Situational Awareness in Terrorism and Crime Prevention

When governments raise the terrorist threat level and advise their citizens to be more alert to their surroundings: what precisely does that mean for the average citizen? When the warnings encompass vast regions, such as the United States or the European Union and lacks any definitive information on what exactly to be alert to: how is the average citizen supposed to prepare? This article explores the nature of these warnings and provides a set of guiding concepts, often used by professional law enforcement and other government agents, in order to provide a basic tool to the average citizen to reduce his or her chances of becoming a victim.