Surveillance Detection Routes

Surveillance Detection Routes (the OTHER SDR) is a critical personal protection skill and a good practice to make a habit of- whether you’re politically active, involved in a covert group or just an average joe looking to enhance your own security, its a good idea to take some notes. A few of my own rules:

  1. Never, ever be in a hurry. When we’re in a hurry, we turn the blinders on to the rest of the world and we make mistakes.
  2. Always be early and back into parking spots. Observation of an area is critical and often enough this begins in the parking lot of a place. Backing in allows us to do two things: observe and make a hasty exit.
  3. Make random stops in open, highly trafficked places while traveling and take mental notes of who’s around. Who belongs and who doesn’t?
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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

11 Comments

  1. Anonymous October 16, 2020 at 12:30

    5

  2. Johnny Paratrooper October 16, 2020 at 13:25

    Random Fact- If you are locked in a room or building because of the security system.
    Pull. The. Fire. Alarm.
    And all the 12,000 pound magnetic doors will OPEN SESAME!
    Exit building. And remember rule #1- Cool guys don’t look at explosions.

    Scout, Don’t forget to post that old documentary from the 1980’s you have been meaning to dig up. We talked about it briefly during our conversation the other day. I believe it was about Cold Coupe’s, but we got lost in the sauce(Literally) for a few hours.

  3. Curious Passerby October 16, 2020 at 13:31

    I am not an expert, but I’ve had some training in this area. There’s way more to learn than this article and video can share.
    If you’re alone, I think you’re screwed on this one. If you’re facing a national level organization, they have sufficient resources you won’t see the same person twice or the same car. They can afford to flood you with people and have a constant rotation going on behind you, in front of you, and on adjacent streets. Even a small group can keep you busy with quick costume changes, i.e. windbreaker and ball cap in a shopping bag.
    If you want to see strange stuff like this, come to DC. I had a buddy staying in a hotel in Alexandria, VA while we were going to class together. He said every evening, it was like some kind of crazy show going on in the hotel bar. He said it was common to see strangers watching each other, odd meetings between obvious strangers, he even had a woman sit down at his table to ask him some odd questions before leaving. His suspicion was the hotel was being used as a training location by somebody’s school.
    I was walking down King Street in Alexandria (if you ever get the chance, check it out.) in January. It was 20 degrees outside and the nearby river just made it bone-chilling and nasty to be outside. I’ve been there many times and you often see strange people doing strange things. Guys who stick out or who are acting strange, lingering in unusual places. It’s a shopping area, so you expect to see people window browsing, eating in restaurants, and socializing. It’s interesting to watch. So this particular time, I was walking down the street past the Walgreens drugstore with one of my buddies. Out the door steps an Asian-looking man, 30s-ish, short hair, in a black wool overcoat. He’s got a coffee and a newspaper. I noticed him for no particular reason and I wouldn’t remember him otherwise, but a few minutes later we drove past and he was still there, leaning against the wall, holding the coffee and pretending to read the paper. It’s 20 degrees outside. Nobody is lingering outside and this guy stuck out like a red thumb. He might have been some random weirdo, but I assumed he was surveillance.
    It’s not a surprise. I used to work with a guy who used to be in counterintelligence and he told me once they have a training school up here. He told me they spent weeks practicing surveillance and surveillance detection, meetings, source handling, etc in public. He told me he got to know Baltimore intimately in the process.

    • Johnny Paratrooper October 16, 2020 at 17:13

      Yup. Welcome to the party.
      imagine spending 4 years hanging out on embassy row and drinking with all the diplomat corp from god knows how many different countries.
      BTW, that’s a 45 minute walk from where your friend was, and a 5-10 minute cab.
      FYI, The Israeli’s are the most fun. The Russians have the best looking women. The Chinese don’t talk to anyone. And you’ll never out drink a Korean. All the Africa Diplomats have a speakeasy under their bars. And Venezuelan women are WILD. Frankly though, the nicest people I ever met from the diplomat corp were the Caribbeans. They were very, very nice people.

      • Curious Passerby October 16, 2020 at 18:52

        It’s too bad the ratskellar went out of business. That was the best bar ever.

        You can’t outdrink a Korean, but they sure are fun to drink with. I got wrecked drinking with a Korean bar owner in Seoul. I would never have had as much as I did, but he kept it fun all night long. Drinking games and tricks and bets-I didn’t notice how long I was there or how many shots we ended up doing. He really knew how to put on a show.

        • Johnny Paratrooper October 17, 2020 at 12:46

          Good times.

  4. Shinmen Takezo October 16, 2020 at 15:14

    A great book on the dark arts and surveillence is “By Way Of Deception” by Victor Oftrofsky… ex Mossad agent.
    Easy to find in a librar

    • NC Scout October 16, 2020 at 15:23

      I’ve got a copy of it somewhere around here. Good book.

  5. Professor Spartan October 16, 2020 at 16:45

    One general rule of thumb is to be unpredictable. During business travel to middle eastern countries, depending on the threat level, we typically establish several routes of travel and utilize different times of travel to and from facilities from hotel and residential compounds. For example, 4 different travel patterns cycled through with random times of travel support unpredictability and help lower risk.

    Another good resource/read is 100 Deadly Skills by Clint Emerson. Definitely a recommended addition for the field craft section of your personal library.

  6. John October 18, 2020 at 09:49

    Take a look at Clint Emerson’s Escape the wolf. Good read

  7. Anonymous November 13, 2020 at 21:21

    4.5

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