What it's like protecting the mega-rich from harm

A good CPO will be constantly thinking "What if?" "What if an attacker came out from that alley, where will I extract to?" There a lot of CPOs that do it to look cool in shades. Psychologically speaking, they are the attention seekers that like dark shades and curly ear pieces. We do not employ such people.

A full operational risk assessment proceeds any deployment. The location is recce'd first covertly to prevent any advanced warning. If intelligence reveals a viable threat, the principal is informed and advised to change the venue or time. The best protection is not to be exposed in the first place. If your movements are unpredictable, it makes it very hard to be targeted for attack.

The advance team will be dressed to blend into the environment. They never interact with the protection group unless an attack is instigated. The protection group CPO should be dressed in a similar style as the principal, to maintain their profile. There is always a benefit to overt protection because it discourages many forms of attack, such as those by protesters or statement-makers. If the threat is assassination, then it is better not to disclose all your assets.

CP can be close or maintained at a distance. We have had clients who do not want someone on their shoulder so we maintain protective surveillance. The CPO or team will box around the client at 10-15 meters so that they are not noticeably accompanying him. If a threat is perceived, they can close in. But generally, as long as the client can see them nearby, that is sufficient.

A hostile environment includes anywhere that a good civil infrastructure is absent, such as when police are poor or corrupt and medical facilities are inadequate to deal with life-threatening injuries. Our CPOs will have advanced medical skills.

During the Arab Spring, we were involved in deploying teams to extract clients from such countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, and Libya at very short notice. More recently we have deployed teams into Israel, Moscow, and China; though not hostile in the traditional sense, they are non-permissive environments in which to operate and conduct business.

Our surveillance teams are deployed to establish facts about the lifestyle or movements of persons of interest accused of fraudulent activity or civil litigious matters like that. Private security companies are sourced to obtain evidence to assist legal counsel develop their case. We have a global network that allows us to conduct numerous investigations and due diligence tasks in countries where others struggle. In the protective sense, some clients do not wish to have a CPO in close confines, and as such we provide clients with protective surveillance, intercepting threats often without the clients' knowledge.

Residential security teams are CPOs within the confines of the client's property. That could be a townhouse or a huge country estate. We monitor any technical equipment such as alarms or CCTV and call the police if an intruder is identified, whilst ushering the principal and family to a safe haven within the house. When kidnappimg or loss of high-value property is a concern, that security is a comfort blanket.

A technical surveillance counter measure sweep (TSCM) is conducted to ensure that no audio or visual recording devices are in the property (bugs). Secure communications and unpredictable movements are compromised if the house has such devices spying on the client within the safe location (home or office). In the same vein, IT equipment is forensically tested for malware that may be spying on email traffic.

Cars and security drivers ensure secure movement from secure location to secure location. Cars can be armored to varying degrees but usually it is the tactical awareness of the driver that enhances security. Rolling to a red light and not stopping, ensuring doors are locked prior to departure, parking so the appropriate car door is aligned with the entrance so as to shorten the distance the principal has to walk to enter the next safe area, etc. [Mounfield]

This is what happens when the arrival point has not been secured! A good CP team will identify a threat early and never allow the principal to enter the danger area!

Our protection teams conducted counter-surveillance constantly to identify any threats and highlight them to the client/principal. Post-kidnapping, there are specialist kidnap and ransom services usually supplied by ex-police specialists. It is not a service we provide. We only offer services in which we excel.

A 24-hour emergency line is essential, as well as tracking solutions. Our clients can be issued a tracker that is geo-fenced; areas are designated secure, such as a hotel, and if the tracker leaves the hotel it sends alerts and starts tracking in real time. This is useful because the CPO does not stay in the clients' room, so if they were kidnapped or decided to escape the cover of protection (which happens) then they will be easily tracked and located.