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of facial muscles, or a slight shift of weight right before the attack. Whatever it is, we know it's beneficial when protectors can orient themselves and become familiar with the people in their environment for a period of time in advance of the protectee's arrival. Conversely, an attack that commences the instant a protectee comes into view gives fewer chances for protectors to detect the Pre-Incident iNdicators (PINs -- See The Gift of Fear for much more on PINS).

Twenty-Five Feet
    Stage Two of the TAD exercise repeats most of the series described above with the addition of a close-coverage protector positioned closer to the protectee and given the job of moving and/or blocking the protectee as soon as the attack is recognized. The exercise is first done with the protector 7 feet from his protectee, and then repeated with the protector within arm's reach of the protectee.

     
    The addition of a close-coverage protector substantially enhances protector success rates. With one protector focused on the protectee and another protector on the suspect, protectors will prevail virtually every time.
    However, when the protector is too far from the protectee, his ability to act effectively is profoundly reduced. Those words are not strong enough, because the fact is that if the protector is 25 or more feet from the protectee, he will have no impact on the outcome of an attack. TAD attackers are able to fire six perfectly aimed shots before the protector can cross those 25 feet and reach the protectee. The protector is simply too far away to get there in time to make a constructive difference.
    Let's clearly define this situation that offers attackers a success rate of 100%:
     
Protectee at center stage
One or more bodyguards in the wings at side-stage
No protectors near the attacker
    Those three conditions describe one of the most common real-world scenarios -- and they offer a nearly perfect situation for an attacker to succeed. Public appearances often occur at the center of large stages that result in forty feet of distance between the protectee and the nearest protector. Further, it's common that nobody is assigned near the general public at the front of the audience. Protectors, even many of them, might be posted in the wings, around the backstage area, and at other locations of secondary importance -- while the concern about appearances has compelled all but a few protected persons to resist allowing protectors to have front-stage posting.
    Since this situation offers attackers almost certain success, it leads to a critical tenet of effective protection: Have a protector at least as close to the protectee as is the nearest member of the general public. Stated differently, no member of the general public should ever be closer to a protectee than is a protector. Though the wisdom of this tenet is clear, it is frequently violated because protectees and their assorted advisors are so concerned about how things look.
    Risk can be substantially reduced if decision-makers are persuaded to have the speaker's podium set up at the far left or far right of the stage instead of in the center, allowing acceptable proximity to protectors positioned in the wings, and still having protectors out of view of the audience. This is completely practical for speeches. For protectees who are performers, it might sometimes be impractical since most perform from center-stage, or, even worse from our point of view, all over the stage. Still, we need to make it known that from a safety point of view, it's best to appear at the side rather than the center of the stage.
    When conditions dictate that protectors cannot be close to their protectees (as in the on-stage example), then the entire reliance is upon those protectors assigned to observe, assess, and respond to people who might attack from within crowds and audiences. As will be explored more later, safety is nearly assured when the set-up keeps the nearest members of the public more than 25 feet