1972 Munich Olympics
Law enforcement professionals should be ready to learn from their mistakes. The 1972 Munich Olympics became one of the greatest human tragedies in the history of counter terrorism. The paper reviews the principal aspects of the security response to the Munich massacre in 1972. Some of the issues considered include Germany's response to the incident, pre-attack warnings, the level of security preparedness during the Olympics, as well as the role of fusion centers in counter-terrorist operations. The lessons learned from the 1972 Munich Olympics provide effective guidance for the development of comprehensive security and counter-terrorism strategies in the future. The 1972 Munich Olympics have become one of …show more content…
The attack had to reinforce the public understanding of the Palestinian conflict with Israel. At the same time, the terrorists themselves sought to release 234 Palestinian inmates that were held in Israeli prisons at that time (Terry, 2014). Most likely, that was the true purpose behind the attack. The attack influenced numerous stakeholders within and outside Germany. Overall, stakeholder theory posits that the Olympic Games rely on the International Olympic Committee as the key stakeholder (Ferrand, Chappelet, & Geguin, 2012). Other internal stakeholders include national Olympic committees, sport-related organizations, government, and the audience (Ferrand et al., 2012). The Munich massacre had serious impacts on all stakeholders, from the IOC whose security and preparedness image was severely tainted to the general public, which could no longer feel secure and protected while attending the Olympic Games. At the same time, the stakeholders of the discussed event also included Israel and other countries that participated in the Olympic Games. Dozens of athletes left Munich in response to the violent attack and as a way to pay tribute to their deceased colleagues (Terry, 2014). It would not be an exaggeration to say that the whole world was shaken by the incident, and it taught the intelligence a number of important …show more content…
It was more about negligence and reluctance to translate intelligence findings into a set of tangible measures to prevent the terrorist attack. A well-known fact is that, before the Olympics, a police psychologist was asked to create hypothetical scenarios of the security breaches that could happen during the Olympics (Spiegel, 2014). One of those crisis scenarios "involved an attack by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic village" (Spiegel, 2014). Even as the attack was reaching its culmination, the German authorities failed to create anything similar to a fusion center to facilitate interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration (Guidetti, 2010). Luckily, Germany has learned the lessons of the Munich Olympic Games quite well, since the attack has led to the creation of the first counter-terrorism forces in the country (Terry,
Law enforcement professionals should be ready to learn from their mistakes. The 1972 Munich Olympics became one of the greatest human tragedies in the history of counter terrorism. The paper reviews the principal aspects of the security response to the Munich massacre in 1972. Some of the issues considered include Germany's response to the incident, pre-attack warnings, the level of security preparedness during the Olympics, as well as the role of fusion centers in counter-terrorist operations. The lessons learned from the 1972 Munich Olympics provide effective guidance for the development of comprehensive security and counter-terrorism strategies in the future. The 1972 Munich Olympics have become one of …show more content…
The attack had to reinforce the public understanding of the Palestinian conflict with Israel. At the same time, the terrorists themselves sought to release 234 Palestinian inmates that were held in Israeli prisons at that time (Terry, 2014). Most likely, that was the true purpose behind the attack. The attack influenced numerous stakeholders within and outside Germany. Overall, stakeholder theory posits that the Olympic Games rely on the International Olympic Committee as the key stakeholder (Ferrand, Chappelet, & Geguin, 2012). Other internal stakeholders include national Olympic committees, sport-related organizations, government, and the audience (Ferrand et al., 2012). The Munich massacre had serious impacts on all stakeholders, from the IOC whose security and preparedness image was severely tainted to the general public, which could no longer feel secure and protected while attending the Olympic Games. At the same time, the stakeholders of the discussed event also included Israel and other countries that participated in the Olympic Games. Dozens of athletes left Munich in response to the violent attack and as a way to pay tribute to their deceased colleagues (Terry, 2014). It would not be an exaggeration to say that the whole world was shaken by the incident, and it taught the intelligence a number of important …show more content…
It was more about negligence and reluctance to translate intelligence findings into a set of tangible measures to prevent the terrorist attack. A well-known fact is that, before the Olympics, a police psychologist was asked to create hypothetical scenarios of the security breaches that could happen during the Olympics (Spiegel, 2014). One of those crisis scenarios "involved an attack by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic village" (Spiegel, 2014). Even as the attack was reaching its culmination, the German authorities failed to create anything similar to a fusion center to facilitate interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration (Guidetti, 2010). Luckily, Germany has learned the lessons of the Munich Olympic Games quite well, since the attack has led to the creation of the first counter-terrorism forces in the country (Terry,