International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 5

Answering the Terrorism Challenge
Division for several years, was arrested, the website had become a global
mechanism for radicalization, including with persons connected to New
York City.
-----These included Zachery Chesser, who provided material support to
al-Shabaab; Rezwan Ferdaus, who was sentenced in 2012 for a plot to attack
the Pentagon; and Colleen Larose [Jihad Jane], who plotted to kill a Swedish
artist over the cartoon matter.
----- Samir Kahn, with deep ties in New York City, was another potent
radicalizing agent under investigation by the Intelligence Division before
he moved to Yemen; killed in a U.S. drone strike along with Anwar al-
Alawki, Samir authored the widely read Inspire Magazine and produced a
radicalizing website before going to Yemen.
Regarding radicalization and the homegrown threat, as early as 2006,
and long before the emergence of the ISIS radicalization threat to the homeland,
the Intelligence Division produced a study on the radicalization process entitled
Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat*. Published and disseminated
in five languages—English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian—it remains
among the most insightful studies of its kind, according to subject experts. Based on
case studies of individual terrorist attacks or plots in eight countries the Intelligence
Division authors visited, it provided an intellectual depth to the issue not generally
available to law enforcement or intelligence professionals prior to its publication.
*One of the principal authors of this report, Mr. Mitch Silber, recently
introduced the concept of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, adopting the technique
of “Crowdsourced Jihad” in an article published in Cipher online.
Beyond the operations, investigations, and prosecutions it undertook,
Intelligence Division activities included a wide range of more mundane, but no less
important activities such as:
-----Following-up on the more than 25,000 counterterrorism leads called
in by the public via the NYPD hotline established in early 2002.
-----Provided intelligence guidance to thousands of NYPD Critical
Response Vehicle program deployments designed to deter possible terrorist
surveillance of target locations by placing NYPD vehicles and personnel at
those spots.
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