AN INCIDENT IN MOSCOW
While conducting a protective service advance, and subsequently serving as the protective detail’s shift leader while employed by a U.S. government investigative/security agency, I found myself in a highly precarious situation that required nimble thinking and adherence to the basic tenets of protective service. I was assigned to protect a U.S. government official visiting Moscow, the Russian Federation, and of course during my advance work, I liaised with the U.S. Embassy’s Assistant Regional Security Officer for Protection (ARSO), who in turn arranged for the Moscow Police to provide law enforcement, traffic control, and motorcade escorts for my protective detail. When I met with the officers who would be supporting our detail, I briefed them that one of the primary functions of their support was providing a lead police vehicle that would escort our motorcade from venue to venue while the American VIP in our charge made his official visits. I explained that the philosophy of protection as viewed by my agency was to ensure we avoid any and all potential dangers, including encounters with demonstrators, individuals that would be prone to cause our principal harm or embarrassment. Other areas we discussed was their knowledge regarding the location of the nearest trauma center, any known or projected demonstrations (political or otherwise) during our visit, and time lines in terms of how long it would take to obtain operational assistance, for example, a Medivac helicopter, should that need arise. The briefing went extremely well, and the officer in charge of the contingent of Moscow officers assured us that his unit would place our principal’s safety as number one on their list of priorities from the time of his arrival to “wheels up” four days later.
Well, per usual there are always small snags that come up that you as a shift leader or agent in charge must deal with during a protective service mission. But as I had advanced the trip in addition to serving as the detail’s operational supervisor upon the principal’s arrival, I was certain that these would be kept to a minimum, and indeed except for a few very minor incidents. that were so minute that our protectee was completely oblivious to them, the detail progressed smoothly and on course. Until the last day!
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