On August 22, a high-speed train en route from Amsterdam to Paris nearly suffered a catastrophic end as an Islamist gunmen (believed to have ties to IS), boarded the train armed with multiple weapons. The gunman, who had been displaying “erratic behavior” was stopped, thanks to the quick actions of three young Americans Alek Skarlatos, an American soldier recently returned from Afghanistan, Spencer Stone, a paramedic in the US Air Force, Anthony Sadler, a university student and friend of Skarlatos and Stone, and Chris Norman, a British businessman who was aboard the train. The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan citizen Ayoub el-Khazzani, had been on the radar of security officials in Spain, France, and Belgium for over a year. Skarlatos was the first to hear gunfire and breaking glass, and sensed something was wrong, quickly springing into action to take down the gunman as he boarded his traincar.
How Civilian Awareness and Participation Can Help Save Lives
While the young Americans who likely saved the lives of the other passengers aboard their train had American military experience and therefore likely having heightened security training, every individual can learn to train their sense of awareness, no matter their background or environment.
SDR® Academy brings the WeAware+™ Application to the market, giving users an innovative new way to access security and awareness training right at their fingertips. WeAware+™ and SDR® training give users the ability to search for abnormalities in their environment and report what they see into the WeAware+™ system. Early detection can lead to prevention, which is the key tenant of SDR’s safety and security training methodology. The civilian population can check and input information into WeAware+™, thereby becoming active participants in their own safety. Users can log onto the virtual cloud and access alerts, reporting, and safety tips for their given location. The more users there are on the system, the stronger the cloud of information becomes, enhancing overall awareness and up-to-date reporting for specific areas. Mass local reporting allows updates and new information to appear in a matter of seconds, not only alerting other WeAware+™ users, but also connecting with local authorities, breeding social cohesion between security officials and the local communities in which they serve.
Civilian participation in safety through heightened awareness can lead to prevention of future security incidents. By simply being more aware of our surroundings we can help keep ourselves and others out of harm’s way.
RAN COHEN 