A Surveillance Detection Route (SDR)

A Surveillance Detection Route (SDR) is one of the most important skills a spy ever learns.

I’ve written about SDRs in the past, but here’s the 30-second refresher…

If you had an important meeting with an asset, you wouldn’t go straight from Point A to Point B.

Why?

Well, if you were followed by hostile surveillance, you could get your asset killed and you could end up in jail or worse.

So, you would run an SDR and you might go to the coffee shop first or to the grocery store or to the gas station…

And then you would finally make your way to your final destination if you were sure you weren’t being followed.

But, how do make sure you aren’t followed?

There are 3 simple tests spies use.

First, is the Distance Test.

Let’s say you’re running your SDR and one of your planned stops is at the local gas station to pick up a drink.

As you’re grabbing a drink, you spot a shady looking fellow who just doesn’t blend in.

You commit his appearance to memory and make a note that he might be hostile surveillance.

If you go to a hot dog stand right next to the gas station and see the same guy at the hot dog stand…

That’s not a good enough indicator you’re being followed because the gas station and the hot dog stand are right next to each other.

But, if you drive 20 miles from that gas station to a coffee shop and you see the same guy at the coffee shop…

Then there’s obviously a solid chance you’re being followed because there’s a good distance from the gas station to the coffee shop (20 miles).

Test #2 is the Time Test.

Let’s say you’re meeting a very high-value asset so you’re running an 8-hour SDR.

(This means you’re going around the area for 8 hours to see if you can pick up surveillance before going to your final destination.)

So, at 9 am you decide to get a haircut and you see a person come in to also get their haircut.

This person raises some red flags for you, so you make a mental note of it.

Well, at 2 pm, you swing by the barbershop again, to ask the barbera question about what beard oil he recommends. (Remember, this is all pre-planned.)

As you exit the barbershop, you see the same fellow who was there at 9 am this morning.

Coincidence? Spies don’t believe in coincidences.

Again, major red flags since a lot of time have passed from 9 am when you saw the guy at the barbershop and 2 pm when he is there again.

Test #3 is the Direction Test.

This is an easy one to do.

Here’s a super-simple example.

You’re driving down the road and you think a car is following you.

So, you change direction and flip a U-turn.

If the car behind you suddenly makes a U-turn too, you know you’re being followed.

Now, I know you’re not James Bond in a foreign country…

But, criminals follow people too.

By using these 3 tests, you can tell if anyone might be following you home to try and do a home invasion or something else sinister.

P.S. This 3 Stage Defense Protocol shows you how to survive if hostile surveillance attacks you. It has happened and I’ll share some CIA stories another time of guys I know whom this happened to.

Stay safe,

Thank you,

V/r

David (Juggernaut) Thomas