Protecting The Rich

By Bodyguard Careers

The types of people that come to one’s mind when thinking about executive protection are celebrities, politicians, and wealthy business men with a net of over $1 million a year. That is partially correct, but the truth of the matter is that high net worth individuals are those who earn $500,000 or more per year.

Let’s take a look at celebrities first: There are numerous cases of actors that have been subject to stalkers because of a role they have played in the past or just because of their spotlight status.

Public awareness of stalking increased when public profiles, victims of stalking, began to speak out. An example that comes to one’s mind is Jodie Foster’s stalker by the name of John Hinckley Jr. who in order to gain her love he stalked President Carter with the intention of assassinating him-a plan that thankfully never came to fruition; later, the same individual attempted to assassinate President Reagan.

People who don’t live in the spotlight would think the solution to stalking would be to obtain a restraining order against the individual. Is that a sufficient and safe solution for a public figure?

Not really.  An executive protection agent knows that the people he should be soliciting his services have already identified that there is concern about their safety that cannot be left to chance: the lives and potentially the lives of their loved ones may be in jeopardy either now or the (near) future.

As an executive protection agent you need to keep in mind that your clients will look into your services based on experience, expertise, and above all preparedness.

They want to see someone who has done his research in advance before his appointment with the client; by doing so you are increasing your chances of being hired.  High profile individuals need problem solvers in their team, people who pay attention to details, anticipate the danger, and prepare in advance by leaving nothing to chance.

Executive protection agents should keep up with the news and present recent crime reports to the prospective clients to show them the areas of vulnerability.

Think of it this way: if a client solicits your service that means that an attack or a threatening situation has already arose. Your goal then is to move fast, diligently, and accurately to show what distinguishes your skills from everyone else in the business.

A threat assessment, as it’s known in the executive protection jargon includes identifying the range and the level of the threats surrounding your client. When an executive protection agent does his job correctly, the prospective perpetrator would be discouraged from attempting to harm the principle.

One reason why high profile individuals refrain from hiring an executive protection agent is the inconvenience they may encounter. The successful executive protection agent understands and validates these concerns and so his ultimate goal is to provide comfort, convenience and above all safety to the client and his family.