Private Security Professionals of America

August 17, 2014 - PSPA Editorial Staff

Today’s Bodyguard

A bodyguard (or close protection officer) is a type of security guard or government agent who protects a person or persons - usually public, wealthy, or politically important figures - from danger: generally theft, assault, kidnapping, assassination, harassment, loss of confidential information, threats, or other criminal offences. The groups of officers who protect a VIP are often referred to as the VIP's security detail.

Generally, important public figures such as heads of state, heads of government and governors are protected by several bodyguards or by a team of bodyguards from an agency, security force, or police force (e.g., in the U.S., the United States Secret Service or the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service). In most countries where the Head of state resides, the leader's bodyguards have traditionally been Royal Guards, Republican Guards and other elite military units. Less-important public figures, or those with lower risk profiles, may be accompanied by a single bodyguard who doubles as a driver. A large number of high-profile celebrities and CEOs also use bodyguards and are typically employed or contracted - police or private security personnel.

Misconceptions

The role of bodyguards is often misunderstood by the general public, because the average individual is only exposed to a bodyguard in an action film where bodyguards are depicted in various fighting scenes with aggressive attackers. In contrast to the exciting lifestyle depicted on the film screen, the role of a real-life bodyguard is much more mundane: it consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the background of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and attentively escorting the client on their day-to-day activities.

General Responsibilities

The role of a bodyguard depends on several factors. First, it depends on the role of a given bodyguard in a close protection team. A bodyguard can be a driver-bodyguard, (a close-protection officer) who escorts the client, or be part of an (ancillary unit) that provides support to: (1.) detect improvised explosives, devices, and counter-sniper monitoring, (2.) pre-search facilities, and (3.) conduct background-checks of the people who will have contact with the client. Second, the role of a bodyguard depends on the level of risk that the client faces. A bodyguard protecting a client at high risk of assassination will be focusing on very different roles (e.g., checking cars for devices, bombs, watching for potential shooters, etc.) than a bodyguard escorting a celebrity who is being stalked by aggressive tabloid photographers (e.g., the role will be to ask the photographers to maintain their distance and block the path of aggressive cameramen). Some bodyguards specialize in the close quarter protection of children of VIPs, to protect them from kidnapping or assassination.

Transportation / Driving

In some cases, bodyguards also transport their clients via motor vehicles. Normally, it is not sufficient for a client to be protected by a single driver-bodyguard, because this would mean that the bodyguard would have to leave the vehicle unattended when they escort the client on foot. If the vehicle is left unattended, this can lead to several risks: an explosive device may be attached to the vehicle; an electronic "bug" may be attached to the vehicle; the vehicle may be sabotaged; or city parking officials may simply tow away the vehicle or place a wheel clamp on the tire. If parking services tow away or disable the vehicle, then the bodyguard cannot use the vehicle to escape with the client in case there is a security threat while the client is at his/her meeting.

The driver should be trained in evasive driving techniques, such as executing short-radius turns to change the direction of the vehicle, high-speed cornering, and so on. The vehicle used by the client will typically be a large sedan with a low center of gravity and a powerful engine. In some applications, large trucks such as sport utility vehicles are used for VIPs. At a minimum, the vehicle should have ballistic glass, some type of armor reinforcement to protect the client from gunfire, and a foam-filled gas tank. "Run-flat" tires and armor protection for the driver are also desirable.

The vehicle may also be equipped with an additional battery; dual foot pedal controls, such as those used by driving instruction companies (in case the driver is wounded or incapacitated), a loud speaker system with a microphone and a megaphone mounted on the outside of the car, so that the driver can give commands to other convoy vehicles or bodyguards who are on foot; fire extinguishers inside the vehicle in case of fire, a reinforced front and rear bumper, to enable the driver to ram attacking vehicles; and additional mirrors, to give the driver a better field of view. In various applications many armored vehicles will come with a siren and lights to use in situations where they need to get out of places quickly. Decoy convoys and vehicles are used to prevent tailing. In the event the convoy holding the client is compromised and ambushed, decoy convoys can also act as a reinforcement that can ambush a force that is attacking the primary convoy. Some clients rotate between residences in different cities when attending public events or meetings to prevent being followed home or to a private location.

Weapons

Depending upon the laws in a bodyguard's jurisdiction and depending upon which type of agency or security service they are employed, bodyguards may be armed or unarmed, with a less-lethal weapon such as a pepper spray, an expandable baton, or a stun gun. In the case of a government bodyguard a variety of weapons are used up to and including automatic guns. Some bodyguards such as those protecting high ranking government officials or those operating in high risk environments such as war zones may carry sub-machine guns or assault rifles.

Bodyguards that protect high-risk principals may wear body armor such as kevlar and/or ceramic vests. The bodyguards may also have other ballistic shields, such as kevlar-reinforced briefcases or clipboards which, while appearing innocuous, can be used to protect the principal. The principal may also wear body armor in high-risk situations.

Counter-Sniper Weapons and Tactics

For a close protection officer, the primary tactic against sniper attacks is defensive: avoid exposing the principal to the risk of being fired upon. This means that the principal should ideally be within an armored vehicle or a secure structure. As well, when the principal moves between a vehicle and a building, the principal must be moved quickly to minimize the time window in which a sniper could take a shot and use a flanking escort of close protection officers to block the view of the sniper and any potential shot that the sniper may take. The use of offensive tactics against snipers will occur very rarely in a bodyguard context, because it is very difficult for bodyguards to attempt to locate and fire back at a distant, concealed, or camouflaged sniper.

Daily Tasks / General Duties

A bodyguard team protecting a high-profile politician who is at risk of attack would be based around escorting the client from a secure residence (e.g., an embassy) to the different meetings and other activities he/she has to attend during the day (whether professional or social), and then to escort the client back to his/her residence.

Planning and Assigning Responsibilities

An average day could begin with a meeting of the bodyguard team led by the team leader. The team would review the different activities that the client plans to do during the day, and discuss how the team would undertake the different transportation, escorting, and monitoring tasks. During the day, the client (or "principal") may have to travel by car, train, and/or plane and attend a variety of functions, including meetings and invitations for meals at restaurants, as well as, conduct personal activities such as recreation and errands.

Throughout the day, the client may be exposed to a range of risk levels, ranging from higher risk (meeting and greeting members of the public at an outdoor rally) to low risk (dining at an exclusive, gated country club with high security).

Pre-planning for any given day could begin days, weeks or months in advance. Once the itinerary is known, one or more bodyguards would travel the route to the venues, to check the roads for unexpected changes (road work, detours, and closed lanes) and to check the venue. The venue needs to be checked for problems, issues and/or concerns in addition to the overall security of the facility including, entrances and exits to name just a few. As well, the bodyguards will want to know the names of the staff that will have contact with the client, so that a simple electronic background check can be run on applicable individuals. Bodyguards often have training in firearms tactics, unarmed combat, tactical driving, and first aid. In multi-agent units one or more bodyguards may have training in specific tasks, such as providing a protective escort, crowd screening and control, or searching for explosives or electronic surveillance devices. Bodyguards also learn how to work with other security personnel to conduct threat or risk assessment and analyze potential security weaknesses.

Bodyguards learn how to examine a premises or venue before their clients arrive, to determine where the exits and entrances are, find potential security weaknesses, and meet the staff (so that a would-be attacker cannot pose as a staff member). As well, some bodyguards learn how to do research to be aware of potential threats to their client, by doing a thorough assessment of the threats facing the principal, such as a protest by a radical group or the release from custody of person who is a known threat. Close protection officers also learn how to escort a client in potentially threatening situations such as crowds that become unruly.

The militaries in many countries offer close protection training for the members of their own armed forces who have been selected to work as bodyguards to officers or heads of state. As well, there are a number of private bodyguard training programs, which offer training in all aspects of close protection and including the legal aspects of professional body guarding (e.g., use of force, use of deadly force); how to escort clients; driving; searching facilities and vehicles, and so on.

Searching Vehicles

Prior to leaving with the client to his/her first appointment, the driver-bodyguard, and another bodyguard remove the cars that will be used to transport the client from the locked garage and inspect them. There may be only one car for a lower risk client. A higher risk client will have additional cars to form a protective convoy of vehicles that can flank the client's vehicle. The vehicles are inspected before leaving.

Transferring Client to Vehicle

Once the vehicle(s) have been inspected and they are deemed to be ready for use, they are brought into position near the exit door where the client will leave the secure building. At least one driver-bodyguard stays with the vehicle while waiting, because the now-searched vehicle cannot be left unattended. If the convoy is left unattended, an attacker could attack and/or sabotage one or more of the vehicles. Then the bodyguard team flanks the client as he moves from the secure residence to his/her vehicle.

Traveling

The convoy then moves out towards the destination. The team will have chosen a route or two and in some cases it may involve three routes that are designated for travel along, which avoids the most dangerous "choke points", such as one-lane bridges or tunnels, because these routes have no way of escape and they are more vulnerable to ambush. In some cases, if the client has to travel by train, the bodyguards will inspect the rail car they are traveling in and the other cars he/she will use. Traveling on foot to a destination is very dangerous because of the lack of cover and control over the environment.

Arrival at Destination

When the convoy arrives at the location, one or more bodyguards will exit first to confirm that the location is secure and that the staff who were booked to work that day are the ones who are present. If the location is secure, these bodyguards signal that it is safe to bring in the client. The client is escorted into the building using a flanking procedure. If the client is attending a private meeting inside the building, and the building itself is secure (controlled entrances) the client will not need to have a bodyguard escort in the building. The bodyguards can then pull back to monitor his/her safety from a further distance. Bodyguards could monitor entrances and exits and the driver-bodyguard watches over the vehicles.

If the client is moving about in a fairly controlled environment such as a private golf course, which has limited entrances and exits, the security detail may drop down to one or two bodyguards, with the other bodyguards monitoring the entrances to the facility, the automobiles, and remaining in contact with the bodyguards escorting the client. Throughout the day, as the client goes about his/her activities, the number of bodyguards escorting the client will increase or decrease according to the level of risk.

Return to Secure Location

After the day's activities, the client will be brought back to the secure residence location. Exiting from the vehicle and walking to the door exposes the client to risk, so the distance is kept as short as possible to cut down the time it takes to reach the door. Once the client is inside, the bodyguards assigned to the overnight detail will take up their positions outside or inside the residence. The vehicles are then parked in a locked garage (to prevent tampering and/or sabotage). Some team members may spend additional time doing maintenance on the equipment used by the team. The team leader will ensure that all equipment is checked and packed away for the next day and ensure the communication equipment are being charged for the next day's operation.

Job Requirements

Bodyguards often work long shifts in order to provide 24-hour protection, and shifts often include evenings, weekends, and holidays. Since bodyguards follow their clients throughout their daily activities, the work locations may range from indoor office meetings or social events to outdoor rallies or concerts. Bodyguards often have to travel by car, motorcycle, train, and airplane to escort their client. In some cases, international travel is required, which means that a bodyguard must have appropriate travel documentation.

Bodyguards often have backgrounds in the armed forces, police, or security services, although this is not always required. The exception to this is in the case of bodyguards protecting heads of state; in some countries, these bodyguards must be well versed in military bodyguard training programs. Military experience in foot patrol and convoy escort through urban areas in conflict or war and other areas under non-conventional enemy stress require stringent training and ability.

Bodyguards must be physically fit, with acceptable eyesight and hearing, and may be required to maintain a presentable appearance, especially for close protection work for dignitaries, heads of state, celebrities, and top executives. A driver’s license is usually required, so that the bodyguard can double as a driver and many are required to have a license or certification which involves identity and criminal record checks to name just a few. To be a bodyguard in an agency protecting a government official, a bodyguard will generally be required to undergo extensive background and loyalty checks.

Bodyguards need to be observant, and retain their focus on their job, despite distractions such as fatigue. As well, they need to be able to work as a member of a team, with assigned tasks, or be able to act independently, and adapt and improvise an appropriate response if the need arises. Bodyguards need to be able to recognize potentially dangerous situations and remain calm under pressure. A bodyguard has to have a strong dedication to their protective role. Since bodyguards often have to collaborate or coordinate their protection with other security forces, such as local police other private security guards, bodyguards need good interpersonal and communications skills. Since bodyguards accompany their client throughout their day, the bodyguard will be privy to the private life of the client, which means that a bodyguard has to show discretion and maintain confidentiality.

Training

Bodyguards often have training in firearms tactics, unarmed combat, tactical driving, and first aid. In multi-agent units (like those protecting a head of state) one or more bodyguards may have training in specific tasks, such as providing a protective escort, crowd screening and control, or searching for explosives or electronic surveillance devices. Bodyguards also learn how to work with other security personnel, as well as, state and federal law enforcement to conduct threat or risk assessment and analyze potential security weaknesses.

Bodyguards learn how to examine a premises or venue before their clients arrive, to determine where the exits and entrances are, find potential security weaknesses, and meet the staff (so that a would-be attacker cannot pose as a staff member). As well, some bodyguards learn how to do research to be aware of potential threats to their client, by doing a thorough assessment of the threats facing the principal, such as a protest by a radical group or the release from custody of person who is a known threat. Close protection officers also learn how to escort a client in potentially threatening situations.

Within the United States, the use of both public and private bodyguards continues to grow in necessity and popularity. Countless agencies exist who specialize in the training, educating and employing of professionally trained personnel. It should be noted, the laws, rules and/or regulations governing the private bodyguard industry, varies greatly from state-to-state and from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction.