888-831-0809

Joe LaSorsa

What Is A Bodyguard? A Secret Service Agent Lookalike? A Goon?

What does one envision when thinking of a “bodyguard”? When one considers the historical image of a “bodyguard”, most people envision a large, tall, mean looking individual, capable of lifting you in one hand and tossing you across the room, seemingly without effort.

In today’s world, security professionals refer to “bodyguards”, our associates, as “executive protection specialists” or “EP agents”.

In terms of answering the first question, “What is a bodyguard”; let’s first ask the question: What is Executive Protection?

Executive Protection is the integration and deployment of physical & technical security measures and countermeasures to protect the life of the protectee (person protected) and/or corporate asset or property.

Executive protection is not simply the traditional image of a “goon” guarding a dignitary, V.I.P. or celebrity. The modern protection agent image is centered on:

  • a “non-confrontational, incident avoidance” professional.
  • the offensive, tactical, assault minded individual serves his/her purpose in a “compound” environment.
  • today’s executive protection specialist is trained to “cover and evacuate”.

PAST or TRADITIONAL IMAGE of an EXECUTIVE PROTECTION AGENT
large stature

• flashy clothes

• always armed – legal or not

• forceful & aggressive

• “gofer” or “lackey” role

• site protection only

• overuse of personnel

• not always trained or educated

• average height

• business dress

• armed when necessary

• diplomatic & flexible

• security professional

• 24/7 total protection

• technology used when possible

• educated & computer literate
The above comparison and/or delineation leads to an issue which is dear to my heart, because all too often in today’s business world, an unsuspecting client attempts to seek out a qualified professional and without knowing or realizing, the client calls on a firm or individual whom he or she has located through the yellow pages or internet, and winds up discussing their very serious issues with an individual directly from the above list: the past image of an Executive Protection Agent.

All too often today, alleged professionals emerge, almost on a daily basis, having received their state license or ‘no’ license at all and hang up ‘shingles’ and conduct business. In New York or Florida, for examples, the requirement for providing Executive Protection or bodyguard services is possession a Private Investigator’s license. There is no other training or experience required. This occurs all too often and these so called professionals present themselves as the Executive Protection expert “extraordinaire!

They forego any semblance of proper operational protocols such as ‘security advance work’ and usually without even conducting a proper threat or vulnerability assessment, offer to provide clients protective services and worse of all, at ‘cut’ rates.

They not only compromise the quality of service rendered the client, but they also dilute the profession, undermining the ‘qualified professionals’ out here and completely undermine the profession from a ‘business aspect’.

The bottom line is the unsuspecting client can’t understand why he or she is being quoted rates as low as $40 and as high as $200 per hour. Note: The truth be known, a client can easily procure services of a qualified professional for around $100-$125 per hour domestically and somewhat higher for international assignments.

The truth also be known, the majority of these ‘shingle hanging non-professionals’ couldn’t explain or expound on the essence of “Executive Protection, it’s procedures and concepts and probably do not know or understand the basic difference between a threat and vulnerability assessment.

Another untruth in this business is the belief that experience in the military, specifically, the ‘special ops’ experience, is critical to this field. This is so not true. Domestically, in the continental U.S., highly strategic, offensive combat experience is not the ‘end all’ and ‘be all’ when it comes to protective assignments. This experience, however, does have a seriously important role in some ‘very high risk’ environments, such as Colombia or Iraq, but the normal, routine, every day protective assignment is usually a ‘one man’ and sometimes a ‘two man detail’ and seldom more. In fact, this routine type protective assignment is usually nothing more than ‘armed escort’ without the luxury of advance security work.

Essentially, protective service without the use of the security advance is simply ‘armed escort’. In this scenario, the protectors, especially, the ‘shingle hanging non-professionals’ will be just as vulnerable to attack as the person protected.

Lastly, another point to mention and a sad point at that, is, these individuals’ incredible lack of understanding of the importance of attention to detail and in being prepared. If a protection agent abides by nothing else, he/she abides by the slogan, “failure to prepare is preparing to fail”. This mentality was constantly ingrained into the mindset of all Secret Service Agents and the result was evident in all aspects of operation.

So, in conclusion, as in most other consumer purchases, “the buyer must beware”. They should be diligent in their scrutiny of the ‘Protective Services’ provider. Prospective clients should take a close look at the principal behind the firm and look to see if the website offers BIO’s on any of the principals. In many instances, clients can not determine the background or credentials of the principal(s) behind the firm because the ‘page’ subject matter in “About us” is conveniently light or skirted altogether. There may be general statements about background, experience and credentials.

Mr. LaSorsa manages J.A. LaSorsa & Associates, a South Florida based security consultancy and investigative firm. He provides: asset and executive protection, corporate security consulting, expert testimony as it relates to premises liability & security negligence; anti-wiretapping, safe rooms & security systems consulting, event and tour security & investigations; workplace & school violence intervention, threat & vulnerability assessments. Joe has over twenty-nine years of experience in the Criminal Investigations, Executive Protection and the security field, which includes a twenty-year Federal Law Enforcement career as a Senior Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, having been assigned to the Presidential Protection Division, the White House.

Six Things You Need to Know About Executive Protection Services

Executive Protection Services

Shielding executives from threats is about brains, not brawn. Best practices from practitioners and the Secret Service show CSOs should rely on risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis and old-fashioned legwork.

Terrified, haggard and frostbitten, Karen McMullan refused to give police the details of her ordeal until she knew her husband Kevin was safe. Twenty-four hours earlier, men dressed as police officers had talked their way into the McMullan’s home. Once inside, they held a gun to the head of Kevin McMullan, the assistant bank manager for Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and explained that he would help them carry out a daring robbery. To ensure his cooperation, they kidnapped his wife.

If you are looking for executive protection services to protect yourself or your family, contact J.A. LaSorsa and Associates now!

 

At the same time just a few miles away, armed men entered the home of another bank employee, supervisor Chris Ward, and conscripted him into their plan by taking his mother, father, brother and brother’s girlfriend hostage. Per the kidnappers’ instructions, the next evening McMullan and Ward used their security passes to enter Northern Bank’s inner vault and packed up bags of banknotes. The cash was loaded into a white truck and driven away. Hours later, Karen McMullan staggered out of a Northern Ireland forest and into the first house she found.

Many companies pay lip service to the notion that employees are their most valuable assets, but few have actually done the math. In the case of Northern Bank, the use of the McMullan and Ward families in that December 2004 robbery cost approximately $50 million-and that is just the thieves’ take. Add to that the public relations costs (worldwide headlines, inquiries by prosecutors and British intelligence), and the tab runs considerably higher.

The threats facing an executive vary widely depending on the size of the company, the industry it belongs to and the individual executive’s profile. CSOs in oft-targeted sectors such as the financial services, pharmaceutical and energy industries, and those with executives based overseas, worry about kidnapping, carjacking, mail-borne explosives, biological agents and ecoterrorism. Threatening letters and e-mails and workplace violence fill out the list.

Given the range of risks involved, CSOs who have managed executive protection programs know that protecting an individual is a very different discipline from securing a facility. A top executive not only can’t be locked down but, unlike a building with a single gate, there are numerous ways for an attacker to get to an executive, including through family members, as in the Belfast example. Executives will also rebel against onerous security restrictions. CSOs face the challenge of calibrating protection that serves their company’s needs while also making that security palatable to the executives who have to live with it.

We spoke with security executives and protection specialists, including former and current agents from the U.S. Secret Service, and gleaned their advice on building an executive protection (EP) program. These tips apply whether you are spending millions to protect all your top executives or you hire the occasional security provider when your CEO travels. Following this advice can make an enormous difference in your executives’ safety-and transform the executives’ idea of personal protection from a barely tolerated hassle into a perk.

Tip #1 Ask questions early (and often)
Whether you are starting an EP program or just looking to tune up a preexisting plan, the first step CSOs should take is to conduct a thorough risk analysis. You need to identify the individuals who are critical to your organization, assess the impact to the corporation if they were lost and examine the risks that each of those people faces. Is there a history of threats against any of these individuals? Do they travel regularly to dangerous places? To what kinds of crimes or dangerous situations are they most vulnerable? Some executives keep a very low profile. Others, such as Donald Trump and Richard Branson, aggressively court media attention and risk attracting the notice of undesirables as well as fans.

Once you have determined the individuals who need protection, you need to know everything about their public and private lifestyles. This is called creating a “principal profile,” and it requires the executive’s full cooperation. You need to know everything about his work and home lives-everything from detailed information about his home, his family’s habits and any organizations and clubs he frequents. It’s also important to investigate how easy it is for outsiders to get information on your principal and his family.

Arnette Heintze, director of security with a Fortune 100 company and a retired U.S. Secret Service special agent in charge, advises doing a little online surfing. “Some companies are way too proud about putting everything they can about their executive and his family up on their website,” says Heintze. “If someone is stalking a certain CEO, he can find out a lot of information on the Web.” (If there is a lot there, the protection team needs to educate the marketing and communications staffs about what publicized personal details could put an executive at risk.)

Based on what the protection team learns about its subjects, CSOs will start to get a picture of what kinds of security measures you’ll need to take. Some companies find that their executives need very little protection. Others need a 24/7 command post set up in their home. You should also consider whether your industry has a standard for executive protection. Companies in high-risk industries might find that there are some common levels of protection used for their executives. For example, executives at large financial services companies might have panic alarms in their homes as a standard security protocol. Researching common protective measures in your industry can enable you to benefit from others’ experience.

Of course, none of this comes cheap. So it’s critical that you’re comfortable with your recommendations because you have to be able to justify them. “Security is always negotiated in the private sector,” says Joe Russo, the vice president of special operations with T&M Protection Resources in New York City, who spent 20 years with the U.S. Secret Service. “You have to be able to articulate why you are going with certain procedures and justify heavier doses of security. It’s big dollars, so they’re not going to take it lightly.”

For example, according to the Jan. 6, 2005, proxy statement that Disney filed to its shareholders, in 2004, Disney spent $716,335 on security advice and personnel for CEO Michael Eisner, and $18,663 on security systems and equipment for his safety. For COO Bob Iger, the company spent $471,646 on security advice and personnel and $2,470 on security systems.

It’s important to realize that risks are ever-changing. CSOs need to establish a baseline level of security for their executives that can be increased when warranted. “Good executive protection professionals understand the threat level and analyze it constantly,” says Tim Horner, associate managing director at security consulting behemoth Kroll. A CEO might get 25 threatening e-mails a week without the threat level spiking. But if a threatening letter is tucked under the front door of the CEO’s home, that signals someone is taking extra pains to deliver their venom, and security may need to be increased.

Tip #2 Ditch the bouncer
The term “executive protection professional” should tell you all you need to know about the evolution of executive security details. No-neck goons in black turtlenecks and lumpy suit jackets are fine if you want to hit a dance club with a posse, but they are not effective for executives. An effective EP program has to be based on research and preparation rather than sheer muscle.

“That’s the difference between a bodyguard and a protection professional: One specializes in muscles and has a gun, and the other may be less physically imposing but is better prepared to identify threats before they materialize,” says David Katz, president and CEO of the Global Security Group, which provides training and consulting for executive protection details.

Whether you are using proprietary staff or outsourcing, the CSO must ensure that protection professionals are properly trained, advises Heintze. They need to have experience in defensive driving, emergency medical training, the ability to defend against an attack on a principal, a conspicuous pride in staying fit, and the good judgment to assess threats and employ the appropriate countermeasures. Today’s protection professional also has to be a mirror image of his principal in professional dress and demeanor.

“You need to know how to walk, dress and talk like your executive,” says Ilan Caspi, executive vice president of the Global Security Group and a former member of Shin Bet, the Israeli counterintelligence and internal security service. Blending into the executive’s milieu is critical to ensuring his safety and minimizing the impact of a security detail on his daily life.

So who is the executive protection professional? “These men and women are educated, trainable, respectful and dedicated professionals,” says Robert L. Oatman. Oatman, author of a book on executive protection, founded R.L. Oatman & Associates, which specializes in executive protection operations and training. “They know how to blend into their environment and carry on an intelligent conversation, and they understand that they represent the executive.” Many companies hire former police officers, secret service agents and military officers to fill this role, but experts like Oatman point out that it’s also possible to find people within a corporate security organization who have the right character for the role. The physical skills necessary to do protection can be taught, but the dedication, discretion and integrity necessary to do the job well are often harder to find. “This job is not for everyone,” says Oatman.

Protection professionals have to be great communicators. They have to be able to establish a good rapport with their principal without getting too close. “You want to make sure that you keep everything on a professional keel,” says Tim Koerner, deputy assistant director in the office of protective operations for the U.S. Secret Service. “When you are in close proximity for a long period of time, people sometimes let down their guard and become more chummy. The best results are when things are utterly professional.”

The CSO’s role is to identify promising protection professionals (both within the company and outside of it), and to mentor them and make sure they receive the appropriate training. That training can include skills such as choreography (knowing how to stand, walk and get out of a car with a principal), conducting advance work to prepare for trips and events ahead of time, effective countermeasures to deal with an attack or security threat when it materializes, proficiency with home alarm and access control systems, familiarity with armored vehicles, and firearms training.

Tip #3 Make protection feel like a perk
Some people come into the protection business imagining they’ll be like Clint Eastwood, firing off magnum clips and cool one-liners in rapid succession. But opportunities for gun-play are hard to come by if the job is done well. In fact, the job can seem quite dull when success is measured by how uneventful the executive’s routine becomes. Nerdy as it may sound, good organizational abilities and excellent research skills will prevent the lion’s share of problems. These things also carry an ancillary benefit: helping an executive eliminate many of the usual annoyances of travel.

When an executive deviates from his routine in order to travel, the protection professional needs to be in a position to prevent a dangerous encounter rather than simply respond to it, says Koerner. Before attending an event, the protection professional should examine the principal’s travel logistics and create a contingency plan for every conceivable possibility. Without this kind of preparation, protection professionals could find themselves frozen by the onset of a medical situation or attack. “You know you have done a really good advance job if you are able to answer all the questions [about an event] that are asked of you,” says Koerner. It’s also easy to tell the protection professionals who have not done their homework. They’re the ones who are constantly standing within a foot of their principals. “By not having done the proper advance work, the untrained professional ends up smothering the CEO and destroying his credibility,” says Heintze.

Advance work is also more than preventing a planned attack. “A lot of times you don’t have to worry so much about kidnapping as you do regular criminal activity, car accidents and serious illness,” says Mark Cheviron, corporate vice president, corporate security and services of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). If an executive has a history of heart problems, facilitating a prompt EMT response might be the top priority for ensuring his health and safety. At ADM, corporate offices and planes are all equipped with defibrillators, and the company keeps track of critical health information-such as allergies and blood type-about its executives. When Caspi worked security for President Clinton’s visit to the Israeli embassy in Washington, he recalls one of the biggest concerns was that Clinton not trip on steep stairs.

Joe Russo spent the last 18 months of his Secret Service career heading up the security detail for former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton. Clinton’s postpresidential schedule had him visiting approximately 54 countries during that time. Without the phalanx of security that accompanies a sitting president, Russo’s advance work was critical.

For every Clinton event at home or abroad, Russo looked at the geographic location and purpose of the former president’s visit. Russo and the Secret Service’s Clinton Protective Division sent out security personnel in advance to lock down all the details of the president’s visit and hammered out a tight schedule that left little room for the unexpected. With Clinton, that was a particular challenge because “he would still attract crowds of thousands, most of whom had good intentions,” says Russo. “People wanted to touch him, grab him and hug him, and with fewer resources [than when he was in office] and unscreened crowds, that meant less control.” In those situations, Russo had to be extra vigilant about his advance work, directing the advance team to ensure that 10-foot buffer zones between Clinton and the crowd were preserved and that all pathways to vehicles and emergency exits were kept clear. In many countries, Russo worked closely with local law enforcement to beef up his security team, but that did not always run smoothly. At one event in Israel, the Israeli police officers tasked with maintaining a clear path to Clinton’s vehicle actually blocked his exit because they were all crowding in to try to shake his hand. This kind of incident occurred in several countries.

Good advance takes time; it could require three weeks to plan a five-day overseas trip. But it’s also an opportunity to make protection seem more of a perk than a pain for the principal by speeding things up. The protection professional is the CEO’s man Friday, doing all the grunt work ahead of time to ensure his experience is seamless. “If executive protection is done professionally and correctly, it can afford an executive an extra hour and a half to two hours a day,” says Oatman.

Tip #4 Stand tall in the face of resistance
When executives rebel against their protection-a fairly common phenomenon-it’s the CSO who has to make the case for security.

CSOs need to educate the executive about security recommendations while arguing for his buy-in. It can be helpful to use terms that the executive feels comfortable with, like cost-benefit and return on investment. It can also be effective to boil down the protection program’s efforts into a quarterly executive summary that lists the perceived threats and the steps taken to mitigate them. Robert Siciliano, a personal security expert who has advised British Petroleum and Best Western, refers to it as cultivating a “healthy paranoia” in your executive populace. “They should be aware of the risks they face and always informed of the worst-case scenarios.” The more that executives know about the role of their protection detail, the better they will understand their role in helping the protection professionals keep them safe.

Of course, executives can come to view these conversations about lurking dangers as scare tactics. That’s why it’s critical that the CSO and not the individual security provider manage this communication. “I wouldn’t try to talk my CEO into taking karate or judo,” says one security executive for a Fortune 50 company in the aerospace industry. “But I think it’s important that they’re aware or sensitive to what’s going on [within their peer group]. Threats or activity against other executives are a good opportunity to tweak them about security.” Also, CSOs should have answers ready for executives’ most common concerns about security in their lives. For example:

Can I trust them? In a culture where everyone seems to be angling for a book deal, top executives are loath to have a stranger listening to their phone calls and observing the details of their daily lives. Executives have to be able to rely on their discretion.

What about my personal life? Most executives want to leave their work at the office. If a security detail during off-hours is necessary, CSOs can minimize complaints by ensuring that the protection personnel keep a low profile. Video surveillance technology and alarm systems can keep the security professionals at a comfortable distance.

Will this slow me down? Executives concerned that security will be cumbersome can learn how the organizational prowess of their protection personnel can make everything run more smoothly.

Giving your executives a little training of their own can also make them better partners. Some take defensive driving courses and learn what to do if attacked by armed assailants, and what they should do if they are being watched. This might all sound very cloak and dagger, but Russo notes that these are not unheard-of occurrences in the business world. For example, a business competitor who was hoping to gather information about his daily meetings placed one of Russo’s executive clients under surveillance. Companies that are in litigation have used surveillance for intimidation purposes. If you get executives thinking about these kinds of situations and taking some ownership of their security, you’ll discover an enthusiastic partner. “When they start to see the benefits [of security], they start to like it,” says Caspi. “Eventually you get to the point where they can’t think how they would get along without security.”

Tip #5 Build a big Rolodex
Good information is the lifeblood of an EP program. It pays to work closely with executive assistants, hotel personnel and event organizers. But that’s only part of the information network a protection professional needs. Other important resources come from law enforcement and fellow security professionals.

When other executives gather for an event, it can be a good opportunity for security personnel to network as well. These connections can be helpful, but their cooperation depends on the protection professional’s powers of persuasion and pleasing. (It also pays to return their calls when they ask for advice.) “These people don’t owe you anything,” says Caspi. “They can help you if they want, but nobody will hold them accountable if they don’t. Fellow protection professionals can also provide a wealth of helpful information. When traveling abroad or to an unfamiliar city, the best information on where to go and which in-country security providers to trust will likely come from peers that have worked security in the area before.

Within the company, the EP professional’s network should include the executive assistants who manage the schedules and the HR managers who in many companies ensure that everyone who works in proximity with the top executives are screened and given background checks. But it should also include the security department. Often, executive protection operates outside the boundaries of the regular security department, but that is a mistake, says Oatman. The CSO is a critical advocate to an executive protection program, and EP should work closely with the CSO and his team to ensure a free flow of communication and to facilitate the acquisition of additional resources when necessary.

Tip #6 Don’t forget the spouse and kids
The most vulnerable people in the corporation are not the executives under the protection of corporate security, but their spouses and children who are far more accessible and are often left out of security planning. “The family should be a huge concern,” says Russo. “If someone has bad intentions and they recognize that an executive has 24-hour security at the office and when he travels, they’ll think of an easier way to get to them.”

Harming a spouse, child or another member of the executive’s family is an easier way to get to that executive compared with trying to harm an executive surrounded by a security detail. Oatman is familiar with a recent case where an individual was fired from his job and was really upset about it. “That employee’s son, who had a prior criminal conviction for assault, showed up at the CEO’s home and threatened retaliation against the executive,” says Oatman. The family called the police. Although no charges were pressed, the executive and his family lived with security for three months after that until the investigation was completed.

While a security detail at the executive’s home may not be necessary, the protection team should evaluate the principal’s home and examine whether family members should receive any training or additional protection. At ADM, Cheviron deals with everything from threats from disgruntled employees to the occasional crazed individual who reads something about ADM in a newspaper and goes on a crusade of harassment. The company supplies all its officers with a home alarm system that is monitored at the corporate office. He also considers options like home safe rooms where executives and their families can wait for police and fire assistance to arrive, and armored vehicles with trunks that contain a release in case the car is stolen and the executive is placed inside the trunk.

Sometimes the simplest steps can make a big difference to an executive’s security. Many companies provide excellent facility security but omit the basic precautions of conducting background checks on the employees that work in close proximity with the CEO. Some executives have buttoned-down security with an armed driver five days a week, but nothing on the weekends. Examine your security for these kinds of commonsense gaps. The benefits of nothing going wrong are worth the costs of safekeeping your company’s most valuable assets.

The Case For Growing Your Private Investigative – P.I., Security Or Executive Protection Business And Maximizing Profits

This article is intended to focus directly on the “struggling” P.I., Security or E.P. Business Entrepreneur.

If you see your business as ‘stagnant’ or ‘standing still’; or, if you don’t know when to raise your fees; or, you’re not sure on how and where to market; or you’re not sure as to how to acquire clients; or how to price services; how to deal with clients and customers; and, if you work ‘harder’ and not ‘smarter’……then, read on!

One of the more prolific and most dramatic problems facing this industry’s entrepreneur is transitioning from another field into this one, especially the former law enforcement officer or military personnel transition. Most individuals coming into these businesses are totally unprepared for the transition into the private sector and into the business world!

The majority of them may know how to conduct a criminal investigation or how to handle weapons and secure an installation, etc., but, they’re in a different world here! The private sector is a different animal!

Another issue is lack of proper Capital funding for the start-up business! This is probably the biggest reasons why (9) out of (10) start-up businesses in the U.S. fail every year!

Most start-up Entrepreneurs in our field lack:

• The appropriate Skill Sets and Knowledge Base!
• Knowledge of how to prepare a business plan!
• Business acumen!
• Business management skills!
• Marketing skills!
• Knowledge of industry verbiage!
• Knowledge of how to operate within a budget!
• Knowledge of how to price services!
• Knowledge of business record keeping practices!
• Knowing how to submit Proposals!
• Knowing how to close the deal!
• Knowing how and when to raise fees!
• Knowing when to keep a client and when to let go!
• Knowing how to maintain the proper image!
• Knowing that when times get tough – ‘you don’t sell the conference table!

If you’re interested in learning more and possibly growing your business and maximizing your profits, then contact me to discuss my programs re:
Coaching; Mentoring; or Situational Coaching Programs for Senior Corp Security Managers, Private Investigative Entrepreneur, & Security or Executive Protection Business Start-Up Firms

I can be reached as the telephone, e-mail and website.
Regards,
Joseph A. LaSorsa, CPP

J.A. LaSorsa & Associates
1645 SE 3rd Court
Suite 102
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441-4465
(U.S. SECRET SERVICE – RET.)
954-783-5020 (24 hour contact)
www.lasorsa.com
e-mail: jal@lasorsa.com
Providing Global services: Security Expert Witness, Anti-Wiretap and Audio Countermeasures, Consulting, Investigative, Polygraph, Executive Protection Estate & Yacht Security Systems & Consulting, Workplace Violence Training & Intervention and Executive Protection Training.
South Florida – New York – Los Angeles
Specializing in Europe, Central and South America.
As Seen and Featured: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Daily Business Journal; Millionaires, Robb Report, DuPont Registry Magazines

Private Investigation Firm

We are a full service private investigation firm and nationwide security consultant group. This is where you need to be when you need to find the right people to help with your private investigation project. We are an aggressive private investigations consultant service company whose clients are professionals in the legal and financial field primarily. Browse our sites and you will have confidence when you use our private investigation services, your needs will be our number one priority. And if we cannot help you, we will find someone who can.

Private Investigator Hired After Recent Fire

It is reported that the parents of one of the five people who died in a recent house fire in Rhode Island have asked a judge to allow a private investigator they have hired access to the property. They also requested the documents associated with the blaze and copies of the 911 recordings.

A lawyer is reported as saying that private investigations often differ in “scope” to public investigations. Fire officials are investigating the cause of the early morning fire they have said started in the space between the first-floor ceiling and the second floor. It could be weeks before a cause is determined, though they do not think the blaze was suspicious.

L’ex 007 di Reagan “Ecco i tre errori della sicurezza”

La Stampa
15/12/2009 – INTERVISTA
Maurizio Molinari
CORRISPONDENTE DA NEW YORK

L’aggressione a Silvio Berlusconi è avvenuta perché il servizio di sicurezza ha commesso tre errori». Ad analizzare quanto avvenuto in piazza Duomo è Joseph LaSorsa, che era nel servizio segreto del presidente degli Stati Uniti ai tempi dell’attentato a Ronald Reagan ed oggi guida in Florida l’omonima agenzia di consulenza per la sicurezza.

Quali sono i tre errori?
«Il più grave è la carenza di controllo della folla che si trovava nella piazza. Quando un leader è in posti affollati devono esserci attorno a lui spazi e corridoi che consentono agli agenti di tenere a debita distanza le persone. Lì invece la gente era a ridosso del leader, quasi attaccata».

E il secondo?
«L’assenza di un percorso protetto verso l’auto del premier. Quando il presidente degli Stati Uniti si muove il servizio segreto sa che una delle maggiori vulnerabilità è nel momento in cui sale o scende dall’auto. Per proteggerlo si posiziona l’auto in un posto sicuro, come ad esempio dietro un palazzo o, meglio ancora, sotto un tendone per impedire alla gente di vedere dove si trova la macchina. Il presidente sale a bordo della limousine senza che nessuno possa vederlo. Quando si muove è già nell’auto».

Tanto il controllo della folla come la protezione dell’auto non possono comunque impedire che qualcuno lanci un oggetto contro il leader…
«Certo ma il servizio segreto può limitare il tipo di oggetti che possono essere lanciati contro il leader. E qui sta il terzo errore commesso a Milano: non c’erano controlli, perquisizioni o metal detector attraverso cui filtrare le persone che si avvicinavano a Berlusconi. Anche contro George W. Bush venne lanciata una scarpa a Baghdad, ma poiché i giornalisti entrati in quella sala erano passati attraverso i controlli di sicurezza non potevano avere con sé oggetti contundenti, di ferro, marmo o materiali simili».

Insomma, lei sta dicendo che non si può impedire il lancio di oggetti in sé, ma si possono limitare gli oggetti da lanciare.
«Esatto. Non si può togliere ogni oggetto a chi si avvicina al leader. Ma se si tratta di penne, matite, orologi, scarpe, cinte o anche lampade da tavolino i danni sono destinati ad essere limitati. I metal detector servono a questo. Il problema è che in piazza Duomo non c’erano affatto».

Quali dei tre errori è a suo avviso il più grave?
«Non c’è mai un errore più grave degli altri: è la concanetazione di sbagli differenti, la sovrapposizione fra molteplici carenze, che è sempre all’origine di un vulnus grave nel sistema di sicurezza che protegge un leader. Credo che i reponsabili della scorta di Berlusconi passeranno ora un periodo lungo e difficile di riesame delle procedure. Come facemmo noi dopo l’attentato a Reagan del marzo 1981».

(3) Day Executive Protection Agent Bodyguard Training

WHY A VALUE TOPICS PACKED (3) DAY COURSE INSTEAD OF (5) OR (7) DAY COURSES FOR THOUSANDS OF $$$ ?:
J.A. LaSorsa & Associates attempts to keep course costs and fees low in order to afford entry level security personnel an opportunity to obtain quality EP training at an affordable price. We intentionally omit firearms training; CPR and Defensive/Evasive Driver Training from our (3) Day Executive Protection Agent Training Course BECAUSE:

1. Firearms Training can be obtained LESS EXPENSIVIELY on your own, at local firearms ranges with certified firearms instructors.
2. CPR AND Emergency First Aid Training can also be obtained LESS EXPENSIVIELY on your own (consider the Red Cross).

Once an individual is certain he/she wishes to continue in the EP field, then pursuing other courses like CQB (Close Quarters Combat) and Defensive/Evasive Driver Training, as an adjunct to the academics of the concepts and procedures of Protective Operations.

Additionally, those of you who believe prior law enforcement, military or Martial Arts experience alone are necessarily solid experience and background as a basis to operate as Executive Protection Agents – NOT TRUE – unless you have undergone prior specific Executive Protection/VIP training provided by a law enforcement, military or reputable private school/agency.

Click here for our Bodyguard / Executive Protection Training Course Schedule

In the private sector world, EP Agents typically operate with limited personnel and may have to immediately respond to protectees to quickly move/evacuate them. In that protective scenario, Close Quarters Combat and Martial Arts experience will likely be the least beneficial skills sets working for you! In the millions of hours the Secret Service has been involved with Protection since 1901, there has never been a situation where an Agent has fired his/her firearm in defense during a Protective assignment! It is a highly unlikely scenario where you might be simultaneously evacuating your client and firing your weapon at the same time!

Bottom line, if you’re serious about operating as an EP Agent and understanding what to do and how to do it, consider attending one of my courses or a similar course offered elsewhere with similar academic topics for a similar fee, so you will understand the concepts and procedures of:

HOW to conduct 1) Threat Assessments, 2) Protective Security Advances and 3) setting up Protective Details for various private sector scenarios and situations!

3 Day Executive Protection Agent Training Course Executive Protective Agent / Bodyguard Training Course Content

Course Content – Topics:

  • Executive Protection – Principles & Concepts
  • Residence, Travel and Office Security
  • Assassination Attempts – Types of Assassins
  • Threat and Vulnerability Assessments (definition and the differences between them)
  • (4 live working Protective Detail exercises)
  • Advance Concepts – Domestic & Foreign Procedures & Guidelines
  • Duties of the Advance Agent
  • Firearm/Weapon Response and Takeaway Procedures (practical exercise)
  • Formations (practical exercise)
  • Protective Detail – Construction
  • Inner, Middle and Outer Perimeter Security – Concepts and Procedures
  • Site Advance (practical exercise)
  • Emergency/Contingency- Planning and Response Procedures
  • Motorcade Operations & Security (practical exercise – location permitting)
  • Armored Vehicle – History & Operations
  • Vehicular Bomb Detection & Sweeps
  • State Licensing Requirements for Executive Protection Services
  • How to get E.P. Jobs
  • How to Successfully Market E.P. Services

The (3) Day Agent Training Course is designed for the novice and is also a great refresher for the seasoned agent. There are (4) live, simulated Protection Detail practical exercises. Training material is provided.

A certificate of attendance is awarded to attendees upon completion.

Click here for our Executive Protection / Bodyguard Training Class Schedule

Besides Executive Protection and Bodyguard Training, J. A. LaSorsa also provides: Security Expert Witness, Anti-Wiretap and Audio Countermeasures, Consulting, Investigative, Polygraph, Executive Protection Estate & Yacht Security Systems & Consulting, Workplace Violence Training & Intervention.

Most Services also available in Europe, Central and South America.

As Seen and Featured: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Daily Business Journal; Millionaires, Robb Report, DuPont Registry Magazines

The Secret Service Has Been Embarrassed Before

Allan Lengel
Contributor

WASHINGTON – The Salahis were hardly the first to embarrass the Secret Service by crashing presidential security. And it will probably happen again.

One man did it twice. The Rev. Rich C. Weber shook hands with President Clinton at his second inauguration, then was back four years later in 2001, welcoming President George W. Bush with a brief conversation. There were also more frightening incidents — a man who hopped the White House gate with a .38-caliber revolver and got within 50 feet of the residence. Another man crashed a plane into the White House.

But until Tareq and Michaele Salahi attended a state dinner uninvited last week, even posing for pictures, maybe none of the intruders displayed quite the aplomb that Robert Latta did on Jan. 20, 1985.

RELATED: List: Notable Breaches of Presidential Security

Latta, a 45-year-old water meter reader from Denver, sneaked into the East Entrance of the White House with the Marine Band about two hours before President Reagan was sworn in for his second term.

Then Latta walked around the White House unchallenged for almost 15 minutes. At one point, he wandered into the State Dining Room and sat at a chair at the president’s table. Reagan was not in the White House at the time.

And the meter reader didn’t even have to dress up like the Salahis did. The band members were in uniform. Latta was not. Band members carried their instruments. Latta carried a bag.

Reagan spokesman Larry Speakes at the time said the Secret Service Sentries thought Latta was with the band. The band leader thought he was a “staff member.”

“Obviously we made a mistake,” Speakes told the Chicago Tribune.

Ex-Secret Service Agent Joe LaSorsa was on the Reagan protection detail at the time of that security breach in 1985, but was not involved in the incident. He knows the challenges involved with protecting the president and the White House in a bustling urban area filled with tourists and in close proximity to Reagan National Airport.

Plus, he said, the White House requires “immeasurable access.”

“People need access. Reporters need access, government officials need access. You have employees,” said LaSorsa, who runs a private security consulting firm in south Florida called JA LaSorsa & Associates. “It’s an access control dilemma.”

LaSorsa declined to comment on the latest breach involving the Salahis. But he acknowledged that Latta’s intrusion was painful for the agency.

“None of us had positive feelings,” he said.

For every breach, however, he said an examination follows and security improves. Some improvements are discreet. Others are more blatant, like the decision by Clinton in May 1995 to close Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to all but pedestrian traffic. That move, which the Secret Service had pushed for, came several weeks after the truck bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and several months after a man crashed a plane into the White House.

Still, “there is no such thing as perfect security,” James G. Huse Jr., retired assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service, noted in a column this week.

“Any security system for public dignitaries that depends on the discretionary judgments of humans has to accept the risk of human error as a variable. Indeed, in this incident the failure of these controls at a critical checkpoint allowed the Salahis their uninvited access,” he wrote.

“Nevertheless, what is not clearly reported,” he wrote of the latest incident, “is that other concurrent security operations were successfully performed at the state dinner that assured the safety of the President and his distinguished Head of Government guest.”

Huse also recalled a troublesome moment when he was a special agent.

“I remember the state arrival ceremonies on the South Grounds of the White House, in 1979 for the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, that were disrupted by an unruly individual in the press pool who screamed out unflattering epithets at the visiting dignitary during his speech,” he wrote.

An investigation revealed that impostor had claimed affiliation with a nonexistent publication to gain the press credentials. “Neither President Carter or Leader Deng Xiaoping were endangered in any way,” Huse noted.

As an assistant director, he was also the chief investigator for the White House security review that followed the September 1994 small-plane crash on the South Grounds of the White House, and for the October 1994 incident when Francisco Duran fired semiautomatic weapons at people on the North Grounds of the White House.

Current Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan took full responsibility for the breach by the Salahis at a congressional hearing this week. But the agency feels the criticism has overshadowed the good work it has done.

“In spite of last week’s incident, the safety of those we protect has been and remains the agency’s highest priority,” Secret Service spokesman Malcolm D. Wiley Sr. said in a statement issued Thursday night. “In the last year alone, we safely cleared 1.2 million visitors through the White House without incident. However, we clearly understand that there is absolutely no margin for error, and we will take whatever steps necessary to ensure that this type of failure is not repeated.

“We as an agency are constantly in a state of self-assessment. We do not have the luxury of celebrating the successes we have had, but rather we have always scrutinized, studied and adjusted to mistakes and emerging threats.”

Author Ronald Kessler doesn’t think the agency is doing enough. He was highly critical of the Secret Service in his book “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.” He also wrote an unflattering column on the security breach by the Salahis for Newsmax.com.

“The fact the couple was allowed in in this dangerous age is a disgrace and is symptomatic of lax standards at the Secret Service since it was absorbed by the Department of Homeland Security in 2003,” Kessler wrote. “What is needed is a shakeup of Secret Service management, including replacement of Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan with a director from the outside who will change the management culture.”

As for Robert Latta, he was charged with a misdemeanor but apparently never prosecuted. He had his brief moment of fame as a recurring gag by comedian Rich Hall on “Saturday Night Live.”

The Salahis certainly seem like an “SNL” skit waiting to happen.

5 cities where Americans are relocating

U.S. migration may be down overall, but these vibrant metro areas are still attracting newcomers.

By Forbes

Austin, Texas, is No. 2 on the list of cities where Americans are relocating. © Brandon Seidel/Shutterstock

Unemployment is on the rise, credit is tight and consumers aren’t spending — which means they aren’t picking up and moving much, either. Very few places in America saw significant population growth in 2008.

Despite the overall economic slowdown, some parts of the country keep on moving ahead, attracting more and more newcomers — even if it’s at a slower pace than in more sound economic times. These places still offer a semblance of stability, as well as great weather, cultural life and, in many cases, affordability. Behind the numbers To determine the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, Forbes used 2008 population estimates for metropolitan statistical areas with a population of more than 1 million, released March 19, 2009, by the U.S. Census Bureau. MSAs are geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics. Read: America’s downsized cities Forbes then compared the 2008 population estimates to the previous year’s data to see which areas had grown the most, percentagewise.

The cities that made the list share similar qualities: more business opportunities, better weather and more affordable housing. The top three areas according to the data are Raleigh, N.C., ranking first, which jumped 4.29% to nearly 1.9 million; Austin, Texas, which came in second, with a 3.77% increase to almost 1.7 million; and Charlotte, N.C., which moved up 3.36% to 1.7 million.

What’s your home worth?

All these areas’ increases were smaller in 2008 than they were in 2007 (Raleigh increased by 4.7% in 2007, Austin by 4.29% and Charlotte by 4.2%), but a slight slowdown is not necessarily a bad thing, says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and policy group based in Washington, D.C. “Part of the story here is the rapid rise in growth in the middle of decade,” he says. “That growth was unnatural.”

The in-migration that happened in the middle of this decade certainly had a lot to do with the housing boom. When that went bust, so did those crazy population balloons. But these particular places are still growing because instead of building an economy that relies heavily on one industry, most of the metro areas on Forbes’ list serve as headquarters for a diverse range of companies.

For example, Austin’s biggest employers include the University of Texas, Advanced Micro Devices and Dell. That wide range might have something to do with the area’s relatively low January 2009 unemployment rate of 6.4%.

This is the opposite of what happened in true housing boom-and-bust towns like Las Vegas. In 2004, Las Vegas — a foreclosure mecca — saw a population increase of 4.6%, followed by 3.66% in 2005, 3.98% in 2006 and 3.22% in 2007. In 2008, that number fell to 2%.

The power of business
When it comes down to it, a buzzing business community is a metro area’s most important characteristic, says Sean C. Safford, a professor at the University of Chicago and author of “Why the Garden Club Couldn’t Save Youngstown: The Transformation of the Rust Belt.” He studies the social economics of U.S. cities and metro areas.

“Perception is driven by the vibrancy of the companies in an area,” he says.

Home affordability calculator

However, that doesn’t mean that these metros won’t suffer from a slowdown in population growth when 2009’s numbers are released next year. Charlotte, for example, reported a 10.5% unemployment rate for January 2009, likely related to the fact that Bank of America is headquartered there. That high unemployment rate almost guarantees stunted growth in 2009.

“We don’t quite yet know what the impact (of the ongoing recession) will be for 2009 populations,” Frey says. “But we do know it’s not going to get any better.”

Indeed, where Americans are relocating today has little to do with where they’ll be moving tomorrow.

Top 5 cities where Americans are relocating

1. Raleigh, N.C.

2. Austin, Texas

3. Charlotte, N.C.

4. Phoenix

5. Dallas

Click here for the full slide show of 10 cities where Americans are relocating.

This article was written by Lauren Sherman for Forbes.

America’s top 5 most dangerous cities

America’s top 5 most dangerous cities

The greater likelihood of suffering a violent crime sets these U.S. cities apart from the rest of the country. Did your town make the list?

By Forbes

Las Vegas ranks No. 4 on Forbes’ list of most dangerous American cities.

In March 2008, Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with eight felonies, including perjury and obstruction of justice. In August, he violated his bail agreement and was thrown in jail. His actions were deplorable for anybody, but Kilpatrick was no Average Joe — he was the mayor of Detroit.

Unfortunately for the Motor City, Kilpatrick, 38, is just one ripple in the area’s sea of crime. Detroit is the worst offender on our list of America’s most dangerous cities, thanks to a staggering rate of 1,220 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people.

“Detroit has, historically, been one of the more violent cities in the U.S.,” says Megan Wolfram, an analyst at iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a Maryland-based risk-assessment firm. “They have a number of local crime syndicates there — a number of small gangs who tend to compete over territory.”

What’s your home worth?

Detroit was followed closely on the list by the greater Memphis, Tenn., and Miami metropolitan areas. Those three were the only large cities in America with more than 950 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people.

Behind the numbers
To determine our list, we used violent crime statistics from the FBI’s latest uniform crime report, issued in 2008. The violent crime category is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. We evaluated U.S. metropolitan statistical areas — geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics — with more than 500,000 residents.

Though nationwide crime was down 3.5% year over year in the first six months of 2008, the cities atop our list illustrate a disturbing trend: All 10 of the most dangerous cities were among those identified by the Department of Justice as transit points for Mexican drug cartels.

Run by crime lords like Joaquin Guzman Lorea, these gangs — and their violent turf wars — are spreading into the American Southwest and beyond. Places like Stockton, Calif., nearly 500 miles from Tijuana, have seen an uptick in related violent crime.

“Stockton is a major transit point along the I-5 corridor on the way to Seattle and Vancouver,” says Wolfram. “A lot of it is similar to crime happening in the Southwest. For the most part, it’s drug gang on drug gang.”

Motown blues
The situation in Mexico has escalated in recent years, but Detroit has been dealing with the same problems for decades. Detroit was an industrial boomtown during the first half of the 20th century, its population swelling from 285,000 in 1900 to 990,000 in 1920 and reaching a peak of 1.8 million in 1950.

Only half that number still live within city limits. Starting in the 1960s, Detroit began a precipitous decline. Most scholars blame rapid suburbanization, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and federal programs they say exacerbated the situation by creating a culture of joblessness and dependency. Residents fled to the suburbs and to other regions of the country entirely, leaving behind a landscape littered with abandoned buildings.

“Factories that once provided tens of thousands of jobs now stand as hollow shells, windows broken, mute testimony to a lost industrial past,” wrote Thomas J. Sugrue in his book “The Origins of the Urban Crisis.” “Whole sections of the city are eerily apocalyptic.”

Detroit isn’t the only city on the list that’s suffering from abandonment issues.

Home affordability calculator

In Las Vegas, for example, the housing boom created loads of excess inventory. When the market tanked, homeowners suddenly found themselves with properties worth far less than the mortgages they’d taken out. In the worst cases, banks foreclosed, leaving people without homes — and with more debt than they’d had to begin with. As a result, Sin City is even emptier than Detroit.

“Detroit has trouble showing improvement in its crime rate because dedicated, desperately needed and appropriate resources are not invested in public safety. Painfully, it is not a priority,” says Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym L. Worthy. “I wish that those with the resources would view domestic terrorism like they do terrorism across the water. It used to be that we were keeping our head above water and treading quickly. Now we are drowning, and no one seems to really care. All they tell me to do is cut some more.”

Few signs of improvement
Making matters more difficult, as municipal budgets shrink during this recession, crime-fighting funds are often among the first casualties.

“There’s less public spending during downturns,” says Wolfram. “Police departments and incarcerations systems are tough to fund.”

The news has been bad for decades, but there may yet be hope for Detroit. The city just elected a new mayor, former Detroit Pistons player Dave Bing, who has created a lot of optimistic buzz.

The top 5 most dangerous cities

1.      Detroit

2.      Memphis, Tenn.

3.      Miami

4.      Las Vegas

5.      Stockton, Calif.

Click here for the full list of America’s most dangerous cities.

This article was written by Zack O’Malley Greenburg for Forbes.com.