The only thing consistent about protective services and extensive travel is that it is consistently inconsistent. The hours are often long, we are up before everyone else and go to bed after everyone else. If your client is a business executive with global responsibility it is always 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM somewhere in the world. So, often your sleeping and eating patterns can become significantly altered. By the time we start or end our day, many times the quality eating establishments may not be open or are already closed.
Dissecting the Gun Debate
One of the biggest reasons that gun discussions often don’t gain traction is the two sides are often comparing apples and rocks. Those who are for gun control are often discussing death and emotion, while those who are pro-gun may speak of technical aspects (semi-automatic vs. automatic) and entitlement (the 2nd Amendment).
Training for When Time is Life
The 21-foot rule has long been an established firearm training standard. Simply put, it means an average man can close 21feet in 1.5 seconds, as we look at the below data of attacks on law enforcement officers the previous standard far from reflects the reality of the dynamic encounters in both distance and timing in enhancing your ability to prevail in a violent close quarter firearm encounter.
Staffing an International Team
When it comes to staffing an international team, I have five major considerations I look for in the team’s composition: Operational Capability, Operational Chemistry, Operational Relevance, Operational Flexibility and Operational Capacity.
Why You Aren’t Working
Staffing a team is often as much about fit as it is function. It may not be a function of, does an agent have the skills to do a particular assignment, but can their ego stand down as they fill another role on the team, which may not be detail or shift leader?
Vehicles Used As Weapons
Religious extremist whether Al Qaeda or ISIS have long called for the use of Vehicles as Weapons even going back to 2010, when we saw an article in Inspire Magazine titled, “The Ultimate Mowing Machine.”
Human Intelligence Could You Be The Next Target?
When you step into a new role where you have routine access to classified information, have access to large amounts of cash or other assets/valuables, or deal with sensitive business information, you may become the target of human intelligence or HUMINT. In light of this, this article covers the different aspects of the threat of human intelligence to keep in mind from the point of view of a corporate setting or government contract.
In the Midst of Chaos
By now many of you have seen the photos and videos of the protestors turned rioters storming the US Capitol on the day of the Congressional Certification.
Leading for the Future – Excellence through Inspiration
Value-driven leadership doesn’t mean you tolerate underperformance, it just means excellence can be achieved with balance and inspiration and doesn’t require intimidation to garner results. As a leader, unless you have clarity in vision, you can never inspire others to follow. People don’t mind being led, as long as they know you understand where you are going.
Industry News At A Glance
We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here’s what’s appeared on the radar since the last issue.
TSCM in the Private Security Industry
The art of technically and physically searching for illicit bugs, and/or devices, is generally referred to as a Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM) inspection. A conventional TSCM inspection does not cover cyberspace but could detect illicit cyber devices attached to hardware or cabling infrastructure.
Industry News December 2020
We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here’s what’s appeared on the radar since the last issue.
At the Point of Crisis
Many of you will have seen the photo of the Dallas shooter outside of the Federal Building. Now ask yourself if this was your Office, School, or House of Worship how prepared would your company or institution be to recognize the signs of trouble as those Federal Officers did and deny access and ultimately defeat the shooter?
Industry News
We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here’s what’s appeared on the radar since the last issue.
Find Your Own Lane
Before you build your company’s or personal brand lets first take a moment to reconcile what branding is and how it differs from marketing. Branding is the process involved in creating a unique name and/or image for a product or service in the mind of the consumer. The goal of “Branding” is to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. What differentiated message have you created in the mind of your desired clientele?
10 Tips to a Healthier Life as a Protector
Recently, I was having a conversation with a fellow member of the clergy about his goal of becoming a Navy chaplain. To my shock and amazement, he told me that the Navy turned him down. When I asked ‘why,’ my friend admitted that it was because he had failed to meet the Navy’s physical fitness […]
The Future of Self Defence Training
Consider this, when broken down to its most basic components, the vast majority of traditional self-defence courses only teach defensive responses to an attack once it has begun.
I am of the opinion that’s not only a bit late, it’s also certainly not enough to survive a Mass Casualty Event in these days and times. In light of that, I have found that Reality-Based Self Defence (RBSD) systems take things a bit further by teaching pre-fight tactics such as: creating safe distance; using non-aggressive body language; reading pre-fight indicators; and applying verbal de-escalation techniques. Yet all of that is still not enough to effectively survive a terrorist attack in a public space, especially if you’re with family or friends.
Issue 59
Issue 59 – The challenges of protecting VIPs internationally.
When travelling overseas you need to recognize that, no matter how much you plan, you are going to have to make some decisions on the fly. This can be mitigated to a degree but flexibility and adaptability will have to become close friends for any protector looking for success.
Tiger Kidnapping
Over the years there have been many articles in Circuit Magazine about the kidnapping threat, and rightly so.
As we know, the danger of kidnapping is always a concern amongst high-level executives, especially when operating and traveling to some regions where kidnapping occurrences are more common. In this article, however, the topic is focused on one particular method of kidnapping, and that is what’s known as tiger kidnapping.
Managing Your Digital Footprint
In the world of protective services, we are often charged with the responsibility of having to manage and reconcile between safety and access for our protectees.
As business owners, employees, independent contractors or just private citizens we too are challenged with the dichotomy of managing our personal and professional lives on social media.
