Terrorism in the USA:threat & response

[davidbfpo]

After the all the analysis the NYT reports:

...in the end, it apparently came down to a bitter local grudge. A former justice of the peace whose legal and political career collapsed in a hard-fought legal battle was accused Wednesday of killing the two prosecutors, who had been his courtroom rivals. And his wife not only named him as the gunman, but also confessed to having been the driver in both shootings as part of her role in the vendetta, the authorities said.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us...pagewanted=all

[davidbfpo]

A sensible BBC report 'The Boston Marathon bomber: Caught on film?' and the role of the body the National Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab (unclear whether a public or private body):http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22191029

Missing from the article is any mention of the level of human and technical resources needed, thousands of hours of footage take a very long time to assemble, analyse etc to an evidential standard.

Our experience is that CCTV is not the "magic wand" in crime detection; I cannot recall a good commentary on the value of mass citizen footage.

[bourbon]

Useful info-graphic from the NYT. What is not noted on it though, is that the entrance for the out-bound side of Copley Station is on the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth St. Under 500 ft from the first bomb and the finish line.

[carl]

By outbound, do you mean out of the city?

[davidbfpo]

A comment by Bill Bratton via WSJ, who was with Boston PD and is in London in his advisory role. Nothing startling:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle

I am sure the SWJ Editor published the article 'Case Study: The IRA’s Hyde and Regent's Parks Attacks in London, July 20, 1982' by an EOD veteran as it was - sadly - topical. It makes an interesting comparison with this bombing, notably over the first responders, lack of witnesses and difficulties in assembling an evidential case:http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...n-july-20-1982

Two RUSI analysts have added a commentary, which draws on Jennifer Cole's expertise in emergency management:http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...516D53C0587A4/

[bourbon]

By outbound, do you mean out of the city?

Correct, away from "downtown" or the center of the city. Here is a map of the MBTA system - Copley Station is where E-branch of the Green Line converges/splits with the other three branches of the Green Line.

Unlike other stations, you must go outside and cross the street if you want to switch inbound/outbound tracks at Copley Station. You cannot use the Boylston and Dartmouth St entrance for the inbound track. The inbound entrance is on the other side of Boylston St. near the middle of the library.

[slapout9]

Assumption:
It was not a lone bomber, he/she had help.

Why?
1-timing, the bombs were timed somehow?

2-multiple placements.

3-concealment and camouflage was needed until detonation.


Anybody else feel free to jump in and add comments!

Every crime scene has 2 things left behind, the physical evidence and the perpetrator(s) behavior. I have listed the first 3 three and still think they are accurate. The fourth is escape behavior. Nobody has claimed credit....that is revealing in itself in that it involves escape behavior meaning these people X or group X had and apparently have a prepared get away method to evade their capture. OK turn yourn flame throwers on and poke some holes in the theory!

[Firn]

Thanks for the info about the potential visual evidence. Doesn't the relative recent and wide incorporation of GPS in a sorts of camera devices as well as all that wireless geolocating help to filter and organize the data? Still a lot of images to look at and maybe it doesn't come as a surprise that the first lead based on images comes from CCTV. They should be far better integrated into the various organisations and procedures.

@davidbfpo: I think in this case the stakes are high and the ressources invested huge as it is certainly not your regular street robbery. While all those cameras did in this case nothing to detect and prevent the crime they should a good job at supporting the investigation.

P.S: A friend from home and his company do for a couply of years now create seamless 360°/180° pcictures of crime scenes for the regional police. They use the same technology internationally for different purposes as well.

[carl]

The fourth is escape behavior. Nobody has claimed credit....that is revealing in itself in that it involves escape behavior meaning these people X or group X had and apparently have a prepared get away method to evade their capture. OK turn yourn flame throwers on and poke some holes in the theory!

I wondered why no claims of credit. I never thought of that, that they wouldn't make any until the perps were safe...out of the country and in a position to make a videotape. You southern boys think good.

Unfortunately, it seems these perps are good too.

[Stan]

Carl and Slap,
What if they never claim responsibility? What if the fruit cake simple got off on it and is long gone.

Tons of things happen over here each week with not a stinking sole claiming responsibility.

Why all the significance on some Delta Hotel claiming responsibility ? Gives us a direction to search in ? Assuming somebody else decides to claim first ?

[bourbon]

@davidbfpo: I think in this case the stakes are high and the ressources invested huge as it is certainly not your regular street robbery. While all those cameras did in this case nothing to detect and prevent the crime they should a good job at supporting the investigation.

Oddly enough, the cameras from the Lord & Taylor department store have been reported to have the best coverage of the second blast, which occurred across the other side of the street. They put up the cameras covering the street because they were getting hit by rip-and-run thefts – people would dash out the street exit w/ arms full of merchandise into waiting cars. The cameras could catch the license plates.

[carl]

Carl and Slap,
What if they never claim responsibility? What if the fruit cake simple got off on it and is long gone.

Tons of things happen over here each week with not a stinking sole claiming responsibility.

Why all the significance on some Delta Hotel claiming responsibility ? Gives us a direction to search in ? Assuming somebody else decides to claim first ?

Just thinking and speculating. I am an old man and that is what old men do.

You could be very right. If there is a political angle to it, if, then claiming responsibility is pretty important. If there is no political angle to it, there is no need. Serial killers don't claim responsibility often.

[Dayuhan]

I wondered why no claims of credit. I never thought of that, that they wouldn't make any until the perps were safe...out of the country and in a position to make a videotape.

Or because they aren't in a position to leave the country and claiming credit would consequently be not a very smart thing to do. No reason to assume that someone from outside the country was or wasn't responsible.

[ganulv]

Thanks for the info about the potential visual evidence. Doesn't the relative recent and wide incorporation of GPS in a sorts of camera devices as well as all that wireless geolocating help to filter and organize the data? Still a lot of images to look at and maybe it doesn't come as a surprise that the first lead based on images comes from CCTV. They should be far better integrated into the various organisations and procedures.

I am sure it would be helpful as long as there is a recognition of the limitations. My handheld GPS sometimes gets accuracy within three to four meters with WAAS activated, clear skies, and no tall buildings around. If I understand correctly, some mobile phones are also GPS devices but many figure location via proximity to WiFi hotspots and cell towers. Timestamping is also an issue to consider. Not everyone has the time set correctly on their camera or mobile device.

After an initial sorting via the EXIF data a visual inspection would turn up a percentage of images taken with devices with the time set wrong. And to be thorough, there would be the need to sort through the images to see if any were excluded from the pile for the same reason. As with any data reduction, getting the last little bit is time-consuming as all get out.

[TheCurmudgeon]

Looking at the pictures and adding to that no claim of credit, the choice of target and the specific location, I am going to speculate that this was not terrorism at all. It was two college kids, probably from Harvard or MIT, who just wanted to kill people and see if they could get away with it. They picked a location they knew would be filmed so they could watch their handiwork over and over again.

[davidbfpo]

Regarding the absence to date of a claim for responsibility. There is a serious disadvantage in using modern electronic means of communication, especially if all the US agencies are looking for a clue. Posting a letter remains largely anonymous if done with care. Is anyone checking "snail" mail?

The pressure is now going up as the FBI have released CCTV and stills of two backpacking adult males:http://imgur.com/a/wRl0g

[carl]

Or because they aren't in a position to leave the country and claiming credit would consequently be not a very smart thing to do. No reason to assume that someone from outside the country was or wasn't responsible.

Thank you.

[carl]

Regarding the photos of the suspects. Black hat has the bill of the cap worn forward and is wearing sunglasses. White hat let his sense of style get the better of him. He is wearing his ball cap backwards and is not wearing sunglasses. Lapse of discipline.

[bourbon]

Looking at the pictures and adding to that no claim of credit, the choice of target and the specific location, I am going to speculate that this was not terrorism at all. It was two college kids, probably from Harvard or MIT, who just wanted to kill people and see if they could get away with it. They picked a location they knew would be filmed so they could watch their handiwork over and over again.

Possibly. I imagine such a decision does not happen overnight; there would be a series of other incidents escalating up to this attack – some non-lethal bombings and/or solo murders somewhere in their history.

Serial killers tend to start out with animals.

[carl]

Looking at the pictures and adding to that no claim of credit, the choice of target and the specific location, I am going to speculate that this was not terrorism at all. It was two college kids, probably from Harvard or MIT, who just wanted to kill people and see if they could get away with it. They picked a location they knew would be filmed so they could watch their handiwork over and over again.

Nah. That is an ego trip. I would think part of the trip would be having a cool device to brag about. These devices weren't cool, they just worked. I think the minds behind this were looking for something in addition to ego enhancement.

But my spec is just spec too.