Spanish Risk Assessment Instrument on Violent Extremism

Spanish General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions

The institution is responsible for the execution of custodial sentences. It is also in charge of the management of open-regime prisons and alternative measures to prison, in full compliance with court decisions

Type of Organisation: Governmental institution

The Spanish risk assessment instrument was specifically designed in 2018 to be implemented in the prison context. It is considered a key element of the protocol on counter-radicalisation and it complements the directives and actions on prevention and disengagement of violent extremist offenders.

The instrument has been recently reviewed and main elements of the new tool will be described. Four scales have been specifically developed: general violence, extremist violence, radicalisation and vulnerability.

The Spanish instrument is expected to provide accurate information to classify and rank inmates according to the four mentioned fields. Also, the degree of danger is also expected to be assessed.

Such instrument is closely linked to actions aimed at the prevention, detection and intervention on terrorists and radicalised inmates. These actions are carried out as follows:

1. Violent and extremist inmates are divided into three groups (A, for terrorists, B for recruiters and C for radicalised).
2. All inmates are studied and evaluated on a regular basis.
3. Information is provided to the General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions on a weekly basis.
4. The instrument is applied once every six months, with the participation of security and treatment staff, as well as prison officers.
5. Information collected from the use of the instrument assists further decision-making, in terms of security measures and disengagement interventions, by detecting treatment targets.
6. There is a permanent exchange of information between the different Institutions (police authorities, intelligence services etc.).

The current risk assessment instrument supports dynamic security initiatives within prison context and highlights treatment targets for disengagement interventions.

Data collected from the use of the instrument is considered changeable and dynamic. Thus, it is updated regularly and complemented with other sources of information.

Current review of Spanish risk assessment instrument has led to the development of four different scales to be scored easily in each prison. So far, no training is required for the implementation of the instrument.

However, once it is fully implemented, deliverables will be considered, such as specific training or some kind of manual and/or software.

Address

Spanish General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions
Alcalá, 38-40,
28014, Madrid
Spain

Contact person: Rosa Rodríguez
Telephone: +34 913355063
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