A close protection officer, actually I should say “former” close protection officer, for former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, left her Glock 17 in the bathroom of a London Starbucks last Friday. The weapon was discovered by a citizen who thankfully called the Police instead of walking off with it. The Police then traced the [...]
The Wall Street Journal reported today that MVM Inc., a Virginia based security firm, lost its contract providing personal security details to the CIA in Iraq. According to the article, the agency’s decision not to re-award the PSD contract to MVM was based on MVM’s failure to provide the staffing levels as required by the [...]
Wired.com has a short article, complete with a diagram, about the composition of a motorcade. The motorcade described in the article is the type typically found in a national level motorcade. It’s a good read but recognize there’s some colorful descriptions of the functions of elements of the motorcade i.e.”armored division.” The article recognizes that [...]
In response to the alarming rise of kidnappings in Mexico, residents there are turning to implanting radio chips in their arms which will alert rescuers to their location. According to one source cited in the Times Online article, kidnapping in Mexico has surpassed Iraq and Colombia and now holds the distinction as the country with [...]
There’s two new bodyguard and executive protection books on the market which appear to be worthwhile reads:
“Just 2 Seconds”
“Just 2 Seconds” by Gavin DeBecker, Tom Taylor and Jeff Marquart. This book, which came highly recommended by a number of you, is a compendum of attacks against key persons from around the world with key lessons [...]
Police in Denver have scheduled a press conference this afternoon, Tuesday, to discuss an alleged plot to assassinate U.S. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic Presidential Nominee during his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention.
The plot involves four individuals described as members of the Aryan Brotherhood. The case is still under investigation but the plot [...]
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Every year Forbes looks at the cost of protecting the CEOs of major U.S. corporations and it’s that time again.
Leading the list again this year is Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle with a reported $1.7 million spent on personal security. Another returnee to the list is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com with $1.2 million and Leslie Wexner, CEO of Limited Brands with $1.25 million. You can read the Forbes list of the personal security big spenders by going to the Forbes website. While the list is interesting, the names of people not on the list are more interesting in my opinion.
Where’s the really, really, big money people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey etc…?
First off the Forbes list only contains CEOs of publicly traded corporations. So, why isn’t Bill Gates on this list? I suspect its because Mr. Gates pays for his own personal security, not his corporation which means the costs are not declared on corporate filings. A quick glance at Microsoft’s corporate filings doesn’t say much (remember I said quick, not thorough) about how much Microsoft spend on protecting Mr. Gates. I know one thing, they sure didn’t spend anything on protecting Steve Ballmer when someone threw stuff at him in Europe earlier this year. As far as Mr. Buffet goes, he’s an ordinary guy who doesn’t go for much personal security. Ms. Winfrey is the CEO of a privately held corporation and hence, doesn’t report the same expenditures as a publicly traded corporation.
You have to take the reports about expenditures on CEO security with a grain of salt. There’s different ways to report the expenditures. For example, if a CEO has a personal driver who is trained in evasive driving, is the driver a chauffeur or a security specialist? If a CEO travels to a board meeting abroad, is the security at the board meeting just for him or everyone present? If a CEO has to take a corporate aircraft to Mexico, as one example, is that for security purposes or business travel or both? All this simply means is that there are different categories for reporting these costs so its very hard to get an accurate picture. But does it matter?
At the end of the day, I’m not sure it really matters how much a firm spends on protecting their CEOs. Some of these executives are leaders in industries with a strategic
value to the U.S. and of course the same could be said about their
counterparts in foreign firms. Each one of them in their own way has
some symbolic value either as an American citizen or corporate leaders.
Clearly the costs from merely a business perspective, are more than worth it.
The Cost Of Protecting The CEO - Forbes.com
baalex @ September 6, 2008
The mayor of East Baton Rouge Parish Louisiana, Kip Holden, recently came under criticism for his use of Police bodyguards while performing his mayoral duties. The issue has come to the fore since this is an election year in East Baton Rouge Parish hence it has value to the mayors opponents. The mayor has a three member protective detail.
The mayor has defended his use of bodyguards as appropriate for the “world that we’re living in.” All three of the mayor’s opponents have claimed that they do not need Police bodyguards and left the impression that if elected, they will not use Police bodyguards.
The mayor has also come under fire for his use of a Lincoln Town Car as his official car. Its not clear whether the Police bodyguards also double as the mayor’s full time drivers although Mayor Holden did cite one occasion when he used a Police bodyguard for a driver.
Debates about whether a mayor needs Police protection or not are not new and frankly in this the mayor and his opponents are all wrong. Protecting the mayor, or anyone for that matter should be based on a threat assessment which in turn justifies or negates the need for executive protection. In the public sector, the need for executive protection, particularly at the state and local level is often times decided exclusively on cost, which appears to be the case here. However cost alone is only one consideration, not the only consideration. There’s nothing in this article which explains why the mayor needs personal protection. That’s not to say there isn’t a good reason for Police protection. This is exactly why someone needs to conduct a threat assessment to determine whether Police bodyguards for the mayor are justified by a valid i.e. credible and continual threat.
Secondly, the mayor’s opponents are equally naive if they think they can arbitrarily reject Police bodyguards now and for the future. There is absolutely no way to predict whether conditions in the future will warrant personal protection for the current mayor or his successors (whenever that might be). This is yet another reason why a threat assessment needs to be conducted. Executive Protection should be flexible enough to be adjusted as conditions warrant but that flexibility should not be driven by cost but again the threat. In any case, there has to be some basis for providing executive protection and that basis needs to be articulated. If it can’t be explained then maybe that means it isn’t warranted. Conversely speaking if you’re worried about money, you should be able to objectively measure how its being spent on protection and part of that process is a threat assessment.
The final point has to do with the mayor’s vehicle. The type of vehicle the mayor drives and his level of protection are interrelated issues, not separate and distinct. Executive transportation is one of the single most important aspects of executive protection. Whether the mayor drives a LincolnTown Car or a yellow school bus is not the issue. The issue should be, how vehicle selection impacts executive protection. Last week I wrote about how one department had to abandon well meaning
plans to use “green vehicles” as part of their executive protection
package. That’s a key lesson here: While budget is certainly a major consideration, its only one of many.
In case you’re wondering, no I’ve never been to East Baton Rouge and no, I don’t know the mayor or his opponents either.
2theadvocate.com | Suburban and State | Bodyguards an issue in mayor race — Baton Rouge, LA
baalex @ September 5, 2008
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Boxer Floyd Mayweather’s home was burglarized to the tune of $7 million USD last month and so far, there are no leads to any suspects. This story isn’t exactly our normal executive protection fare but I decided to run it because it demonstrates once again the vulnerability of professional athletes to crime. It also demonstrates how public displays of wealth on the part of professional athletes might contribute to being targets of crime. That’s not to say that other media and entertainment celebrities don’t suffer from the same proclivities but it appears that professional athletes are being targeted more frequently as a result of these public displays of wealth.
Apparently Mayweather appeared on MTV’s “Cribs” and displayed much of the jewelry during the show.Whether this played a role in the robbery remains unanswered at this point but if someone was taking bets, I’d bet the MTV appearance wasn’t the first time Mayweather either displayed the jewelry or bragged about it openly. Someone knew Mayweather’s residence was not going to be occupied that evening or at least knew enough about Mayweather and his personal life to take a chance on breaking in when they did. Whoever did this is probably a lot closer to Mayweather than he realizes.
Many assaults on professional athletes have occurred when those athletes raised their public profiles either by ostentatious displays of wealth i.e. cars or late night appearances at public venues such as clubs. No one can expect them to act like monks however with the ever increasing assaults on professional athletes it would be prudent on their part to invest as much in personal security as they do in their personal possessions.
Mayweather heisted for $7 million - UPI.com
baalex @ September 4, 2008
