• Community, Faith, and Public Violence

    Communities with more religious congregations have fewer mass public shootings, according to new research. Outside the bounds of community, individuals can succumb to a tide of despair and solitude. Some give in to alienation, and succumb to deaths of despair from suicide or addiction. Some choose to enact their rage on the community itself, committing horrific acts of random violence.

  • How Has COVID-19 Changed the Violent Extremist Landscape?

    Coronavirus has highlighted how anxiety, uncertainty, and the reordering of democratic state-citizen relations can breed susceptibility to violent extremist thinking and action.

  • German Police Investigating Anti-Vax Assassination Plot against German Politician

    A group of conspiracy theorists used Telegram to call for an armed response to Saxony’s state premier Michael Kretschmer’s restrictions on the unvaccinated. The right-wing extremism branch of Saxony’s anti-terror unit is investigating.

  • Michigan School Shooting Shows How Violence Can Transition from Online Threats to Real-World Tragedy

    It is, perhaps, easy to look back at the postings of a mass shooter after the event and highlight the red flags that were potentially missed. But how do you know when a young person is writing offensive, threatening or disturbing posts merely to garner attention or to blow off steam, rather than presenting a threat to themselves or others? And at what point in the transition from online threats to real-world harm should concerns by teachers, parents or peers be deemed actionable by law enforcement and other officials?

  • School Shootings Are at a Record High This Year – but They Can Be Prevented

    Research has shown that school mass shooters tend to be current or former students of the school. They are almost always in crisis of some sort before their attack, as indicated by a noticeable change in behavior from usual. They often are inspired by other school shooters, and they also tend to leak their plans for violence in advance to their peers. And school shooters usually get their guns from family and friends who failed to store them safely and securely. The question now is how to translate these findings into policy and practice in order to prevent the next school shooting.

  • When Police Forces Grow, Homicides Drop and Low-Level Arrests Increase

    Research by criminologists found that an additional 10 to 17 officers prevented one homicide annually, but each extra officer added up to 22 arrests for crimes like drug possession.

  • Interpol Unveils Emerging Cyberthreats

    The exceptional COVID-19 crisis has fueled the increase of cybercrime in all its forms, while grey infrastructure serves to facilitate the proliferation of crime.

  • Targeted: Masterminds of Global Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

    Twelve individuals who were wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries.

  • FBI Works to Increase Hate Crimes Awareness

    The United States recorded nearly 7,500 hate crimes in 2020, the highest level in more than a decade. As eye-popping as the yearly total may be, researchers note the vast majority of hate crimes are never reported to police. In October, the FBI launched a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report hate crimes to law enforcement.

  • U.S. Gun Violence Increased 30 Percent During COVID-19 Pandemic

    Gun violence increased by more than 30 percent in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers said that stress, domestic violence, lack of social interactions and greater access to firearms might have contributed to the increase.

  • Weapons-Detection Algorithm Studied at Las Vegas International Airport

    This summer, DHS S&T demonstrated a new advanced algorithm to better detect non-explosive weapons like guns, knives, and other items that are prohibited on commercial aircraft in a real-world setting at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.

  • Britain’s Security Officials Fear More Lone Wolf Attacks in Wake of MP’s Murder

    The man held for the fatal stabbing last week of a British lawmaker had been referred to the British government’s anti-extremism program, called Prevent, because of his radical Islamist views, but the country’s security services, including MI5 - Britain’s domestic intelligence agency - had not deemed him a serious threat requiring monitoring, confirmed British officials.

  • Lawmakers Press TikTok, DHS, and FBI for Information on Identifying, Preventing Spread of Extremist Content Online

    Although social media companies have taken steps to address the proliferation of domestic extremist content online, continued reports have identified that violent groups continue to operate on the platforms, and racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs), anti-government and conspiracy-related content and targeted ads remain on these platforms.

  • DEA, DOJ Warn of Lethal Fake Medication Pushed by Mexican Criminal Gangs

    Mexican criminal drug networks are mass-producing illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-laced fake pills using chemicals sourced largely from China., and are distributing these pills through U.S. criminal networks. These addictive fake pills are more lethal than ever. DEA laboratory testing reveals that today, four out of 10 fentanyl-laced fake pills contain a potentially lethal dose. DEA seizes 1.8 million fake pills and arrests 810 people nationwide in two-month effort to dismantle the drug distribution networks.

  • In U.S. v Wilson, the Ninth Circuit Reaffirms Fourth Amendment Protection for Electronic Communications

    The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a new ruling which is a victory for digital privacy rights, has confirmed that the police need to get a warrant before they open your email attachments—even if a third party’s automated system has flagged those attachments as potentially illegal.