ns are factors of ease when it comes to the risk assessment. For example: Is the individual cooperating with law enforcement? Does the individual have relationships to people outside of the Salafist community? Is there a functional family life?
The answers to these questions are then evaluated providing the case officer with a specific result. There are three categories in RADAR-iTE:
YELLOW: „Moderate Risk“
ORANGE: „Noticeable Risk
RED: „High Risk“
What is the current status of RADAR-iTE?
In February 2017 – only about three months after the Berlin Christmas market attack – the BKA officially announced the implementation of RADAR-iTE. In fact the tool had already been in a test-mode for several months back then. Some police case officers in North Rhine-Westphalia for example had used it to analyze Jihadists.
During spring and summer of 2017 the BKA trained the police agencies across Germany in the use of RADAR-iTE. Since then approximately 400 Jihadists were analyzed using the new tool – around 40 % were rated as posing a „high risk“.
The procedure established by the BKA: RADAR-iTE is used first for those „Gefährder“ already considered to pose a very high-risk, meaning some well-known terrorist subjects. Amongst them are numerous Jihad returnees from Syria and Iraq. Followed by imprisoned Salafists that will soon be released from jail. Those Jihadists still active on the battlefield or currently held captive in Syrian or Iraq are not considered the first priority in the police risk management.
In July 2017 BKA has created a new working group called „AG Risikomanagement“ within its current state security department to work on the risk assessment. This unit is regularly meeting at the „Gemeinsame Terrorismusabwehr-Zentrum (GTAZ)“ in Berlin to talk about individual cases – sometimes these meetings last for several hours. In the coming years a whole new BKA counter-terrorism division („Abteilung Terrorismusbekämpfung“) will be established, specifically dealing with Jihadists terrorist cases.
RADAR-iTE creates a standardized risk assessment of dangerous Islamists used by police agencies in Germany. What was a very inconsistent and mixed approach is now a nation-wide system with the BKA overlooking the process.
The next step now would be to have certain counter-terrorism measures in place when it comes to the monitoring of the Jihadists. But there are obstacles: Due to the federal structure of Germany each federal state has its own police law – meaning there is no unified and common strategy. Some police actions (like wiretapping) can be used in one federal state as a preemptive measure but they are unlawful in another state. This fact has been criticized by the BKA as well as several politicians, often calling it a „Flickenteppich“ (patchwork rug).
Nevertheless there is a system now in the making based on RADAR-iTE called RISKANT. The main aim of this tool will be to present a uniform approach to police investigators and to give an advice regarding the measures that might be used against a certain Jihadist individual.