Bodyguards: How to Protect Others - Basic Course

By Michael J. Franklin

This is a basic bodyguarding course. It's written in a manner to teach basic skills to those who are starting out in the profession, those who want to increase their knowledge and also gives an in-depth look as to what bodyguards are expected to do, the people they work for and the intruders that they protect them from with hundreds of questions to check understanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael J. Franklin
• Release date: Nov 2, 2010
• ISBN: 9783941101135

Michael J. Franklin

Michael J. Franklin is a graduate of the Canadian Forces School of Intelligence and Security (Protective Services), The Royal Military Police Close Protection Wing and The German National Police (BKA-Personenschutz) Close Protection School. Over the past 25 years he has taught Close Protection Skills, Tactics and Planning, International Law, Security Related Technologies, Vulnerability Studies, Threat Assessments, Weapons, Explosives, IED Searching Techniques, Offensive, Defensive and Tactical Close Protection Driving Skills. He has been personally involved in protecting the world‘s elite for over 35 years

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Introduction

Synonyms for bodyguard:

A bodyguard, escort, defender, guardian, protector, shielder, bullet catcher, close protection officer and CPO

Synonyms for a team of bodyguards:

A detachment, a detail, a wing, a unit or a team of bodyguards

Synonyms for The Boss:

Protected person, VIP, client, sun-ray, moon-beam, the package

The usages for these words are: Some who is protected by a bodyguard or a team of bodyguards

Unfortunately, the word Bodyguard does tend to conjure up images of huge unprofessional muscled men waiting to do people harm. Professional Bodyguards have spent years trying to distance themselves from being called Bodyguards and the inevitable bad images the word denotes and have instead opted for other titles such as Executive Security Specialist, Close Protection Officer, and Protection Agents etc. This in no way means that we don't make a difference. There is a difference, and a large one at that. However, to provide originality for the purposes of this book we have used the internationally known and accepted word for someone who protects others: a Bodyguard. Even William Shakespeare said that a rose is a rose, even by another name!

The term Boss or the Boss has ties to the criminal world and also has a negative tone to it. The dictionary definition of the word means crime boss. Again it's for originality that we have chosen this word, not to insult anyone or to suggest in any way that the people you (we) protect are in anyway dishonest or criminally motivated. If any reader would find the wording demeaning or insulting, we do apologise.

No monetary value can be placed on human life and the role of a professional bodyguard (BG) has grown to entail much more than an intimidating demeanour. The way of the world is changing as violence is escalating, with many of us becoming suspicious of others' intentions. Therefore the demand for professional bodyguards has risen globally; they are progressively developing into master strategists as they blend into their environment. A bodyguard's main skill is dealing with emergencies and yet he is highly trained in problem avoidance. If a threat turns real, they will go to the necessary lengths to protect their Boss. Unarmed combat, firearm expertise, defensive driving, anti-terrorism and dispute resolution are but a part of their skills and if you think it’s all guns and glitz, then think again. This complete bodyguarding series will not only educate those that are interested in the occupation as a profession but it will also open the eyes of every reader to the reality of the role and give them a taste of the professional bodyguard’s life. If you are interested in becoming a professional bodyguard, taking a behind-the-scenes peek at the profession or sharpening your bodyguarding techniques, then this complete guide is for you. Over the course of the series we will uncover the strategic methodology, vital assessment of situations and surroundings and ultimately how to protect your Boss, allowing you, the reader, to fully sense the profession.

The basics form a solid foundation, on which a tower of strength can be constructed and they will be thoroughly explored so that you have a full understanding of how complex and demanding the occupation can be. We will relate these techniques to real-life situations both from a journalistic point of view, with newspaper clippings and articles included and from Mike's life as a professional bodyguard. Mike has protected royalty, international diplomats, military generals, tycoons, industrialists, sports icons, entertainment personalities and threatened people worldwide. His passion for his occupation is noted throughout his role’s depiction.

Bodyguards protect people who through their own energies and activities have made themselves a focal point of society and not always in a positive light. On occasion they attract unwanted attention from those that wish to destroy them and this is where Mike and professional bodyguards globally come in. Could it be that loyal, honest and well-intending people need bulletproof glass and bodyguards?

Being around the rich and powerful is very addictive, they possess an enigma and those that are not properly prepared and trained for it are consumed and destroyed. Close Protection and the bodyguard’s personal life usually collide, with one suffering at the expense of the other. It is an extremely taxing occupation and if at the end of a working day you are physically and mentally exhausted then you have successfully completed your job.

Chapter One

Get the best people and train them well. – Scott McNealy

The Basic Aspects of Protecting Others

Chapter 1.1 - The Players

The players in the very serious game of Professional Close Personal Protection are the Bodyguards (BGs), the Bosses (VIPs) and the Intruders. Their roles are fairly obvious. The Bosses wish to be protected from personal harm and intrusion; they wish their reputation or their sense of well- being maintained. (Depending on their training, culture and experience, the BGs or the team will give different names to their superiors. However, for the purposes of this book we have chosen to use the word Boss (es).) The BG’s role is to provide that protection to their Boss. The intruder intends to kill, kidnap, hurt, annoy, harass or embarrass the Boss. However, to achieve this they must evade, remove or outwit the BG.

The Bodyguards

Who are these Bodyguards (BGs) and what motivates them to enter the Close Personal Protection (CP) profession? There are no longer any typical profiles of BGs, although, in the past it was believed that only large men, preferably ex-football players, special military-forces types and martial-arts men were capable of handling the job of protecting the Boss. However, in some circumstances this is still the case. Very large BGs that are often seen working with rock stars and performers.

For example, at a joint performance given to a huge screaming audience one male and one female star entered from the back of the stadium, walked down the aisle and onto the stage. The female star was surrounded by four huge muscled men in a box formation; they brushed aside hands and kept her safe from her adorning fans, from all who wanted to touch her. In contrast the male star walked in front of two regular-sized, serious looking, extremely fit and mobile men, the male star accepted his fans reaching to out and touching him. It was a demonstration of contrasting Bosses. The female star can’t be criticised because most females don’t take kindly to being touched, jostled or manhandled and therefore they want and need a visible deterrent to avoid these unwanted tokens of esteem. The point is that the Boss is an individual whose need for protection varies greatly.

Golfer Tiger Woods is often mobbed by his public. In this photo his bodyguards are having difficulties in controlling the surging crowd but are very effectively protecting him by using their own bodies as a cover. Some Bosses have read too many thriller books, consequently have their CP teams heavily armed and take great pleasure in watching their BGs strong-arm their way through crowds. This style of behaviour is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Too many lawsuits have blemished the glamour and glory.

It should be very clear that BGs don’t have any police powers whatsoever (unless of course they are, in fact, police officers working on official function). It is against the law to touch, lay hands on, manhandle or otherwise assault another individual, unless it can be proven that the person was intent on doing personal harm to the Boss, the Boss’ family or the BG. Aside from the legal and liability issues, strong-arm tactics are unattractive, unprofessional and quite unnecessary. A true professional BG shouldn’t work for a Boss who asks for this kind of behaviour. There are Bosses who have expected that their BGs to whip beat and brutalise their servants, purchase drugs for them and share adventures of drinking and womanising. Although, these may appear to be attractive and exciting activities, they aren’t good for business and almost certainly result in short protection careers. Bosses are very well known for getting rid of any employees who have embarrassed them by getting nabbed doing anything illegal, although in certain countries and professions numerous out-of-control Bosses themselves are everywhere, doing everything.

Duties, responsibilities and roles of a bodyguard

The definition of Close Protection and Bodyguarding is the application of principles and procedures to the daily life of any person (usually VIPs) to minimise or reduce the risks of kidnapping, assassination, personal injury, embarrassment or unwanted intrusion.

BG’s prime directive

It's the preservation of life of the person you are protecting, your own life and your comrades’ lives by any means necessary, employing the internationally accepted Close Protection principles and procedures. These should reduce the risk of kidnapping, assassination, physical assault, injury and embarrassment and keep your Boss free from unwanted and unlawful intrusion!

A very important factor that all BGs should keep in the back of their mind is that honest, kind, well intending people don’t need bullet-proof glass and bodyguards!

What kind of people need and employ bodyguards? Here is a list of the usual employers of BGs:

-Royalty

-Politicians

-Government Officials

-Military (Generals)

-Entertainment Personalities

-Sporting Icons

-Tycoons

-Corporate Executives

-Industrialists

-Advisory Teams

-Anyone who feels the need and can afford the service.

-Basic principles of a Bodyguard

It’s extremely important to correctly learn the basic principles and to practice them, especially at the beginning of one’s career. If learned properly and practised regularly these skills will become second nature:

-be aware and suspicious of everything and everyone;

-be methodical, leaving nothing overlooked or taken for granted. Beware the fury of a patient man! John Dryden;

-avoid routine at all costs. This is the most difficult principle to achieve for any length of time, because we as humans enjoy our routines of doing things. It is the one weakness that can be and often will be exploited;

-maintain good communications at all times with your team members and most importantly, with your Boss; and

-each BG’s initiative, motivation, training, personal ex¬perience and common sense have to be contributing factors towards personal security if the team is to be successful.

Chapter 1.2 - Areas of operations

For Close Protection, there are two basic areas of operations: rural - outside of built-up areas and in the countryside, urban - within a city. There are specific concerns pertaining to each:

Urban

In most urban areas in Europe, America and Asia the privacy factor is greatly reduced. Hence, privacy is maintained only by considering many details and thorough planning. Congestion and close proximity to others mean that movement by land is slow. However, emergency services have a short response time and will add scope to any security plan. Operating in urban areas requires absolutely sound emergency plans, flexibility, good communications and a positive mental attitude.

Rural

When residing in or visiting non-built-up areas privacy is greatly enhanced. There are no traffic problems like in cities. However, communications are affected and reduced; response times for emergency services are prolonged if not made inefficient by remoteness. There are fewer routes in and out of an area, which is a serious consideration. But again, flexibility, good communications and a positive mental attitude are the best defences.

Chapter 1.3 - Security and protection systems

History

There are a number of means or various devices designed to protect people and property from a broad range of hazards, including crime, fire, theft, accidents, espionage, sabotage, subversion, collusion, terrorist attacks and general embarrassment. Most security and protection systems major on certain hazards more than others. In a retail store, for example, the principal security concerns are shoplifting, theft, dishonest employees who pilfer, steal and defraud. Typical protection categories would be the personal safety of people in an organisation, such as high ranking employees and executives, customers or residents; tangible property, such as plants, equipment, valuables, money, securities and intangible property; such as highly classified national security information or proprietary information - trade secrets of private organisations. As opposed to public services such as the police and fire departments which focus on crime and damage, security protection systems emphasise passive and preventive measures. Security systems are found in many organisations, ranging from government agencies, industrial plants, apartment buildings to schools and the military. Sufficiently large organisations may have their own proprietary security systems or may purchase security services by contracting specialised security organisations.

The development of security systems

The origin of security systems is unclear. Techniques for protecting households, such as the use of locks and barred windows are very ancient. As civilisations developed, the distinction between passive and active security was made and responsibility for active security measures was vested to the police and fire fighting agencies. The inability of such community agencies to provide all the security desired by some individuals and organisations led to supplemental efforts by private groups.

By the mid-19th century private organisations such as those of Philip Sorenson in Sweden and Allan Pinkerton in the United States had begun to build an efficient, large-scale security network. Pinkerton’s organisation offered intelligence, counter-surveillance, counter-intelligence, internal security, investigative and law enforcement services to private businesses and the government. Until the advent of collective bargaining, strikebreaking was a prime concern. The Sorenson organisation, in contrast, moved toward a loose control of industrial services for industry. It provided trained personnel to deal with and prevent losses from crime, fire, accident and flood and established the pattern for security services in Great Britain and Western Europe. World War I and World War II brought an increased awareness of security systems as a means of protecting against military espionage, sabotage and subversion. Such programmes became in effect part of a country’s national security system. After World War II much of this apparatus was retained because of international tensions and defence production programmes and became part of an increasingly professional arsenal of security functions.

Since the 1960’s, crime-related security systems have grown rapidly in most countries. The contributing factors have been

-the increase of security-sensitive businesses,

-the development of new security functions, such as protection of proprietary and information;

-increasing computerisation of sensitive information subject to unique vulnerabilities;

-improved reporting of crimes and subsequently wider awareness;

-the need for security of enlarged or new governmental programmes i.e. nuclear research and space exploration

-and the need in many countries for proper security measures to counter terrorism, hijackings, bombings assassinations and violent demonstrations.

Security systems have increasingly been automated, particularly in the areas of sensing and communicating hazards and, to a lesser extent, in the areas of response and action. This is true in both crime-related applications, such as intrusion detection devices and fire protection alarm response extinguishing systems. The newer generations of security equipment, now on the market, are smaller, more reliable and more easily installed and maintained.

Types of security systems

Security systems can be classified by

-type of production enterprise, i.e. industrial, com¬mercial, government, government contract, hospital type of organisation, such as contract security or proprietary,

-by type of security process, i.e. personal or physical security,

-by the type of security function, i.e. plant protection, theft control, fire protection, accident prevention, protection of sensitive national security or proprietary information.

Some of these categories obviously overlap. Security for small businesses constitutes a special situation. Because small firms can’t afford specialised proprietary staffs, measures must be incorporated into regular routines and staff training or be purchased from outside organisations. Theft and damage, both internal and external is a prime concern. Residential security constitutes another special category. Sizeable housing or apartment complexes, especially if under one management, can employ sophisticated security measures, including closed-circuit television monitoring elevators, hallways, entrances and underground parking areas, along with trained security guards. For houses or small apartment buildings, relatively simple equipment, like exterior lighting and alarms are being used more and more. Some neighbourhoods of large cities cooperatively employ security patrol services or organised residence volunteer patrols.

Physical security

Some of the most effective advances in security technologies during the past few decades have been in the area of physical security, i.e. the protection by tangible means. Physical security has two main elements, building design as well as equipment and devices. A building can be designed for security by planning and limiting the number and locations of entrances and by careful attention to the exits, traffic patterns and loading docks. Equipment and devices may be classified in various categories depending on the criteria used.

If the need is purpose, some of the principal categories are

-record containers, including safes and files,

-communications, such as two-way radios, portable telephones, scrambler telephones,

-identification, i.e. badges, id-cards and automated com¬puter access control systems requiring the use of a code,

-investigation and detection i.e. polygraphs and intrusion detection devices, such as photo-electric cells and ultrasonic wave signalling equipment,

-observation and surveillance, including listening and recording devices, cameras, closed circuit television, one-way mirrors,

-counter measures for observation and surveillance, such as equipment designed to detect electronic surveillance devices and fire protection.

A classification system based on processes results in another set of categories. Examples include

-perimeter barriers,

-fences and walls,

-locks to prevent or control access,

lighting to aid in surveillance and to deter intrusion.

There has been a lot of progress in security equipment technology. Some of the more noteworthy examples include

-sensor devices that report unauthorised removal of items,

-personal identification and access control systems that directly read unique personal characteristics such as voice quality and hand geometry,

-surveillance devices that can scan areas at night,

-devices permitting surveillance at considerable distances, making entry to the place unnecessary.

An important component of security programmes consists of measures designed to recruit and effectively use trustworthy personnel. Personnel Security is a term most often used for measures designed to select those people who show a good chance of trustworthiness, taking into account that the losses through untrustworthy employees are more frequent and usually larger than losses incurred from outside the system, i.e. burglary, robbery, theft, shoplifting and espionage. One of the best indicators of future behaviour is past behaviour, common words, such as screening (GB) or vetting. The most common technique is the background investigation, which involves obtaining all relevant available data and information about a person’s past, education, employment and personal behaviour and making judgements concerning the individual’s future loyalty and honesty. Hence, the dossier and computerised national data banks represent a response to a society in which great geographic mobility necessitates record keeping as a basis for judgements. Another technique is the polygraph or lie detector examination. Research has also been directed to the possible capabilities and limitations of pencil and paper psychological tests and stress interviews. In addition to selection techniques there are other measures designed to keep personnel trustworthy after they have been brought into the system, for example, employee indoctrination programmes and vulnerability testing.

Systems and procedures constitute another area of the personnel administration approach to security. It is possible to devise work methods and management controls that improve security as well as maximise productivity and minimise cost. Examples are the use of automated record keeping systems, forms and reports periodically checked against physical inventories and the principle of dual responsibility, whereby work is subdivided so that the work of one employee checks the accuracy and work of another. Because control systems aren’t self-administering, they must be tested and checked from time to time. A normal procedure is the vulnerability test or credit error check, in which an error or breach, such as an erroneous invoice, is deliberately planted in the system to see if it is detected and reported. Undercover investigators, such as hired shoppers who check on the honesty of the personnel also play a role in monitoring the operation of control systems.

Guard force training, supervision and motivation are other important aspects of the personnel administration approach to security. The uses of operation personnel to attain security objectives are still another. Examples are engineers, production workers and clerical staff applying government security regulations in order to safeguard classified information and documents or sales personnel cooperating with security personnel in the detection of shoplifters.

The personnel relations approach implies that the attitudes of the rank and file employees and the social climate they create can either be conducive to security or be its greatest obstacle. Therefore, if security programmes are to be successful they must be carried out in the context of considerable understanding and cooperation of virtually the entire work force. The security programme is apt to be only as good as the overall plan, pattern and climate of social relations and loyalties of the rank and file and upper management. In other words, any security system is only as good as the people who are in it!

Chapter 1.4 - Low- and high-profile Close Protection

We will now discuss low-profile or covert against high-profile or overt Close Protection contracts. The aforementioned female rock star is a classic example of a high-profile contract. The intention is to provide a visible deterrent. The Bodyguard shows: I am here and I will protect my Boss from any intrusion, clearly a preventive and proactive act.

These high-profile contracts are becoming rare. More often than not, low-profile is the choice. Low-profile blends into the Boss’ environment and when conducted properly is often not detected as a protective measure. Many Bosses don’t want protection but understand that there is a need for it and therefore begrudgingly accept it. In these cases, a low-profile BG or team is more acceptable to the Boss. Remember the Boss is more likely than not an executive; he or she is generally a little older, having achieved a top management position. They have established lives and business styles and enjoy the esteem of friends and associates. They are accustomed to being in control and the very last thing that they want is to lose that control or to appear powerless. Low-profile protection provided by someone who looks and acts like one of their business colleagues is much more likely to be accepted, thereby making the job much easier and acceptable to them. If you blend in, you will be able to get much closer to them and that is right where you would want to be and not be exiled to the outer door, the hallway or the parking lot.

Low-profile or covert Close Protection

Low-profile means dressing like, acting like and speaking like the Boss. Often this means extensive and detailed studies and homework, sharpening up on the topics, subjects, hobbies and sports pertaining to the Bosses and their families. If the Boss likes to jog, clearly the BG will be jogging one pace to the right and to the rear. If the Boss takes skiing holidays, the BG had better like cold weather and doing suicidal things on the mountainsides. It goes without saying that on low-profile contracts a weapon is never visible. However, this is fairly easy to overcome, even on the beach.

Blending in is much easier if the BG has a basic knowledge of literature, music, history, geography, film and sports, which can be attained simply by reading at least one major newspaper, plus a local paper, every day. This is the minimum, if you wish to be informed. Major national newspapers massively invest time and money in their reporters to investigate and report on political, economic, religious and cultural

Reviews for Bodyguards

[Rafael Escobar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Every part of the book was interesting and applicable to my profession.