By Hucky Austin

Some protected executives bristle at what they see as restrictions on their movement, or the extra burden of security measures. Point out to them that the advance work required to keep them safe also reduces their time spent waiting in airports or stuck in traffic jams.

On Wednesday,November 19th 2008, Musician John Mayer’s bodyguard crossed a line. Mayer was enjoying a night out on the town in Hollywood, dining at The Steakhouse, one of Wolfgang Puck’s Beverly Hills eateries, when he decided to leave from the front entrance of the restaurant,rather than the planned exit out of the back of the establishment. Mayer and his bodyguard walked into a throng of paparazzi, all eager to snap pictures. Just as Mayer was ducking into his BMW, one photog was over-eager and Mayer’s bodyguard pushed him to the ground, grabbing him by the throat according to onlookers. The photographer went to the Tarzana hospital to be checked for injuries, and is reportedly planning to contact his lawyers.

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Here’s another story to file under: What Were They Thinking?!

First of all, both Mayer and the bodyguard need to be held accountable.

Physical contact and altercations like this should not be happening, and a well-trained bodyguard knows better than to shove, and then worse, to grab an individual by the throat, once he’s down!? These moves are aggressive and out of control. Why anybody would think this physical maneuver was acceptable is beyond me–and to make such an error in judgment in front of a crowd of paparazzi and fans? It just make Mayer look bad, and most certainly opens him up to a lawsuit.

Secondly, my guess is Mayer’s bodyguard was not prepared for Mayer’s sudden change in plans to leave The Steakhouse via the front entrance.

Surely, Mayer had to have known that leaving from the most public access point was fool-hardy and maybe just a little self-involved…or perhaps he was in some way impaired in his decision-making ability. It begs the question, “Did he WANT the attention?” Surely, his bodyguard advised him against exiting from the front of the restaurant. Well, if there is indeed a lawsuit, then I suspect the cost of that “attention” will be significantly more than he intended to pay.

 

Hello Folks. It’s Jeff Again, the lesser known half of Bodyguard Careers. Generally you will only hear from me when it comes to updates to the site and other housekeeping issues. Unfortunately, it is time for me to clean house and make a request to our readers.

You see, while Hucky does a good job of playing the role of “Good Cop” on this site, I have the unenviable role as being the “Bad Cop” when it comes to keeping Bodyguard Careers running smoothly. I am the Yin to Hucky’s Yang. The Jackie Chan to Huck’s Chris Tucker. The Vanilla Ice to Hucky’s MC Hammer (ok, that is a stretch).

As you already know, Bodyguard Careers provides useful information and services to our readers that we feel are among the best in the Executive Protection Industry. From weekly feature articles to job postings to monthly emails to a robust resume submission system, we try to provide something for everyone who visits the site. All of these services are FREE to our visitors, and are funded by revenue that we receive through advertisements on the right and left hand sides of our blog.

Until now, these ads have provided sufficient revenue to cover our hosting charges, email delivery fees and development costs. Unfortunately, revenue has been on a steady decline, and the site is no longer carrying its own weight. Call it the economy or call it something else, but the bottom line is this; we need help in order to keep this site up and running.

This brings me to the reason why I write this post. I wanted to point out a new feature that you will see on the right hand sidebar of the site. This is a “donate” button from Paypal that allows you to donate money to help support our site. We are not asking for much, but if you could spare a few dollars, it will go a long way toward keeping this site alive and thriving.

If you want to keep Bodyguard Careers FREE, please DONATE today. $1,$5, $20, any little bit counts!

(Note: You can donate by clicking on the donate button on the right side of the screen)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Female bodyguards, tell us  your thoughts.

Just 2 Seconds

By: Gavin de Becker

Review By: Bruce Alexander from Executive Protection News

I just finished reading “Just 2 Seconds” by Gavin De Becker, Tom Taylor and Jeff Marquart. If you had to buy only one book this year on executive protection, this is it. Part philosophical, part practical, part tactical, part academic and part historical, “Just 2 Seconds” covers the essence and essentials of preventing an attack on a principal.

The book has three main themes. The first theme addresses attack methodologies from the perspective of how time, distance and space impact both the attacker and the protector. This sets the basis for the second theme which is how to implement preventative strategies and techniques which capitalize on the attackers’ limitations as manifested by time, distance and space. The third aspect of the book is a “compendium” of attacks that is probably the single most comprehensive collection of various criminal and terrorist attacks relevant to executive protection.

The book reflects the thorough research which has come to characterize books written by Gavin De Becker. This trait is most evident in the attack compendium. The attack compendium is an excellent collection of various attacks that have occurred around the world. What is particularly unique about this section is that various attack methodologies are depicted which are then cross referenced by the authors to illustrate either preventative or protective measures which had an impact on the attack. Not every attack is directly related to executive protection however this does not diminish the value of the book since there is a learning lesson associated with every example.

The book also contains additional material which by itself, is worth the price of the book, De Becker shares  various forms and techniques that his firm uses when providing executive protection. The form he provides to his clients regarding how they should conduct themselves in regards to crowd situations is an exceptional resource. There are also several practical executive protection techniques that his firm uses which are worth replicating.

Between the advice, techniques, examples and case studies, this book would be a bargain at twice the price. My only complaint about the book is that I didn’t write it.

Bruce Alexander