Mindhunters | Terrorism

Bombs vs. Bullets: It Does Make a Difference

By Mark Olshaker On April 29, 2013 · Add Comment

Bombs vs Bullets

New Yorker writer John Cassidy has posted a fascinating, provocative and important piece on the magazine’s website, entitled, “What If the Tsarnaevs Had Been the ‘Boston shooters’?” He posits that had the Boston Marathon bombers used assault rifles instead of homemade bombs, killing even more innocent people than they did, the law enforcement and public reaction would have been completely different. We would have considered the brothers “sociopaths and unbalanced post-adolescents” rather than “Islamic extremists.”

Mr. Cassidy goes on to sketch out how the perception of risk would have been completely different, something we have been talking about as recently as our last posting.

A serious analysis of the implications of this counterfactual premise can be enlightening.

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Our Threshold for Risk

By Mark Olshaker On April 26, 2013 · 2 Comments

Risk Threshold

The recriminations over whether federal authorities should have identified Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line has brought up an interesting and vital issue, one that gets too little coverage and discussion in the media and public policy. And that is our collective threshold for risk. The simple fact is that while we would like every endeavor in life to have zero risk, we have a sliding scale of tolerances for varying types of risk, which oftentimes have little to do with actual threats.

In fact, it is common for us to muddle three different levels: That which can kill us; that which can hurt us; and that which just makes us feel uncomfortable. And our collective responses often reflect that confusion.

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The Only Things We’ll Say About the Boston Bomber(s)

By John Douglas and Mark Olshaker On April 17, 2013 · 8 Comments

Bombing Suspects

As our frequent readers know, we have not wanted to get out in front of the search for the perpetrators of the Boston bombings and have therefore resisted offering any specific profiling information without full knowledge of what is going on inside the investigation.

However, there are a few characteristics of which we are dead certain, and we are therefore offering them without fear of getting in the way of the investigators or compromising their work.

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The Tragedy in Boston

By John Douglas On April 15, 2013 · 4 Comments

Boston Bombing

As we’ve often said, the solution to most violent crimes, especially predatory crimes, is the equation: Why + How = Who. And in a case as tragic and impactful as these twin bomb blasts near the finish line to the Boston Marathon, there are always going to be “media experts” who want to offer their opinions. For the time being, in my opinion, they ought to be honest enough to say, “I just don’t know.” The analysis of the structure of the bombs themselves will help determine whether this is a domestic or international conspiracy or some lone wolf looking for personal fame.

Beyond that, I think it is best that the so-called “experts” keep their mouths shut and let law enforcement investigators do their job without speculation that could very well lead to copy cat crimes or misguided reports that send the investigation off in a wrong direction. The consideration for would-be commentators should be the same as it is for physicians: First, do no harm.

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