The Personal Security Pocket Book

Book Review:

The Personal Security Pocket Book

By: Rupert Godesen

AUTHOR: The Personal SecurityPocket Book is written by Rupert Godesen. Rupert has been a soldier in the Reserves for over 23 years, he has served on operations in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan and travelled all over the world on exercises to teach and for pleasure. He has worked with the firm that trained the BBC to assist with their hostile environment training. For six years, he conducted courses in the United Kingdom, as well as for the World Service in Islamabad, Delhi, Nairobi and New York in this capacity before starting his own training company called HASP Training. The Personal Security Pocket Book is an informative guide that is illustrated throughout with images and infographics by Rupert himself and is a distillation of all of the author’s experiences and knowledge gleaned throughout his career.

WHO IT IS WRITTEN FOR: As a general primer, this pocketbook contains information for anyone who is planning travel overseas. The guide contains a lot of useful and common sense information that will serve beneficial to a broad spectrum of people. The guidebook follows a narrative from the first page and explores looking at ways travellers of all kinds -be they corporate lawyers, oil executives or gap year students- and ways they can mitigate potential risks to themselves while overseas.

TOPICS COVERED: General Travel Tips; Risk Management; Common Threats/Trends; Personal Security; Pre-Trip Planning; Living & Working in Unfamiliar Environments; Using an Interpreter Effectively; In Your Hotel; Out & About; Vehicle Security & Checkpoints; Weapons; Mines; Kidnap & Ransom; and miscellaneous Resources as such Medical kits; Grab bags, etc.

OVERVIEW: The small pocket guide contains some very useful information and can come in quite handy anytime one plans a trip overseas. A lot of the topics covered are based in common sense. However, common sense is not always common practice. For example, the author offers some very practical advice on how to hail a taxi in a foreign airport that one may not think of when actually faced with the situation. Suggesting tips like not following the driver into a dark parking lot and into the unknown and instead getting the driver to bring the cab around to the front of the terminal; agreeing to the price of the fare before you get in; and ensuring that the driver knows where he’s going so if he gets lost you have a strong argument for not getting ripped off for more money.

That said, there is also information that may not be commonly known or might not have been considered before. For instance, some countries, i.e. Russia, require an HIV/AIDS clearance certificates before entry. The guidebook can also be an entertaining read at times, especially when the author sprinkles in funny and informative anecdotes from his own travels and experiences. For instance, a good takeaway for any foreign visitor to the US is to have the name, address, and phone number of the US citizen who will be hosting you to avoid a third degree interrogation from immigration authorities upon entry, as the author did.

SUMMARY: Overall, this book is perfect for those who are not regulars to foreign travel and for the non-security minded. As an experienced security professional, this book should not prove to be too enlightening a read, but where it does have a place is a practical guidebook, which you can refer your clients to as essential reading before deploying to a hostile or unknown work environment.

This book can be purchased direct from Book Sellers via ISBN number: 978-1-874528-21-0, or Amazon & Ebay. It is also available as a free app download via the Military Pocket Books APP on the Apple App Store and Google Play, Amazon App Store for Android

The Conscientious Bodyguard

Given the nature of close protection and the conditions under which operators are expected to perform, it is imperative for those providing protective services to be highly developed, multi-disciplined individuals. However, beyond the obvious technical skills reqauired to execute well-drilled procedures, modern operators are expected to display more nuanced skills such as emotional intelligence, candour, judgement and resourcefulness to list but a few. So, how can understanding our personality type help us become better in our roles as close protection operatives? To answer this, we need to have a basic understanding of the factors influencing the various personality traits.

Stress and Self Care

Research by the American Psychological Association indicates that as many as 75-80 percent of Americans self-report their stress to be at moderate to high levels. Stress can come in many forms, and sometimes we may not even notice or seem bothered by it. So what constitutes stress? The normal daily routine of work or home responsibilities can cause stress, as can experiencing a sudden major life-altering event, such as losing a job, dealing with sudden loss, or a prolonged illness.

Church Security the New Frontier Part 3

I have many happy memories as a child going to church regularly being with my friends and family. One day however sticks out in my mind above all others. On this day, a man keeled over in the pew in front of me and the havoc that ensued is still clear in my memory… Emergency.

Since there are no guarantees that you will never be involved in an emergency, this article will help you to understand some of the things necessary to properly handle, or ideally help prevent, a crisis situation in a house of worship.

Countering Snipers Part 2

The first step in countering snipers is for everyone to be aware of the threat. This is where a threat assessment needs to be compiled and the realist threats need to be identified, if potential snipers are a threat then procedures need to be put in place.

In general, operational planning for a sniper threat should always be considered to some extent. Not only should counter sniper procedures be planned for but they need to be practiced, your people need to be trained at least in the basic reactions to fire and the use of cover, preferably before they are exposed to the sniper threat.

Insider Threat

The insider threat of crime to organisations is always present and can manifest itself in many ways. This has become more apparent because of the recent social-economic climate change within the UK.

Protecting Politicians

As recently as January of this year a man was jailed for a string of threating abuses against Mark Prisk, the MP for Hertford and Stortford. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the story around this attack is that Prisk was so fearful that he failed to attending a hustings. He is not the only MP who has had to change his course of action due to threats. In February last year Diane Abbott, who was suffering cyber-attacks claimed she was fearful of walking the streets of her own constituency.

The Personal Security Pocket Book

Book Review:

The Personal Security Pocket Book

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