Protective Surveillance is the creation of a discreet security team around a person or group. Normally composed of highly trained and skilled covert operators, this group creates a protective bubble around the customer in a covert way. The Protective surveillance staff PST will execute counter-surveillance by watching those which could be watching the customer. Their main intention is to occupy or control areas and spaces that would be used by a hostile surveillance group. Other functions are to act as a quick reaction force QRF and as protective intelligence.
This Article will look at protecting surveillance and its role in executive protection and higher risk protection. It utilizes two real life case studies to determine how protective surveillance may be utilized as a very effective tool in licensed executive protection training. Hostile Individuals or groups will need to gather intelligence on their goal. To increase the likelihood of a successful attack it is crucial to understand the comings and goings of a goal, their habits and patterns. What security they have, its own strengths and weaknesses. What are the opportunities and dangers? A hostile surveillance team will be attempting to answer all these things and much more. It is with this information they can formulate a strategy to attack their goal more efficiently and with a greater prospect of success.
Identifying Threats early is very important to guarantee time to react. If a person has time to respond then the odds of favorable results are increased dramatically. It is just action vs. reaction. Any competitive force with the benefit of surprise and strategic planning is more likely to be successful. Their actions occur at a time of their choosing. Hardly any aggressors will strike if they do not feel that they have the upper hand, perhaps this is caused by a planned operation and for that reason the hostile team will probably be prepared accordingly.
A Normal close protection team CPT will have a great number of tasks and responsibilities to perform that need their undiluted attention. Their focus has to be on the here and now, able to respond at a moment’s notice to the immediate threat. They supply the necessary ‘close’ protection. This however is also a potential weakness. Even highly trained operators will still require time to respond to an action. This means they are immediately on the back foot and will be till they regain the initiative and win the battle. Several factors and variables then get involved, the art of the security group, the art of the attackers, kind of assault and even luck to mention a few.