Executive Protection Services

• Given the increasing terrorist and life-threatening situations in the current world scenario, personal protection skills for executives, celebrities, politicians, and others in the public eye are a necessity more than ever before. No longer can such at-risk individuals function safely with "nominal" protection, or worse, with no protection, as yet many do. To maintain any degree of security nowadays, only superlative executive protection will suffice. Not only does ASPS integrate a broad spectrum of proven protection disciplines, but the thoroughness of our personnel far exceeds industry expectations. What this means to you is a higher probability that you will survive a potentially lethal encounter.

• Many companies pay lip service to the notion that employees are their most valuable assets, but few have actually done the math. In the case of Northern Bank, the use of the McMullan and Ward families in that December 2004 robbery cost approximately $50 million—and that is just the thieves' take. Add to that the public relations costs (worldwide headlines, inquiries by prosecutors and British intelligence), and the tab runs considerably higher.

• The threats facing an executive vary widely depending on the size of the company, the industry it belongs to, and the individual executive's profile. ASPS in oft-targeted sectors such as the financial services, pharmaceutical and energy industries, and those with executives based overseas, worry about kidnapping, carjacking, mail-borne explosives, biological agents and ecoterrorism. Threatening letters and e-mails and workplace violence fill out the list. ASPS can provide the newest technology as well as best trained personnel to address all of these concerns.

• Given the range of risks involved, ASPS, who has managed hundreds of executive protection programs, knows that protecting an individual is a very different discipline from securing a facility. In addition to the inability of locking down an executive, unlike a building with a single gate, there are numerous ways for an attacker to get to an executive, including through family members. Executives will also rebel against onerous security restrictions. ASPS faces the challenge of calibrating protection that serves their company's needs while also making that security palatable to the executives who have to live with it.

• Whether you are starting an EP program or just looking to tune up a preexisting plan, the first step ASPS will take is to conduct a thorough risk analysis. We will identify the individuals who are critical to your organization, assess the impact to the corporation if they were lost, and examine the risks that each of those people face. Is there a history of threats against any of these individuals? Do they travel regularly to dangerous places? To what kinds of crimes or dangerous situations are they most vulnerable? Some executives keep a very low profile. Others, such as Donald Trump and Richard Branson, aggressively court media attention and risk attracting the notice of undesirables as well as fans.

• Based on what the protection team learns about its subjects, ASPS will start to get a picture of what kinds of security measures you'll need to take. Some companies find that their executives need very little protection. Others need a 24/7 command post set up in their home. You should also consider whether your industry has a standard for executive protection. Companies in high-risk industries might find that there are some common levels of protection used for their executives. For example, executives at large financial services companies might have panic alarms in their homes as a standard security protocol.

Ditch the bouncer

• The term "executive protection professional" should tell you all you need to know about the evolution of executive security details. No-neck goons in black turtlenecks and lumpy suit jackets are fine if you want to hit a dance club with a posse, but they are not effective for executives. An effective EP program has to be based on research and preparation rather than sheer muscle.

• "That's the difference between a bodyguard and a protection professional: one specializes in muscles and has a gun, and the other may be less physically imposing but is better prepared to identify threats before they materialize.”

• When you are using ASPS staff, we will ensure that our protection professionals are properly trained. ASPS has personnel that are experienced in defensive driving, emergency medical training, the ability to defend against an attack on a principal, a conspicuous pride in staying fit, and the good judgment to assess threats and employ the appropriate countermeasures. An ASPS protection professional will be a mirror image of his principal in professional dress and demeanor.

• The most vulnerable people in the corporation are not the executives under the protection of corporate security, but their spouses and children who are far more accessible and are often left out of security planning. "The family is a huge concern to ASPS. If someone has bad intentions and they recognize that an executive has 24-hour security at the office and when he travels, they'll think of an easier way to get to them." Harming a spouse, child, or another member of the executive's family is an easier way to get to that executive compared with trying to harm an executive surrounded by a security detail.