Executive protection
Executive Protection (EP) also known as Close Personal Protection or bodyguarding refers to security measures taken to ensure the safety of VIPs or other individuals who may be exposed to elevated personal risk because of their employment, celebrity status, wealth, associations or geographical location.[1]
Executive protection is its own highly specialized field within the private security industry. Elite executive protection professionals (aka "agents") will have specialized training in executive protection, driving, first aid, and marksmanship.[1]
The term executive protection was coined in the 1970s by the United States Secret Service when they created the Executive Protection Service to guard visiting foreign dignitaries.[2]
In the United States, executive protection services are regulated at state level and in most cases require licensing, insurance, training and a separate concealed carry permit. Also, importantly, The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (aka HR-218) does not serve as a license for off-duty law enforcement officers to provide executive protective services. Hiring unlicensed, uninsured protection services, including those offered by off-duty law enforcement officers, creates direct liability for the client.
Any bona fide executive protection firm should be able to provide a prospective client with their:
- State issued Corporate Business License
- State issued Registration to provide protective services
- Copy of current Liability Insurance
- Personal certificates of initial and on-going executive protection training for each agent
- State issued registrations to provide protective services for each agent
- State issued registrations allowing the agent to carry weapons for professional use. (HR-218 does not replace this document)
- State issued concealed carry permits for each agent (HR-218 may replace this document)
Protective measures may include home security systems, bodyguards, armored vehicles and vehicle scramble plans, mail screening, private jet travel, background checks for other employees, and other precautions.[3] Executive protection may also provide security for immediate and/or extended family members to prevent kidnapping and extortion.
Executive protection occasionally becomes an item of general public interest, usually when it fails. For example, controversy erupted over the amount and nature of protective measures provided to former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in late 2007.[4]
Notes
- ^ a b Zelvin, Elizabeth (2011-11-19). "Executive Protection". New York: Management Resources Ltd. http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2011/11/executive-protection.html.
- ^ June, Dale, Introduction to Executive Protection, page 86.
- ^ Duffy, Daintry. "The Six Things You Need to Know About Executive Protection". CSOonline, April 1, 2005. Accessed July 11, 2009.
- ^ Nessman, Ravi. "Lots of Security Before Speech, Little After Speech". ABC News, December 31, 2007.
References
- June, Dale (1998). Introduction to Executive Protection. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press. 978-0849381287.
- Oatman, Robert (2006). Executive Protection: New Solutions for a New Era. Baltimore, Md.: Noble House. 978-1561679423.
Further reading
- Braunig, Martha J. (1993). The Executive Protection Bible. Aspen, Colo.: ESI Education Development Corp. ISBN 9780964062702.
- De Becker, Gavin (2002). Fear Less: Real Truth About Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316085960.
- De Becker, Gavin (1997). The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316235020.
- De Becker, Gavin, Thomas A. Taylor, and Jeff Marquart (2008). Just 2 Seconds: Using Time and Space to Defeat Assassins: with a Compendium of Attacks against at-Risk Persons. Studio City, Calif.: Gavin de Becker Center for the Study and Reduction of Violence. ISBN 9780615214474. [www.just2seconds.org]
- De Becker, Gavin (1999). Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane). New York: Dial Press. ISBN 9780385333092.
- Karlin, Susan (November 8, 2007). "Covering Your Assets". Condé Nast Portfolio.
- Karlin, Susan (November 8, 2007). "How to Choose an Executive Protection Firm". Condé Nast Portfolio.
- Karlin, Susan (December 9, 2007). "The Secret Weapon of the Stars". ISRAEL21c.
- Kobetz, Richard W., ed. (1991). Providing Executive Protection. Berryville, Va.: Executive Protection Institute. ISBN 9780962841101, ISBN 9780962841118.
- Kobetz, Richard W., ed. (1994). Providing Executive Protection, Volume II. Berryville, Va.: Executive Protection Institute. ISBN 9780962841118.
- Oatman, Robert L. (1997). The Art of Executive Protection. Baltimore, Md.: Noble House. ISBN 9781561673841.
External links
Hire Top of the line EP Agents for rapid worldwide deployment protection at TheFirmEP.com.