrorist Activities:

• Combined digital and physical surveillance, and potentially close target reconnaissance and physical penetration tests. 
• Terrorists may attempt to photograph, video, access the target location, and elicit valuable security-related information.

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Deterrence and detection play a critical role in this phase. 
• Staff and security forces that are trained in advanced situational awareness and reporting, combined with advanced camera systems, increase the likelihood suspicious activity – such as physical penetration tests – will be identified. 
• Robust access control procedures, adequate lighting, and armed security forces can reduce the perceived likelihood of attack success and dissuade specific target selection.

Phase 3 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Final Target Selection

Terrorist Perspective:

• The final target, or set of targets, is selected based on the findings from Phase 2, or other relevant information that becomes available to the threat actor. 
• The perceived likelihood of success – that is, accomplishing the ultimate psychological and political goals – is paramount in the final target selection phase.

Terrorist Activities:

• Combined digital and physical surveillance of the final target or set of targets.

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Detection plays a critical role in this phase. 
• The ability to identify and report suspicious activity is essential. 

Phase 4 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Planning

Terrorist Perspective:

• Desire to ensure attack success, and attempts to increase the likelihood of success by developing a conceptual attack plan.

Terrorist Activities:  

• Planning encapsulates many different activities that can include training, recruiting, purchasing supplies, and other visually identifiable activities. 

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Detection plays a critical role in this phase. 
• Protective intelligence monitoring can identify indicators of violence. 
• Law enforcement may have already developed the threat actor as a person of interest, and a solidified relationship between the targeted house of worship can help facilitate warning communication between law enforcement and the selected target.

Phase 5 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Rehearsal

Terrorist Perspective:

• Troubleshooting the conceptual plan to increase the likelihood of attack success. 
• Attempts to prepare for, mimic, or replicate the potential security-related issues and anticipated attack flow based on the intelligence gathered in the previous phases.

Terrorist Activities:

• Practicing all or components of the attack. 
• Terrorists will intensively practice getting around the house of worship’s specific security procedures, and attempt to identify flaws in their plan as well as gain new insights into their target during this phase. 

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Detection continues to play a key role in this phase. 
• Utilizing pre-established security procedures, look for indicators such as increased activity near the house of worship, or apparent attempts to assess security procedures.
• Reporting any irregular incidents to law enforcement, no matter how minor, is paramount in this phase.

Phase 6 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Pre-Attack Surveillance

Terrorist Perspective:

• Gather final intelligence to support a successful attack and refine the plan.

Terrorist Activities:

• Pre-Attack Surveillance can include suspicious activities like photographing or videoing the target site, individuals attempting to access restricted areas, and individuals asking security personnel or community members suspicious questions. 

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Deterrence and detection play critical roles in this phase.
• This is the last phase where a terrorist attack can be deterred, diminished, or interdicted. 
• While not a requirement, the potential for physical surveillance increases the likelihood the targeted religious community, private security support, law enforcement, or combined efforts of all of those stakeholders will identify pre-attack behaviors.
• Cameras with analytics also support detection, and a visible armed guard force and law enforcement presence can deter an attack in this final pre-attack phase.

Phase 7 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Execution

Terrorist Perspective:

• The terrorist’s goal is to conduct the attack as planned, maximizing impact, and achieving their objectives.

Terrorist Activities:

• Executing the planned attack, which may involve detonating explosives, conducting an armed assault, or other violent acts targeting the place of worship or religious community.

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Delay and response are critical in this phase.
• Physical security measures like barriers, locks, and reinforced doors can slow down attackers.  An armed security guard presence can potentially neutralize threats. 
• Well-trained staff and congregants executing emergency response plans can minimize casualties. 
• Robust communication systems to quickly alert law enforcement and coordinate internal response are essential.

Phase 8 of the Terrorist Attack Cycle: Escape and Exploitation

Terrorist Perspective:

• The attackers aim to evade capture and maximize the propaganda value of their actions.

Terrorist Activities:

• Fleeing the attack site, potentially engaging in secondary attacks, and disseminating propaganda about the attack through media and other online channels.

Place of Worship Forms of Protection:

• Detection and response remain crucial.  Surveillance systems can aid in tracking escaping attackers.
• Coordination with law enforcement and community security partners is vital for pursuit and apprehension. 
• A prepared crisis communication plan helps control the narrative, providing accurate information to the public and media, potentially mitigating the propaganda value for terrorists.

The Overarching Influence the Principles of Protection Have on the Attack Cycle

The Protection Principles create a holistic security approach that impacts every stage of the attack cycle. Comprehensive protection Integration of various security measures and stakeholders creates a unified defense. The enduring nature of these principles ensure all aspects of security are addressed, making it harder for terrorists to find vulnerabilities.

Comprehensive Protection: Ensures all aspects of the place of worship’s security are addressed, making it harder for terrorists to find vulnerabilities.

Integrated Protection: Integration of various security measures and stakeholders creates a unified defense for the place of worship.

Layered Protection: Layered security complicates planning and execution for attackers.

Redundant Protection: Redundancy in protection measures ensures resilience if one layer fails.

Enduring Protection: The house of worship’s security will evolve to meet changing threats, and adapt based on changing threat tactics, techniques, and procedures.

Non-Static Nature of Place of Worship Security

Security for places of worship must be dynamic and adaptable. Terrorists continually evolve their tactics, necessitating regular security audits and updating of protection measures.  Houses of worship must conduct ongoing training, drills, and exercises to maintain readiness; they must also stay informed about current threat landscapes and emerging technologies to adhere to the Enduring protection principle.

Ultimately, understanding and addressing each phase of the terrorist attack cycle is crucial for protecting places of worship.  At Convoy Group, we apply the Principles of Protection for house of worship security to ensure religious communities can significantly reduce their vulnerability to attacks. 

Security is an ongoing process that requires constant vigilance, training, and adaptation.  The next article in this series will discuss terrorist adaptation and learning.  We will discuss how terrorist tactics evolve and how religious institutions can stay ahead of these changes to ensure the safety of their community.