Highlighting Terrorism Hot-spots in the U.S.
From 1970 to 2008 nearly a third of all terrorist attacks occurred in just five metropolitan U.S. counties, however, terrorist events continue to occur in rural areas as well. Researchers have found that 65 of the 3,143 counties in the nation are hot-spots for terrorism. A hot-spot is defined as a county that experienced a greater than average number of terrorist attacks between 1970 and 2008.
Researchers in the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism found that the greatest number of attacks clustered around five major cities:
-Manhattan, New York (343 attacks)
-Los Angeles County, California (156 attacks)
-Miami-Dade County, Florida (103 attacks)
-San Francisco County, California (99 attacks)
-Washington, D.C. (79 attacks)
Additionally, researchers also found that some smaller, more rural counties have become hot spots for terrorism due to increases in domestic terrorism in those counties.
Sources
TERRORISTS FOCUS ON FIVE U.S. URBAN COUNTIES, BUT RURAL AREAS NOT EXEMPT
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120201-terrorists-focus-on-f...
Prevention Relevance
Knowing where terrorist attacks occur the most can educate emergency management officials on where resources need to be increased for the purpose of responding to terrorism incidents.
Prevention Techniques
[Threat Recognition] This study is important because it highlights the fact that rural counties are not immune from terrorist attacks.
Prevention Thought
[Threat Recognition] Can these types of studies lead to an “it can’t happen to us” attitude for those counties that are not listed as hot spots?
IPS Contact Information
The Institute for Preventive Strategies is a national service of the Center for Rural Development, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Somerset Kentucky.
You may contact the Institute by e-mail at: info@preventivestrategies.net
You may correspond with the Institute at:
Institute for Preventive Strategies
2292 South Highway 27, Suite 300
Somerset, KY 42501
Telephone: 1-800-860-6657
