International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 1, Winter 2019/2020 | Page 123

International Journal on Criminology
The radical nature of their religious practice and the fear of death and of the
hellfire that awaits them for the sins they have committed resonate with the
notion of attaining salvation through death as a martyr. Mohammed Mehra set
the alarm bells ringing when he told us: “I love death as you love life.” Taken
together, these beliefs accelerate progression from words to deeds in a way that
is difficult to predict.
• Simplicity of the modus operandi
The simplicity of the modus operandi in terror attacks (knives, cars, etc.) makes
the detection of imminent action almost impossible. This is a very different
scenario from the preparation of a bomb attack, a robbery, or a drug deal, all of
which require a variety of observable actions constituting a criminal act. Most
of the elements appear after the act is committed. But how does one “detect” an
individual leaving his home with a knife or driving off in his car?
• Surveillance Techniques
There are two types of surveillance, technical and physical, which must be used
together in order to be effective.
The surveillance of internet communications is made more difficult by the use
of software like Tor (allowing anonymous browsing), which was recommended
in Dar Al-Islam, the magazine produced by the Islamic State. Furthermore, it is
possible to sign up for a telephone subscription in a Tabac without any form of
identification. This allows ordinary data allowances to be used to surf the internet
with complete anonymity. Gone are the days of easily traceable payments
made in an official France Télécom outlet.
Some jihadists change telephones several times a week and borrow those of colleagues,
friends, and family members when they make sensitive calls, in much
the same way as drug traffickers and armed robbers. At the same time, writing
up an application asking a magistrate for authorization to wiretap a suspect’s
telephone line involves writing pages of justifications—it is not a fair fight. And
it is only made worse by the proprietary encryption keys used in applications
such as Telegram and WhatsApp, which make conversations inaudible for investigators.
Physical surveillance is no easier. Tailing a suspect in those neighborhoods
rightly named “the Republic’s lost territories” is virtually impossible. Any outsider
is spotted and sometimes even accompanied. This kind of surveillance inevitably
appears to be a poor option, and every failure will be seen by the French
public as an error of strategy on the part of the government.
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