German security services switch tactics to identify terrorists

Germany is testing a sophisticated new analysis system to identify terrorist suspects following criticism of security services in the wake of the 2016 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead.

The Tunisian national behind the atrocity, Anis Amri, was known to multiple intelligence agencies for his suspected ties to Islamic extremists. According to German media, authorities knew for more than a year in advance that he presented a “clear danger”.

Germany’s 16 state police services and the Federal Criminal Police Office have since been testing a new tool called RADAR-iTE - a set of 73 standardised questions developed by police and Swiss scientists to analyse data about each suspect in order to identify Islamist “endangerers”, Deutsche Welle reports.

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Using the new method of analysis - which looks at characteristics including the suspect’s job security and propensity for violence - German security services have concluded that about half of the 720 people in the country previously classified as “dangerous Islamists” do not actually pose a terror threat.

The tool bases analysis on the suspect’s “observable behaviour, rather than their ideology or religious habits, using as much information as can be gleaned about a suspect’s life”, says the German newspaper.

“Ideology is not the only important thing. There are dangerous people in this area for whom ideology only plays a small role,” said Jerome Endrass, of Constance University, who helped develop the system. Endrass said that for security reasons, he was unable to disclose the specific questions used.

“I wouldn’t say that this system is better than other systems,” Endrass added. “There is little comparative research. Radar-ITE is the only instrument available in the German-speaking world up to now that has followed these strict scientific criteria.”