A survey of risk and threat assessors: Processes, skills, and characteristics in terrorism risk assessment.

Threat and risk assessment are increasingly an integral part of counterterrorism. This process currently relies heavily on the judgment of professionals, who play a vital role in a potentially high-stakes environment. However, thus far, little research focuses on the professionals themselves. This study provides insight into the experiences and opinions of professional threat and risk assessors, particularly regarding how they conduct terrorism assessments, their expectations for training, and the experience and characteristics of those that conduct them. An online survey solicited quantitative and qualitative responses from a sample of 41 professional threat assessors. The findings highlight the training and experience required differs greatly across different disciplines involved, and the importance of considering the context in which threat and risk assessments takes place. These findings also highlight cognitive abilities and personality characteristics that may be desirable for risk assessors in this context and provide avenues for further research to examine the role of these factors in risk assessment. This research article provides an insight into the experiences and opinions of professional threat and risk assessors in the context of counterterrorism. This study highlights the importance of considering the different multidisciplinary contexts in which terrorism risk assessments are conducted and provides avenues for further research in the evaluation of terrorism risk assessment. terrorism. Psychology, Public