Executive Protection and Intelligence Services

Board-mandated EP Program

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:44:10 +0000

Board-mandated EP Program rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:44

ESTABLISHING THE DECISION CRITERIA

Increasingly, corporate boards are considering EP programs for their top executives – and they are asking their chief security officers a number of tough questions.

Do we need an EP program for our principals? Which criteria should we use to make the decision? Can we benchmark EP with other companies? If we do decide to mandate it, what should such a program include, and what are our options for setting up the program?

Unlike many other corporate decisions, the path to a board- mandated EP program is not something you learn about in business school. Corporate security officers and managers are hard-pressed to recommend the right EP program, and they sometimes find it difficult to discuss the importance of EP with their principals and the principals’ staffs. Here’s what one company did to better understand their options.

The challenge: We were referred to the chief security officer of a Fortune 500 company whose board was considering an EP program for its key executives.

Before mandating such a program, the board wanted to learn more about what an EP program actually is, which alternatives it should study when deciding the character of the program, how it could be organized, and of course, how much it would cost. The chief security officer asked us, on a consultant basis, to lay out its options.

Could ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services prepare a report that would allow the board to decide whether or not – and how – to mandate an EP program?

The solution: Based on our experience with other Fortune 500 companies in related industries, we were able to create an overview that described best practice and common practices – and the difference between them.

We described the various elements of a solid EP program, how each of the elements adds value to the organization, and how they work together in a systematic approach.

We outlined a number of alternative solutions and examined the budget consequences of each alternative. We developed a full set of options, including organizational charts, KPIs and customizations for implementing the alternatives incrementally or all at once.

The report also illustrated the importance of managing expectations and relationships between the principals, their support staff and other corporate departments in order to best set up the organization for success.

The result: The report facilitated well-informed discussions between the board, the relevant principals and the corporate security organization.

The chief security officer now has a clear idea of his options in setting up a viable EP program. The board has the information it needs in order to make a decision about mandating such a program. And the principals are better able to express their expectations and demands regarding a protection program.

A trip to Brazil reverses the principal’s objections to EP

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:43:49 +0000

A trip to Brazil reverses the principal’s objections to EP rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:43

We’re often approached by security directors who require protection for someone in their C-suite, but the principal wants nothing to do with executive protection.

The reasons for such resistance can be many but typically fall into four categories: preconceived, negative notions of intrusive protection; previous bad experiences with EP; a conviction that EP is unnecessary for them; and a belief that it’s too expensive and not worth the cost.

In this case, the principal had been provided with protection agents and security drivers by other companies on a number of previous trips, and had been turned off by their invasive, pushy demeanor.

The challenge: Overcoming a principal’s resistance to executive protection.

Our client’s security director was frustrated and concerned. One of his principals was scheduled for a trip to Brazil that would include traveling to high-risk areas, but the principal had time and again refused to use any kind of executive protection, and had no intention of changing his mind for this particular trip.

The problem was that the principal had previously felt imposed upon by security agents and drivers on other trips, and the experience had left such a bad impression that he refused to acquiesce to the security department’s recommendations, even though the itinerary called for it.

The security director approached us: Could ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services set up a security detail that would be acceptable to the principal – and still provide much-needed protection during a trip to rural Brazil?

The solution: Careful understanding of the principal’s preferences, and unobtrusive tailor-made protection.

We worked with the client to better understand the principal’s personal preferences, and discovered that while he recognized the need for security, he simply didn’t want to see it around him. He prized his personal space, and abhorred the thought of sharing it with burly toughs in sunglasses. He was willing to “put up” with security only if it was all but invisible.

To meet the principal’s wishes while mitigating predictable risks, our project coordinator decided on a two-pronged approach that involved people and planning. This was important, especially concerning the highest-risk elements of this particular trip, which involved travel by car through several dodgy areas.

We hand-picked the drivers and agents best suited for the job, then devised a tactical plan that placed agents in vehicles in front and behind the principal’s, but never right next to him. The security was tight, but hard to spot unless you were looking for it.

The result: A satisfied traveler who is now a regular customer.

Once again, clearly articulated expectations were the first step to desired results.

By briefing the Brazilian team on the kind of people we wanted, then working with them to devise a tactical plan that respected the client’s preferences, the trip went off smoothly and the principal never had reason to notice the heightened protection level.

He completed his business in Brazil without incident, and upon his return to the US let the security director know that that was how he would prefer his security to be provided. Since then, we have had the opportunity to serve the same principal on other trips – and to demonstrate that executive protection can only truly work when it respects the personal preferences of those we protect.

A productive trip to Morocco – in the middle of a general strike

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:41:12 +0000

A productive trip to Morocco – in the middle of a general strike rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:41

Smooth travel logistics is one of the key building blocks of good executive protection. It enables principals to concentrate on the business rather than on the details of getting from A to B. It lets executives pack more meetings and more places into less time. And it always puts productivity front and center without ever compromising security.

While the logistical benefits of executive protection are clear even during a routine commute from home to the office, they become even more apparent on trips to emerging markets. In many of these countries, traffic accidents are still a major cause of death and injury, so the elevated risks of the road are one reason to leave the driving to specially trained and vetted professionals. But security knowhow, local knowledge and networks, and cultural and linguistic fluency also combine to facilitate trips to emerging markets in other ways, too.

The challenge: Get the principals to their meetings despite a general strike that cut off traffic to the airport.

Our principals had plans to travel to Morocco when labor unions there called for a general strike of public and private sector workers. While general strikes in the North African country had only limited effect in 2014, prior to that they had created considerable unrest. The call for labor action came at a sensitive time: a string of government reforms had triggered numerous protests and tensions were high. The day of the strike happened to be the day our client had planned to arrive. To make matters worse, taxi drivers announced plans to blockade traffic to and from the airport to which our principals were arriving.

Due to scheduling constraints, however, our client was intent on carrying out the trip if possible. They contacted ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services to ask us to find a way to make the trip possible, despite the strike that threatened to paralyze the country.

The solution: Use local knowhow and networks to determine risk, then find the path of least resistance.

The first thing our operations team did was to reach out to our contacts in Morocco to get a clear picture of the situation and its risks. Our intelligence sources assured us that although the strike would create numerous inconveniences, the likelihood of any violence was low, and that the itinerary our client had planned would keep them well out of harm’s way.

The question of getting from the airport to the city was another matter. Cab drivers were expected to block the main roads to and from the airport in order to enforce the strike; gridlock on the usual routes was inevitable, and “cabs” who attempted to break the blockade would not be well seen. Our local Moroccan partners had good contacts throughout the city, however, and were able to select several alternative routes that would allow us to securely move the principals between the airport and meeting locations without provoking or running into any trouble.

The result: A safe, productive trip despite a difficult situation.

Our client was able to complete the trip as planned and without any real inconvenience, taking care of business despite the disruptions that marked the city.

The vetted security driver we assigned to the job was a seasoned pro with excellent knowledge of local conditions and a strong network. He was able to move the principals from the airport into the city, between the hotel and meetings, and back to the airport – all as planned.

After finishing the Moroccan leg of their trip as originally scheduled, the client then moved on to the next country.

Opening a new subsidiary in the most dangerous city in the world

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:39:15 +0000

Opening a new subsidiary in the most dangerous city in the world rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:39

As an international executive protection company, we go where our clients need to go – and do what it takes to keep them safe, happy and productive. We normally work on either a project basis or through embedded programs in which we place executive protection agents/managers and intelligence analysts within the client organization. But sometimes the client’s needs are so wide-ranging that other solutions are required.

In this case, that involved setting up a new subsidiary in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a region known for a high rate of violent crime.

The challenge: Start up a new executive protection subsidiary in a gang-infested area of Central America.

Our client, a company with sales and distribution worldwide, maintains a number of facilities throughout Central America, where we have provided them with executive protection services for several years.

In 2015, the client asked us to set up a fully-owned subsidiary of ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services in Honduras. The client’s activities there had reached a scale that justified having our own, full-time staff in terms of both protective quality and cost management. The preferred location was San Pedro Sula, a city so beset by gang violence that it consistently places at the “top” of the list of the world’s most dangerous places, with one of the highest murder rates on the planet.

In addition to the complications of setting up a legal entity in Honduras, a special set of challenges loomed largely: finding reliable staff in a city so dominated by gangs, and rapidly bringing the new company’s performance and quality standards up to our stringent international level.

The solution: Exhaustive background checks, extensive training, international management and ongoing third-party controls.

Our first order of business was to put a manager in place who had international and local security experience, a person with both Honduran and US cultural competencies.

As part of our agreement with the client, we took over an existing Honduran security company and built on top of that. We quickly had to decide which staff to keep and which to let go. Being “clean” and free of any relationships with gangs was of primary importance for this and all subsequent recruitment, so we developed a program of exhaustive background checks and drug testing combined with expert polygraph testing by an independent third party flown in from abroad.

Lifting the Honduran team’s operational readiness to our international standard was another key priority. We did this through intensive training in the hard and soft skills that are critical to our profession.

Finally, we had to improve security for ourselves. Like any other business in San Pedro Sula, this included hardening the perimeter and shell of our offices, and providing some of our own security professionals with executive protection. It’s that kind of town.

The result: A fully functioning security operation that lives up to the highest international standards – in months.

Our Honduran team currently counts 45 full-time staff, all of whom have passed, and continue to pass, ongoing background, drug and polygraph testing.

The team provides the highest standard of executive protection services for our client and their many guests from abroad. And now also offers similar protection to other clients whose business takes them to Honduras and the rest of Central America.

Quantum leap in intelligence analysis capacity within three months

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:38:05 +0000

Quantum leap in intelligence analysis capacity within three months rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:38

Our executive protection services depend on up-to-date information to stay abreast of emerging risks to our principals wherever they might travel. So, it’s no wonder we rely on many sources – including our broad network of on the ground eyes, ears and minds – to predict, prevent and mitigate threats to our principals. Indeed, our most comprehensive EP programs have dedicated intelligence analysts as part of the team.

But intelligence analysis has a wide range of benefits that are applicable to other corporate objectives, too. Managers rely on intelligence reports to ensure the well-being of employees, business continuity, regulatory compliance, reputation and more. That is why intelligence analysis is a growing part of our business.

The challenge: Ramp up a corporate intelligence analysis program fast.

Our client is a Fortune 500 corporation with global reach and a complex, international supply chain. An internal review determined that intelligence regarding their far-flung net of factories across a wide swath of emerging markets left much to be desired.

In addition to duty of care toward their thousands of employees traveling around the world every day, they realized the need to better understand the dynamic and interdependent effects that myriad issues – political, economic, climate-related, etc. – could have on their businesses at local, national, regional and global levels. The one intelligence analyst currently trying to keep an eye on developments in the nearly 50 countries where the company had manufacturing could not keep up.

The company’s HR experts were not geared to this specialized niche, so they approached us with an ambitious brief and a tight deadline: Could ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services help the company set up a world-class corporate intelligence analysis program within three months?

The solution: Provide a top-notch talent pool and tailor-made training.

After consulting with the client on program objectives and operations, we quickly set about identifying relevant talent profiles in order to provide the client with a good selection of carefully vetted candidates. Drawing on our network and industry insight – and with our intel experts working closely with the client and our recruitment manager – we were able to present the client with shortlists for each position, enabling the company to fill ten new positions within three months.

In parallel with recruitment activities we developed operational standards and a dedicated training program so that the new recruits could quickly gel into a team that delivered results. Two guiding principles were especially important here:

First, the program must live up to best practices within the intelligence analyst industry in order to deliver the highest standard of actionable intelligence in a consistently reliable way.
Second, the program must be a true expression of the company’s unique culture and value set, for only in this way would it align with corporate practices and earn the influence which managers deemed so important for its success.

The result: A fully functioning program in months, not years.

Recruitment began as soon as the client approved our recommendations, and ran from mid-May into June. Within weeks, we were able to present the first group of approved, vetted candidates that lived up to the client’s and our demands. Onboarding was completed by August, when the first training sessions also took place.

The corporate intelligence analysis team now counts roughly a dozen analysts, and works as planned to provide departmental and divisional managers with timely reports that improve decision making across the company. We continue to provide training and consultancy as the program matures.

Helping a client stay safe and make good decisions when all hell breaks loose

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:37:06 +0000

Helping a client stay safe and make good decisions when all hell breaks loose rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:37

We provide secure travel logistics for our clients so they can maintain their productivity and well-being wherever their interests take them. While our managers and agents always train and prepare for the worst, in normal circumstances good planning and procedures allow us to provide our principals with seamless transportation and security that they hardly notice as they move about their day.

The November 2015 Paris attacks were anything but normal circumstances, however. As it happens, we were there with a client entourage when six separate terrorist attacks shook the French capital – and threw the city into a deep state of shock and near paralysis.

The challenge: Keep our client safe and on top of events in a rapidly deteriorating security environment.

Our client, a US-based corporation with operations worldwide, had planned the major conference in Paris for many months. In attendance were thousands of stakeholders from around Europe and the rest of the world as well as the company’s top management.

When all hell broke loose on the evening of November 13th and terrorists killed 130 people, the conference was in full swing. The conference hotel was located between several of the attack locations.

In such chaotic circumstances the first priority is of course client safety. For us, in this case, this was the company’s top managers and their families. But accessing reliable information about what is happening quickly becomes critical, too, for without this, informed decisions are impossible. So, the client asked us to use our local contacts to get all the information we could to enable better decision making.

The solution: Risk mitigation and avoidance – and intensive intelligence gathering.

While our primary focus continued to be keeping our principals out of harm’s way, intelligence gathering soon became essential as well.

Within half an hour, Paris was rocked by six deadly assaults at locations across the city. No one knew whether these attacks were just the beginning or whether more would follow. Police closed some streets soon after, while others remained open. Information on what had happened and official responses emerged piecemeal through the night through social media posts and media reports.

Drawing on our contacts within the Parisian police and the French government, we were able to stay ahead of the information curve to keep the client updated and enable timely, well-informed decisions.

The result: A shortened conference and a shaken but relieved client.

Fortunately, none of the company’s participants were hurt in one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent history. As the night wore on and our intelligence gathering continued apace, the client decided to cancel the rest of the conference: general security and transportation were too unsure to risk sending thousands to a conference. Because we could combine information from our own sources with what was available through the media, the client was able to do make this difficult decision calmly and based on the best available facts, and implement it in a controlled way. Our principal decided to stay for the length of the originally planned trip. As much of Paris was locked down, including important Metro lines and buses, the client was able to make good use of the security drivers we had in place over the next few days – and the best out of a bad situation.

Arranging a trip on the fly to a restricted military airport in India

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:36:42 +0000

Arranging a trip on the fly to a restricted military airport in India rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:36

For our principals, the so-called work/life balance is different than many people. They work a lot, some would say constantly. They have a profound sense of purpose and truly enjoy what they do, so the distinctions between “business and pleasure” are seldom black and white.

The incredible productivity of our principals depends not only on good planning or isolated stretches of downtime, but also on an ability to combine days on end of hectic business activity with the capacity to smell the roses along the way. As this case illustrates, good international EP facilitates all of this.

The challenge: Arrange a private trip to a restricted Indian military airport within 12 hours.

The day before our principal was scheduled to fly into Delhi for an intense round of meetings, a strong wish took hold: wouldn’t it be great to see the Taj Mahal for the first time? The chance of visiting this, one of the wonders of the world, seemed just too good to pass up.

With some massaging, the team could free up most of a day, two days hence, from meetings. The rest seemed simple: they were traveling on the corporate jet, and their US based travel team believed it would be no problem to fly from Delhi to Agra, where the Taj is located, and back in the same day. They called ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services to arrange for extra EP agents in Agra to be on the ground the day after next.

When ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services Indian managers pointed out that the Agra Airport was also a military facility with restricted access for private aircraft – and did not issue landing permits for foreign-registered aircraft at all – the client’s team remained confident that they would sort it out. After spending a day trying to do so, they called us back: Could ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services find a way that the principal and his entourage could fly in and out of Agra Airport – tomorrow? We had 24 hours to arrange everything, and a window of 12 hours to secure landing permits or cancel the trip.

The solution: Work the network as it's never been worked before.

India is known for many things, from astounding cultural heritage to intense religious devotion and marvelous cuisine. Among international business people, it also has something of a reputation for time-consuming bureaucracy and travel logistics that are variously described as “difficult” to “harrowing”. This trip would prove to demonstrate the best and worst of all of the above.

As getting a foreign plane into Agra was out of the question, our first order of business was to charter an India-registered Gulfstream. That was the easy part. The more difficult task was getting a landing permit into Agra, a process that even in the best circumstances takes at least seven working days. By that point, we had less than 12 hours. Using their networks in the aviation industry and government, ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services’s Indian team was able to get a landing permit for the plane and its passengers on time – and without any issues – and make the trip possible.

The result: A "miracle" behind the scenes and a great day for the client.

The principal’s group flew from Delhi to Agra the next morning and had an amazing day experiencing some of the best that India has to offer. In addition to extra security in Agra, we also arranged several types of ground transportation, an expert guide and a gourmet lunch. Everything went off without a hitch.

To this day, many within our Indian network, even those who helped us do it, still consider it miraculous that we managed to get the necessary flight permits. We know we can’t make miracles happen every day, but we are convinced that the networks we maintain worldwide make them just a little more likely.

EP and Travel Logistics

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:34:37 +0000

EP and Travel Logistics rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:34

At ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services, helping our clients getting from A to B is something we put a lot of effort into.

Keeping them safe as they move around the country and the world is our first priority, of course. But smooth travel logistics does more than that. It allows our principals to make the most of their time wherever they go. By keeping their focus on running their business rather than running around looking for taxis, hotels and the next meeting, they get more done even when they are on the road.

Ultimately, our goal is to replace the burden of travel with an experience that keeps them safe, productive – and even happy – when moving from A to B and beyond.

The challenge: Our client, a high-profile chief executive at a high-profile Fortune 500 company, was planning a major trip that would take him to five countries spread throughout Asia.

In addition to a wide variety of meetings with subsidiaries and customers, our principal had also been invited to a number of tête-à-têtes with the highest level of government in the capitals he planned to visit. More than 25 company executives were also included in the itinerary, as they would be participating in key meetings and a number of offsite events. Finally, the CEO wanted to take a short personal vacation while in the region.

The solution: Drawing on a number of internal and external resources, we configured a team capable of delivering seamless secure travel across Asia.

The team integrated our own EP agents embedded at the client’s with in-country security and logistics providers. Full-time EP professionals already working for the client were designated as detail leaders.

The itinerary was complex. The first two countries each required support in two separate cities; in the final three countries, the entourage increased by up to 25 additional high-level travelers.

In order to provide the client with a consistent and familiar travel experience, we “leap-frogged” agents between destinations. Our staff did advance work at all stops to make sure that local assets were vetted and in place, and ready to deliver according to objectives.

We created a support matrix across the entire team so that everyone involved could easily understand the plan and their roles, ensuring reliable and efficient delivery.

The results: The trip was highly successful for our client.

All travelers accomplished their planned goals, and we managed to stick to the ambitious itinerary despite a few unforeseen incidents. Our team easily handled the few minor illnesses that slowed down several company travelers. We quickly resolved a customs issue that interrupted the journey for one of our highest-level participants and could have turned into a frustrating experience.

Even though the itinerary was complex and complicated by the large entourage and the multiple agendas and destinations, the trip went off without a hitch.

Medical evacuation from Northern Yemen

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:33:55 +0000

Medical evacuation from Northern Yemen rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:33

We help clients with emergency evacuations practically every year, and 2014 was no exception.

Moving people from an unsecured location quickly, safely and discreetly is always a challenge. Medical evacuations from areas of unrest can be even more complex – especially when cultural and linguistic barriers are added to the equation. And when all these things came together in northern Yemen at the height of an armed insurgency, things really got interesting.'

The challenge: We were requested to evacuate a family and three other individuals from a town in northern Yemen to the capital, Sana’a.

Three of the five family members had been hurt in a serious traffic accident, were hospitalized, and required constant medical attention. With injuries ranging from a rib fracture to a broken ankle, leg and pelvis – and a serious concussion – the family was in no shape to make a move on their own.

And yet move they must. Houthi rebels were stepping up their armed insurgency, and fierce battles were raging between the rebels and government forces around the town where the family was hospitalized.

Intensified fighting had grounded all ambulances from the hospital in northern Yemen. Similarly, the hospital in Sana’a would not allow its ambulances to leave town under any circumstances due to the deteriorating security situation.

The solution: Our first order of business was to secure ambulances that were capable of making the drive to the capital, a four-hour journey when conditions were good; now, the road between the town and Sana’a, more than 100 miles (170 km) away was marked by intense fighting and numerous roadblocks.

We then arranged two vehicles for the evacuees who did not need ambulance transportation, and two armed advance units as well as armed follow units to provide protection.

We communicated with the family head, who only spoke Arabic, via an asset in Lebanon.

At the agreed pick-up time, fighting between government forces and rebels erupted in the area, effectively preventing our team from reaching the hospital. We had to wait until the following day and make a second attempt. When the team finally arrived at the hospital, matters were further complicated by the family head, who insisted on going to a nearby mosque to pray before leaving. After prayer, he insisted that he and the family find a place to eat prior to departure.

Our transfer window was closing fast: the route to Sana’a wound along through mountainous roads and was extremely unsafe to travel after dark. Even though our team included a local interpreter who could help clear our journey through the tribal roadblocks along the way, at night we could be mistaken for government forces or rebel troops, and attacked by either. Finally, by threatening to abandon the evacuation and leave the family behind, our team succeeded in convincing the principal to allow his family to get in the ambulances and leave.

The result: Once we got under way, the evacuation went off as planned.

Six hours later, the patients were resting in clean beds at a better hospital in Sana’a. Three days later, the family left Yemen.

Why the delay before we were to leave? We learned from our Lebanese asset that it was all about saving face. The family head had understandably been very upset when we began discussing evacuation details with him a few days before our arrival in the northern town – and had shed some tears as he described the family’s plight. Once we got there with our armed entourage, however, he felt reassured – and compelled to “gain face” by demonstrating that he was unafraid and in no hurry to leave.

Our team, on the other hand, had a healthy sense of fear and every reason to get out as soon as possible!

Setting up, training and maintaining a covert EP and surveillance detection program to provide top-notch security

rob@sourcestrike.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:26:29 +0000

Setting up, training and maintaining a covert EP and surveillance detection program to provide top-notch security rob@sourcestrike.com Wed, 02/03/2021 - 14:26

We regularly work with high net worth individuals, families and their offices. In many ways, the EP and security needs of these prominent families are similar to those of corporations. After all, these high net worth individuals are often founders of highly successful companies, and in that sense share many characteristics with the C-suite principals for whom we typically provide EP.

In important ways, however, families are not the same as corporations, and neither are their protection needs. Parents would rather their children not notice the added security, as that might make them afraid. Affluent families are first and foremost families, and want to do what families do without extra people hovering about nearby. Interestingly, we see the same tendency in more and more corporations, who also are beginning to prefer a more covert protection style for their executives.

The challenge: We were asked to provide a personal protection program for a prominent high net worth individual that integrated work-related EP with 24/7 protection of his family.

In addition to the family’s prominence, they had also received direct threats.

Our work began with an assessment that identified probable risks (hostile groups and individuals) and then matched these against a vulnerability evaluation of the principal and his family as they moved through their lives.

We then designed a protective program to optimize the family’s security, and matched it to the family’s lifestyle and personal preferences. It was here that this case becomes more than “just another EP program” – but in many ways a typical ��ϲʹ��® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services project. The family just wanted to get on with its life as normally as possible, and did not want to be encumbered in any way, or noticed for its protection. In fact, they required that the EP program basically be invisible to family members as well as the press, colleagues and general public – and still highly effective.

The solution: Based on the probable threats and vulnerabilities discovered in our Risk, Threat and Vulnerability Analysis (RTVA) process, we created a security master plan including all preventative and emergency procedures.

This made for an effective protective program that plugs security vulnerabilities while maintaining the principals’ feelings of freedom and privacy – all while being invisible to both the trained and untrained eye.

The solution is based on a combination of covert EP and surveillance detection teams. The covert EP team is tasked with staying “within the bubble,” unnoticed by the family and anyone else, and looking out to identify threats as early as possible and to create time and distance between the threat and principals. The surveillance detection team is tasked with staying “outside the bubble,” unnoticed by anyone at all, and looking in toward the bubble in order to observe who might be observing the principals – and relaying this information to the EP team as the result of data analysis or in real time; and in the instance of an actual hostile act, intercepting the perpetrators as soon as possible.

Once the tasks were defined, and not before, we helped hire suitable professionals for each specialist role. We even field-tested candidates to assess their integrity, ability to make decisions under pressure, and initiative. Team training has been a critical part of the program’s success. After recruitment, the two teams completed two separate, task specific foundation classes on a pass/fail basis.

The result: We are now well into program implementation, and are happy to report that we satisfy all principal and shareholder requirements.

We have created two small yet highly specialized protective details consisting of quality men and women who perform truly covert executive protection and surveillance detection. This results in an effective security system that is unnoticed by the principals and the public eye.

The combination of the covert EP and surveillance detection teams is powerful, and gives us a tactical advantage that is exceptionally strong. With traditional overt EP, persons of interest can identify vulnerabilities in our visible protection in order to circumvent it and get to the target; when we combine covert EP with surveillance detection, the perpetrators don’t see our protection, and our team can seemingly emerge out of thin air to surprise them and stop attacks earlier and farther away.

Quarterly, we deliver enrichment and refresher training for all team members to sharpen existing skills, add new skills and methods as operations require, and continue their professional development.