NCJ Number
128067
Journal
Security Management Volume: 34 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1990) Pages: 27-31
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The assassination of the chief executive of a German bank in 1989 demonstrated how terrorists were able to outwit security measures and suggested ways to improve executive protection to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Abstract
Alfred Herrhausen was riding to work in his chauffeur-driven armored vehicle, which was part of a three car-convoy. Approximately 500 yards from his home, his car was destroyed by a remote-controlled car bomb, which was detonated when his car broke a light beam generated by a photoelectric cell. The bomb was packaged to look like a child's knapsack and was placed in the luggage rack of a child's bicycle beside the road. Previous roadside bomb attacks had been unsuccessful. This attack was characterized by meticulous planning and surveillance. To prevent such attacks, executive protection teams must become intimately familiar with the environment near the executive's home and office and meticulously organized in efforts to detect an ambush as terrorists are setting it up. Crucial defensive measures include the use of alternate routes near the home and workplace, meticulous reconnaissance of all two-lane roads the executive must travel, and careful efforts to detect the surveillance that precedes all terrorist attacks. Photographs and diagrams