The Motorcade at the Junction
You are running a two-vehicle movement: a principal vehicle (PV) with driver, principal and one close protection officer, and a follow vehicle (FV) with driver and two officers. It is 18:10, rain, heavy traffic. The route crosses a four-way junction controlled by lights. As the PV enters the junction on green, a motorcycle with two riders cuts across from the right and stops 3 metres from the PV's front-left quarter. The pillion rider is reaching into a jacket. The PV driver brakes hard. The FV is 25 metres back and blocked by a bus. Radio traffic is one officer shouting a licence plate.
1. What is happening, what are the immediate priorities, and what does each person do?
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What is happening. A vehicle-borne approach at close range, on the principal's side, with a concealed-hand movement. It may be a robbery, a protest, an accident, or an attack. I do not get to decide which before acting; I act on the most dangerous plausible explanation and downgrade as information arrives.
Priorities, in order:
- Create distance from the principal's side.
- Get the principal out of the junction, not out of the vehicle.
- Establish communication so the team acts as one body.
PV driver. Do not reverse blindly into traffic behind. Steer right and forward, away from the motorcycle, and drive out of the junction. The vehicle is the principal's best protection; leaving it in a junction in the rain is worse than moving.
PV close protection officer. Cover the principal, push him down and away from the near-side window, and watch the pillion rider. If the rider produces a weapon, the officer's decision to draw or fire turns on immediate threat to life and the backdrop behind the rider, which is a busy pavement. A shot into a crowd is its own catastrophe.
FV. The bus blocks the direct line. The FV driver finds a gap, does not force one, and the officers prepare to dismount only if the PV is stopped. Their job is to rejoin, not to charge into an unknown junction.
Radio. One voice, not three. The shout of a licence plate is fine, but the net needs three things: 'PV moving, principal secure, FV blocked at junction, we rendezvous at point Bravo.' Everything else waits.
2. The motorcycle follows. What is your decision framework for the next 60 seconds?
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A following motorcycle after a close approach is the moment to be deliberate rather than reactive.
Question 1: Is it a threat or a coincidence? A motorcycle in city traffic behind a car is unremarkable. What raises it: matching speed changes, closing on the principal's side, two riders with the pillion watching the PV, repeated attempts to come alongside. I watch behaviour over 20–30 seconds, not one frame.
Question 2: Can I break contact? The best outcome is distance without confrontation. Route changes: a turn the bike cannot easily follow, a bus lane, a garage entry, or a police station. I do not lead a possible attacker to the principal's destination.
Question 3: What is the destination risk? If we are 4 minutes from the venue and the bike is still with us, we do not arrive. We divert to a secure point, hold, and let the bike pass or be dealt with.
Decision triggers:
- Bike closes to within 10 metres on the principal's side: PV accelerates away, FV moves to block the bike's line if it can do so safely.
- Bike produces a weapon or a rider dismounts: immediate threat, officers act under use-of-force law, backdrop first.
- Bike peels off: we do not relax. We change route anyway and check for a second vehicle. Surveillance rarely comes alone.
Communication. FV is the eyes: it reports the bike's position and behaviour while PV drives. PV does not narrate; it drives and confirms instructions.
Afterwards. Police report if a crime occurred, full written account, and a review of whether the junction should have been crossed at all in that traffic. The lesson is route discipline, not heroics.