By Bruce Alexander
I thought this article by Steve Ashley was as much applicable to the Executive Protection community as it is to the patrol function in Law Enforcement. With the high profile accident of Governor Corzine and the spotlight on Executive Protection and Executive Protection specific driving skills, Mr. Ashley’s reminder that driving skills are perishable skills is equally true for the Executive Protection community.
I have also been thinking about those agencies and organizations with protective details that are not staffed full time with Executive Protection agents who have to transition from one mind set to another. There is another set of challenges there which should be addressed in terms of training and policy.
We have at least three considerations when it comes to Executive Protection specific driving. First, we have the motorcade portion which calls for certain skills. Second, we have the emergency driving aspect which is performed during an attack and Third, we have accident avoidance or safety considerations which is performed in the motorcade formation as well as in response to a threat/attack.
One lesson learned from the Corzine incident, is that the Executive Protection community must consider driving on the same par as firearms or protective tactics. It’s not only the high speed low-drag stuff that will get us into trouble. It’s also the mundane (or what is perceived as mundane) such as accident avoidance and motorcade discipline. We can’t afford to be complacent with the ordinary.
Very true. We live in a society where firearms have been demonized, while everybody takes the right to get around in a vehicle as a given. One consequence is that some of us who are extremely safety-conscious when it comes fo guns show an amazing complacency behind the wheel. Doesn’t make sense when we all know how much more damage vehicles can do.
Good advice Bruce, thanks for posting
Bruce, highly important points in the business to follow, road movements are one of the most riskiest things we do on the job. Good advice, thank you.
I particularly like the reminder that driving skills is a core competency just like, Threat Assessments, Hand to Hand, Basic Life Support, Firearms etc. Bruce keep up the good work. Also like Gina commented like the clean look of the site.
Hucky, great article. I also notice the fact that you guys remove Adsense from the website, I think it gives the site a much cleaner and crisp look. I also like the fact that you guys are including pictures in each post.