Advances for Protective Details.....

There are many facets to properly planning for a Protective Detail, however none are more crucial than the “Advance”. The way you approach your advance Very well may be the deciding factor as to how successful you are.

The Agent that is doing the Advance should be one of the most experienced on the team. Hopefully, they will also have some specific skills they bring to the table. Specific Skills I look for are as follows:

 1.    Is the Agent Tactful & Diplomatic? In the private sector you do not have the luxury of being able to flash a shiny “badge and creds” to get what you want. You have to ask, and you better ask nicely, because any private establishment can turn you away causing a great deal of problems for your client if they want to visit said establishment.

2.    Is the Agent Experienced and Independent? Whomever that Agent is that is designated, needs to be able to make command decisions on site. If the host asks about a particular room for an event, dinner, or meeting, that Agent has to show that he/she is competent. By jumping on the phone with the Detail Leader every time a decision needs to be made will not instill confidence with your host. You Detail Leader is counting on your experience to make these command decisions. (Now of course if you screw up, it's all on you)

3.    Does the Agent have a presentable appearance? (Think Professional and Conservative). Whomever you are meeting with is no doubt going to be a supervisor/management of sorts. They are expected to dress professionally, and are going to expect the people they deal with to dress professionally. If you want to be treated like a Professional and given that respect, then you have to dress and act like one.

Additional skills you should be identifying are "Special Skills". These would include: 

1.    Long Range Precision Shooting; such as Sniper, or Designated Defensive Marksmanship training. Anyone that is qualified in this area will have a different perspective on venues, such as neighboring buildings, vantage points, or even where best a Sniper could be placed to take out your client. If this is available to you, then use it.

2.    Is the Agent an expert in the Geographical area? Not a requirement by any means, however, it’s a huge bonus, especially when you start thinking about route planning.

3.    Some other added skills that your Detail Members might have that you would want to identify are language skills, Scuba/Rescue Diver qualifications, Avid skiers, who know what good snow is versus bad snow, and even something as an Equestrian background. (Note: if you are in the Industry and have any of these specials skills, I would recommend making sure they are on your resumes).

Onto the meet!

Always schedule ahead if possible. Set a date and time to meet that is convenient to the host.

Depending on the type of venue you are dealing with. It is always a good idea to do your homework. Research the venue, it may even have some history to it, so that when you meet with your POC for your “Advance”, you already have a common denominator when it comes to small talk. It makes you relatable. An old Hotel for example, may have been used as something else through out the years, such as a Military hospital before it was converted over. It’s a great conversation starter.

On Hotels in particular, I do NOT recommend asking to meet with the Director of Security. I always ask people… Who do you usually ask for, and I hear over and over again... “The Director of Security”. Depending on who that Director of Security is, will absolutely determine how much you see of what you would actually like to see. When you approach the Director of Security, he holds all the cards. He now controls whom you meet, and he decides what he will allow you to see. Another way would be, meet with the General Manager, the Catering Manager, someone that actually has that higher “Pay Grade” than the Director of Security. Because now you will be introduced to that Director, however it will be someone of a higher “Pay Grade” making that introduction.

General Manage: Eric, I would like to introduce you to my Director of Security, Bob Johnson. Bob, please show Eric all that he needs to see, as he is coordinating a high level visit to our grand hotel and I want to make sure he has everything he needs to insure a successful visit.

That Director of Security basically had his boss, tell him to make himself available to anything that I need!

Now venues such as Restaurants are somewhat easier, mainly because they do not usually have anyone specific with the sole responsibility of “security”. Meaning, it is more than likely it is an additional duty for a “management type”, in which they are not properly trained to begin with. However same rules apply, if you can coordinate ahead of time with the GM or someone with an ownership stake, then they will be expecting you at a time that is more convenient for them which may make them more hospitable. Remember those “Specific Skills" I mentioned earlier, because they still come into play! I don’t care if you are advancing a McDonalds, you need to dress the part, meaning.. dress like a professional. That doesn’t always mean a Suit and Tie, but it needs to be Professional and Conservative.

On your Advance, you can make it as in depth as you want, however there are some things, that can’t be overlooked.

The following have to be identified:

1.    The “Drop”, Will it be a Strong-side drop or a weak-side drop?

2.    The Entrances and Exits. (Ingress & Egress)

3.    The Restrooms

4.    The Hard-point

5.    Parking/Is there a charge for parking?

6.    If so, do they validate? Who is going to handle that?

Now how about your Client wanting a night on the town, maybe wants to swing by an adult entertainment establishment. You are the advance, and you want to make sure everything is in order… This means you have to decide the area your client will be sitting in. They only have so many VIP areas in which you can reserve for your client, so how do you decide?

These are the little things, that you will encounter if you are doing advances. This particular diagram was actually done in preparation for a live detail. When trying to determine which VIP area, I preferred my client to take, I reserved the top left one. It gave a view of the stage I thought my client would enjoy. It was also close to the restroom and the back door egress area in case we needed to depart in a hurry. The VIP to the right, was just below the DJ Booth, in which I preferred not to have people in the DJ booth and drunk visitors having a vantage point over my client. And the VIP to the bottom was to far away from the stage. Without knowing how populated the actual bar gets, it would be taking a chance sitting him there, with his view possibly obstructed.

Lastly, whomever you appoint to do your Advances, and if they are doing up diagrams.. Make sure they are proficient enough to make it readable. Here is the original scribble before the final product that actually went into the Site Survey.

As I mentioned earlier, You can make your Advance as detailed as you want/need it to be, especially when making it into a Site Survey. If you are interested in learning more about Advances, This is a topic heavily covered in Select-International's Protective Detail Specialist Course.

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