Combating Domestic Terrorism
By Anjana Rajan, with support from Jessica Cole and Samara Trilling
In order to thwart mass gun violence caused by white supremacy extremists, witnesses must take action. An FBI study on active shooters shows that there were on average three distinct witnesses who observed concerning behaviors about the suspect prior to their attack. Unfortunately, nearly 60 percent of witnesses did not report to the police, resulting in many missed opportunities to save lives. This low reporting rate can be solved through the use of a digital reporting escrow. Witnesses can report concerning behaviors into an escrow and their report would stay locked until a credible threshold of risk was met. This system motivates witnesses to report suspicious behavior while protecting the civil liberties of the accused.
This policy brief was completed as part of a project for the 2020 Aspen Tech Policy Hub Fellowship, a program designed to teach technology experts how to impact policy.
