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Interview with John Sexton

A Professional Speaks

John Sexton has over 20 years of experience in law enforcement and security, both in the United States and abroad. He’s written numerous articles on security-related topics for international publications, and Sexton Executive Security provides services and training for government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. John recently traveled to China, the Middle East and India and he’s planning executive security training programs in Beijing, Shanghai, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.

BGC: How did you get started in the Executive Protection Field?

JS: Actually I can still vividly recall the first E.P. detail I ever worked. It was in the early 80’s in Ireland and I was assigned to protect a judge who was sitting on the bench trying a Terrorist (Offenses Against the State Act) case. At that time our terrorists thought nothing of assassinating a judge in order to have a case halted. It was their way of getting an adjournment.

I was a uniformed Police Officer and the job needed to be done by a plain clothes officer. That morning when I reported for duty, the Station House Sergeant told me to go home and change into “civvies” as I would be protecting the judge. I went down to the Judge’s home where we had a temporary trailer parked for the duration of the trial. The officer I was relieving handed me an old Webley revolver and a lozenge can which contained a handful of bullets.  Thankfully the terrorists didn’t show up during my shift as I am quite sure that my weapons (probably dating back 60 years to our civil war) wouldn’t have even slowed them down as they were typically equipped with Armalite Rifles and Semtex when they were activated for a mission.

BGC: Who are your typical clients? Celebrities, executives, political figures?

JS: We have celebrity, executive and political clients at times. The majority of the time though, our clients are executives.

BGC: What factors should new people who are interested in getting into this field consider? [Read more…] about Interview with John Sexton

Put Emphasis on the Positive

Hucky Austin

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.

John Mayer and Bodyguard in Fracas With Paparazzi

In The News

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.

* * * * * * * * *

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.

 

Support Bodyguard Careers

Personal Protection Jobs

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)

Obama and The Presidential Security Challenge

Executive Protection Articles

 

By Fred Burton and Ben West

The U.S. presidential campaign trail presents a host of challenges for the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) protective detail assigned to cover the presidential candidates, something we’ve discussed previously. Major presidential candidates have been afforded USSS protection since the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy at a campaign event. Due to the nature of modern presidential campaigns, the candidates’ schedules are packed with events that often start at breakfast and continue long after dinner. Candidates also hopscotch across the country, often visiting several cities in a day and sometimes visiting multiple venues in the same city.

The Security Challenge of Campaign Season

In the last weeks before the Nov. 4 election, the campaign of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama hit several different cities in one day, meaning that several teams of advance agents were deployed around the country at any given time. For example, on Nov. 3, Obama visited Jacksonville, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Manassas Park, Va. Campaign managers often adjust itineraries on the fly to meet the needs of the campaign.

This tempo constantly forces protection agents into new environments with very little time to plan and implement security measures. Wherever Obama traveled during the campaign, USSS agents would send advance teams to scout airports and motorcade routes, plan security for campaign sites, conduct liaison with local police and keep tabs on any persons of interest during the visit. The advance agents are supplemented by teams of extra agents to help secure sites; dog handlers and explosive ordnance disposal technicians to check for explosive devices; and uniformed officers to help control access to sites, man metal detectors and provide countersniper support.

Due to the nature of political campaigns, once a candidate like Obama lands and safely arrives at an event location, there is frequently tremendous exposure to the public. This is true not just on stage behind a podium but also as the candidate works the crowd, shaking hands, kissing babies and talking to voters. As seen during the May 1972 attempted assassination of George Wallace and the later attempts against presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, it is during these times of close interaction with the public that a VIP is at the highest risk. Would-be assassins can use the crowd for camouflage and quickly get a close shot at the VIP, leaving little time for agents to respond to the threat. Because of this, working the crowd is a difficult task and one protection agents hate. Fortunately for the Obama protective detail, with the election period over they will find themselves in these kinds of situations less frequently. [Read more…] about Obama and The Presidential Security Challenge

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