Coronavirus, Demonstrations, Fast Response + Advanced Skills in Executive Protection: The Essentials

One could argue that there is no such thing as basic or advanced skills in executive protection. On the contrary, you could make the case that they are all equally necessary. Yet, we find that certain proficiency levels genuinely make a difference for you as the protectee and your company. Some of them include advance work, deceptive tactics, and resisting an armored transport attack.

Each with their own set of caveats, advanced skills in executive protection help both the client and protective detail feel as safe as imaginable. Moreover, the field of protection services is rapidly expanding to include psychological work, countersurveillance, and a host of military-derived elements. Thus, we can never claim to possess a definitive list of advanced skills in executive protection.

However, we can still dive deep into some vital components that bring about change in the day-to-day lives of you ― the protectee ― your family, and your entourage.

Advance Work: Advanced Skill #1

As with doing anything of importance in life, preparation is priceless, even in executive protection. So let us imagine the following situation.

Suppose you have a pivotal meeting tomorrow afternoon, and other attendees expect you to be there. However, there have been some security concerns relating to the region where the conference is taking place.

The first thing we urge your protective detail to do is to conduct an advance. Some of the benefits of doing advance work entail:

• Establishing directions and alternative routes,
• Finding out about available parking lots, and
• Locating the exact place of the meeting.

Essentially, advance work involves thinking ahead of the mission and answering hypothetical (or less hypothetical) questions, such as:

• How long is the route from point A to point B?
• Who will be in attendance at the meeting, and is security placed at the entrance?
• How far away is the nearest hospital?

By asking all these questions, stress tends to decrease significantly all around you. Still, if your protection company is not asking any of these, perhaps it is time to inquire as to why.

Most celebrities, notable politicians, and highly placed business executives have one thing in common. And that is an increased vulnerability to harm from criminals, disgruntled workers, and star-crazed fans.

However, as a company executive or high-net-worth individual, you have other things on your mind. This is why your security detail takes care of all these matters for you. Or do they?

Speaking of which, your protective detail must consider three critical points when conducting any advance work:

1. Anticipate anything that would, could, or might happen,
2. Plan your itinerary, including methods and plans, emergency contingencies, logistics, and special instructions,
3. Prepare by visiting the site and learning everything about it.

Protective Intelligence: Advanced Skill #2

Intertwined with advance work, protective intelligence is an exceedingly important aspect of advanced skills in executive protection. The art of protective intelligence entails learning the latest news and weather forecasts for the place to which the protectee and their entourage travel.

What makes protective intelligence so remarkable is that it helps your security team find out about potential demonstrations, the political climate, and local issues. These can either make or break the event you will be attending as a business executive or company leader.

That is not to say that your protective detail can predict every conceivable situation and prevent it from occurring. Nevertheless, it will make them keep a watchful eye over dormant contingencies that are bound to happen occasionally.

Most importantly, almost all hair-raising attempted crimes against you or your entourage can likely be predicted by a security detail skilled in the craft of protective intelligence.

Security Driving: Advanced Skill #3

Often downplayed as an easy assignment, security driving has been gaining traction lately. Moreover, it is arguably one of the most critical advanced skills in executive protection. More than just driving a car from point A to point B, a security driver must be familiar with:

• Vehicle mechanics, types, checks, and equipment,
• Emergency preparedness,
• Attack recognition, ambush and accident avoidance,
• Evasive and high-speed vehicle maneuvers, skid control, and braking techniques.

The security driver in charge of the car must be in sync with the latest car technology, especially in the age of Tesla and other electric vehicle giants. They must not spend hours ― or even minutes ― discovering the function of all the buttons, knobs, lights, switches, and controls. Especially not while on task.

Although it is unlikely that they will be driving a space shuttle, we suggest that your team immerse themselves in the material of security driving.

With these principles under their belt, your executive protection team is well prepared to fend off most attacks en route.

On that note, companies like SCS offer a wide range of secure transportation services, such as:

• Transportation planning,
• Journey management,
• Hotel security assessment,
• Emergency training, and
• Medical support.

Whether it be natural or human-made disasters, the executive protection company of your choosing must radiate expertise in all these fields and more.

Wrapping Up

Contrary to what you may have heard, 100 percent bulletproof security solutions do not exist. For this and many other reasons, we advise that your executive protection agents abide by Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. This frame of mind will help them to plan accordingly.

In fact, there is so much more to executive protection than just standing and waiting. It requires training, education, and experience to develop the reflexes, skills, and intuitions that typically an untrained person lacks.

So here is a final word of advice for you as the protectee and principal: research as many executive protection companies as humanely possible and choose the one that:

• Prides itself on its customer support,
• Does not excessively brag about its prior missions,
• Offers a wide range of protective services, including advance work, security driving, surviving terrorist attacks, and performing CPR, among others.

Although we have done more than scratch the surface of advanced skills in this article, there is a lot more to explore.

Speaking of discovery, drop us a line to find out which of our services could skyrocket your productivity and improve your family’s peace of mind.