Terror Scene Management
Command, forensics and victim identification in one operational system.
TSM coordinates the complete operational chain at complex scenes: rescue, threat control, advanced CSI, CBRN and radiological safety, DVI, medical interfaces, weapons intelligence and early evidence exploitation—working in parallel from a shared command picture.
TSM · TVI · CBRN · RCSM · DVI · CSI · WIT · Battlefield Forensics
The operational advantage
Not sequential response. Controlled parallel action.
Rescue, threat control, CBRN safety and casualty care continue while authorised forensic teams identify evidence with immediate investigative value and pass on the findings. Recovery priorities account for perishability, threat relevance and later evidential value. Early findings may support attribution and the disruption of follow-on threats before full scene processing is complete.
Same incident. Different operational logic.
01 · CLASSIC SEQUENTIAL LOGICOne function waits for the previous one.
INCIDENTFIRST OPERATIONAL PHASESTABILISATION
TSM
TSMACTIVE
SHARED PICTUREINTERFACESTASK CONTROLREASSESS
MED
SECURITY
USAR
CBRN
CSI
DVI
TECHNICAL EXPLOITATION
NOW
CHANGEREASSESS
ACTIVEWAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT
CLASSICTSM ENTRYPARALLELREASSESSIMPACT
Conceptual visualisation. Intended operational effect, not a claim of validated causal superiority.
Operational friction
“A good plan that can be executed in time is more valuable than a perfect plan delivered too late.”TSM operational principle · based on a maxim often attributed to ClausewitzVerified conceptual source: On War, Book I, Chapter 7 ↗
Its logic matches Clausewitz’s documented concept of friction: under real conditions, time pressure, uncertainty, danger, incomplete information and institutional boundaries turn individually simple tasks into a coupled problem. TSM therefore favours a sound, shared and adaptable plan that can guide controlled parallel action now, followed by repeated joint reassessment as the situation changes.
Scene complexity
One scene can demand rescue, hazard control, identification and evidence recovery at the same time.
TSM connects advanced crime-scene investigation, CBRN and radiological scene management, DVI, major-incident medical coordination, weapons intelligence and battlefield evidence workflows. The objective is controlled parallel action: protect life and responders while preserving traceability, evidential value and the route from scene to court.
TSM Civilian
Prepared People. Safer Communities.
Practical, evidence-informed guidance for ordinary people facing extraordinary situations.
Explore Civilian guidance →Knowledge & publications
A scientific and professional platform grounded in operational reality.
The published work below addresses radiological crime scene response, attack methods in Europe and digital scene reporting. Each item links to its source; ongoing doctoral research is identified separately.
Az Európai Unió területén 2000 és 2023 között elkövetett terrorcselekmények eszközei és módszerei, valamint ezek jövőbeni alkalmazásának várható tendenciái
Open source ↗Terrorcselekmény helyszínén a digitális jegyzőkönyvezés problémái / Problems with digital report at the scene of a terrorist attack
Open source ↗TSM is a research-based, expert-informed framework under continuing validation. It is not an accredited programme, certified method, formally adopted international standard or institutional endorsement.
Connected fields
Operational disciplines can work alone. They must perform together.
Open a field to see its operational decisions, interfaces with other teams and evidential constraints. Each requires its own competence and authority within the shared incident response.
TSM & advanced CSICommand decisions translated into a defensible scene strategy.Open field+
Scene assessment, prioritisation, documentation, reconstruction, continuity and decision records are connected to rescue, safety, intelligence and judicial requirements instead of being treated as a separate technical phase.
Open field →
CBRN forensics & RCSMForensic recovery under chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear constraints.Open field+
Hazard assessment, zoning, access control, PPE, measurement, contamination control, sampling and packaging are planned together with evidential continuity and responder protection.
Open field →
DVI & major-incident medical interfaceMass-casualty management from triage and recovery to formal identification.Open field+
Medical command, scene recovery, post-mortem, ante-mortem and reconciliation interfaces are examined in relation to national and INTERPOL DVI processes.
Open field →
WIT & Battlefield ForensicsMaterial recovered in an operational environment must retain intelligence and judicial value.Open field+
Weapons, devices, components, biometric and digital material are documented, triaged and transferred through a traceable workflow designed to support technical exploitation, intelligence development and later legal use.
Open field →
Clandestine drug laboratoriesDetection and dismantling begin with chemical risk, scene control and process evidence.Open field+
The approach covers recognition, risk-led entry, production-process documentation, sampling, hazardous-material coordination, dismantling support and evidence continuity in synthetic-drug laboratories.
Open field →
Forensic research & technologyTechnology is useful only when it improves a documented forensic decision.Open field+
UAV imaging, 3D laser scanning, radar-based detection and survey, Raman spectroscopy, Rapid DNA and digital scene data are integrated with validation limits, operator competence and evidential requirements in view.
Open field →
TVI — Terror Victim IdentificationVictim identification connected with the investigative priorities of a terrorist attack.Open field+
A developing TSM research module examining the interfaces between terrorist-scene command, DVI, CSI, CBRN safety and time-critical investigative information. It is not a validated or formally adopted standard.
Open field →Education & exercises
From professional knowledge to observable performance.
The work extends beyond lectures: it includes the design, delivery and evaluation of exercises, TTX formats, field scenarios and OSPE-based practical assessment. Each format connects doctrine with decisions, interfaces and evidential consequences.
Scenario-led instruction
Facilitated work links a shared incident picture to roles, priorities and decision points.
DVI field exercise
Practical coordination at the interface between victim recovery, documentation and identification processes.
Tabletop exercise design
A physical scene model makes resources, zones, interfaces and consequences visible to participants.
Founder & Lead Expert
Lt. Col. Kornél Papp
Senior investigation and forensic leader · Hungary’s National DVI Coordinator · International trainer
Built from operational leadership, developed through research.
Kornél Papp has more than two decades of experience in criminal investigation, forensic operations and international capacity building, including over fifteen years in leadership. As Head of the Central Forensic Division at the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation, he leads national-level crime-scene capability for the country’s most serious and complex investigations. Over the past decade, he has held scene-command, specialist-leadership or coordination responsibilities at numerous major incidents of national significance in Hungary. He created the TSM model and is pursuing doctoral research in Military Sciences while contributing to international education and professional knowledge exchange in DVI, CBRN and radiological crime-scene management.
Breadth does not mean one person replaces every discipline. Claims and knowledge-sharing remain within verified competence and, where required, involve authorised or accredited partners.
20+years in investigation and forensics
15+years in leadership
NationalDVI coordination
Internationaltraining and capacity building
Selected professional engagements
National and international roles relevant to TSM.
Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation
Head of the Central Forensic Division · 2020–present
INTERPOL
DVI Working Group member · Permanent Hungarian delegate
International Atomic Energy Agency
Radiological Crime Scene Management trainer
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
CBRN consultant · International capacity building
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
International instructor · CBRN forensic expert
NATO
Experience in major-incident medical coordination · Vigorous Warrior DVI coordination
European Training Centre for Active Forensic Sciences
International instructor
Abu Dhabi Police
Recurring international forensic and DVI instruction
European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL)
External expert and international instructor · DVI and TVI activities
Organisational references describe verified professional experience and do not imply institutional endorsement of TSM.
Long-term professional cooperation
TSM and ETAF: sustained international professional cooperation.
Since 2022, Kornél Papp has worked within ETAF’s international instructor network. The cooperation connects recurring DVI, CBRN and CSI education, programme and exercise development, battlefield-forensics workshop preparation and international capacity-building assignments. ETAF also presents Terror Scene Management and CBRNe DVI/CSI among its professional fields.
Visit ETAF’s professional platform ↗Scientific dialogue
Research, publication and professional exchange.
TSM welcomes research cooperation, peer review, publication and editorial collaboration, conference or academic invitations, and professional knowledge exchange. Any activity remains subject to clear authority, professional independence and conflict-of-interest safeguards.