Technology and The Art of Executive Protection-Plus

Bill Besse

The goal of personal protection is to provide services that shelter those being protected (principal) from hazards, whether caused by personal design, accident, or negligence as well as insuring privacy. However, absolute protection is never possible. Thus, the objective of personal protection must be to provide strategies that minimize the possibility of encountering these hazards. This is no small task in today’s global, networked information society. Today’s hazards are unique and they confront those charged with protection from varied external and internal sources.

There are certain, well-established basic protocols of personal protection. The “deterrence factor” provided by the presence of personal protection specialists is invaluable. If the personal protection specialist is alert and firm in dispatching his/her responsibilities, the apparent control will be evident and voluntary cooperation on the part of the public will normally flow. The acquired atmosphere of command frequently prevents the need for further action. Within the private sector, where a lower profile approach may be more appropriate and where smaller protection teams are the norm, other tools are also necessary.

Planning is critical to success. Every element of protection must be thoroughly planned in advance and every act or movement of the recipient of these services, as well as protection team members, must be scrutinized to ensure maximum coverage is obtained. For the most part, personal security teams within the corporate sector will be small, one, two or three person teams. Planning and good preventative measures may very well be the difference in the lives of those receiving, as well as those delivering protective services. Every phase of a protective assignment must be carefully planned. The possibility of unexpected change requires that flexibility and adaptability be paramount in such planning. Changes will occur. That is almost a certainty. How the protective team responds to those changes is critical. In all cases, advance work is the key to success. Advance work is the coordination of all necessary security and logistical arrangements before the protected person(s) arrives at each location in the itinerary, if there is one. At times, advance work is extensive and complex. Other assignments require less or more fluid advance work, depending on the threat, the principal’s profile, the availability of resources and the personal desires of the protected person(s).

To the extent possible, protective services personnel should adapt themselves and the protection provided, to the convenience of the person(s) they are providing services for. Protection should not unnecessarily interfere with the freedom of action or the public persona of the protected party. The protected person(s) privacy must always be respected and every effort must be made to avoid embarrassment or interference in the principal’s activities. Protective services personnel and the tools they use should always be as unobtrusive as circumstances permit. Today, these tools have changed.

The resources, both personnel and technological, extended in protecting the principal(s) are determined by a number of considerations. The threat, location, and transportation used, as well as the duration of the principal’s travel, and the population or groups with which the principal(s) will have contact are only a few.

Only imagination and budget limits the application of technology in the environment in which today’s protective specialists work. From planning, to the execution of the protective assignment, to the lessons learned, technology can enhance and multiply the capabilities of the often-limited personnel resources available. There should be no question in anyone’s mind that the capabilities of modern information and equipment technology will continue to grow very rapidly into the foreseeable future.

Security professionals providing personal protective services can benefit by learning about innovative technology and then applying it to their assignments. We have chosen several technological innovations we feel are particularly helpful when planning and carrying out contemporary protective assignments on a global basis. This is by no means a complete list or summary. We would encourage exploration and research to fit individual needs and requirements. Today’s protective specialist must be service orientated, flexible and adaptable to quickly developing situations. He/she must not only be capable of handling traditional security matters, but must be nimble enough to find and secure a table for six at the last minute, obtain theater tickets for a “sold out” performance, have a legal document translated into Italian by the end of the day, and yes, find a kennel for the family pet that will return him in one piece. These are the realities of the protective specialist’s day.

Emergency Medical Equipment
The ability to respond to emergency medical problems is sometimes overlooked or under emphasized by some executive protection teams. We feel it presents the single most common emergency situation, protective teams may be faced with. Statistically, it may be the area where protective agents can actually impact a situation that threatens the life of the individual they are protecting. On an average day in the United States, 1,000 adults die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Each year SCA takes the lives of over 350,000 lives in the U.S. alone. The American Heart Association estimates that up to 100,000 deaths could be prevented each year if defibrillation was readily available in the first few minutes after the attack. The deployment of more external defibrillators has been limited. The slow deployment is due, in part, to technical limitations of the devices. Basic external defibrillation technology has not changed tremendously over the last 15 years. In the past few years, low energy biphasic waveforms, like those used in implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have also been developed for automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). Low energy, biphasic waveforms have allowed the development of small, rugged, virtually maintenance free external defibrillators that can be more widely deployed throughout the security/protective community, making this critical tool available to more patients suffering from sudden cardiac arrest.

When cardiac arrest strikes, time is the critical factor. The primary role of the protective specialist/program is in fact protecting life. The average response time for Advanced Life Support in most American cities is approximately 10-12 minutes. That time can be even greater within a large high-rise facility or while the protected person is in transit. This results in a nation-wide cardiac arrest survival rate of only 5%. Although emergency staff can administer immediate CPR, in reality it only adds a few minutes to a cardiac arrest victim’s life. Defibrillation is necessary to restore a productive heart rhythm and prevent death.

Many executives, public figures, celebrities, senior military officers and others, who require protective services, live hectic stress filled lives. Many have reached positions in life where they are in fact most likely to experience this type of medical emergency. They may utilize corporate or charter jet aircraft service, which places them in distant locales in a matter of a few hours.

Technological innovation has placed the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in the hands of the professional personal protective specialist. These devices are compact, 3.3 inches in height, 10.6 inches in width, weighting less than seven pounds. They can easily be placed in the trunk of a vehicle, on board aircraft or carried discreetly in a backpack.

The AED automatically determines whether the victim needs defibrillation and delivers it with minimal operator intervention. They voice prompt the operator through the rescue process and require little training. We would recommend that anyone providing personal protective services be skilled in emergency medical procedures at a level commensurate with the risks they are asked to mitigate.

There are now several AED models on the market that would be appropriate additions to protective teams equipment complement. The American Red Cross has developed a nationally recognized AED protocol and certification. We feel that simply due to the statistical odds of SCA, this equipment makes good sense for any personal protective assignment, especially if it is ongoing, involves travel or is being provided for an individual with a known medical history of heart problems. Services are now available which provide the protective specialist/team voice and/or on-line access to the staff of select hospital trauma centers. Emergency medical information and telemetry can be communicated directly to physicians who can assist with the medical emergency in real time, on a global basis. Global communications based on satellite technology is now available on many corporate aircraft, allowing voice, fax and Internet capability to be placed in the hands of protective teams and flight crews.

There are several quality AED’s on the market. We would recommend that the unit(s) are equipped with internal documentation memory card or a chart printer, which log and document all vital signs and procedures during the course of the medical emergency. This information can then be provided to medical personnel.

We also recommend that units have the programming capability that permits Medical Director modification of pre-programmed protocols. Agilent Technologies’ Heartstream Automatic External Defibrillator is 2.5 inches high, 8.75 inches wide and 8.0 inches deep. It weights 4.4 pounds and can be equipped with a hard travel case and spare batteries. It has a standby life of more than one year (we recommend frequent testing and training).

The Internet of course, makes many worthwhile and helpful emergency medical resources available to the protective team. One we particularly like is www.healtnet.org It includes information on a wide variety of medical topics and provides links to many more. It is worth exploring.

One of the most important functions of the protective team is to perform advance planning, research and logistical support for domestic and international trips. We feel that this is the key to any successful executive protection assignment. The concepts of prevention and proactive countermeasures based on timely risk assessment and intelligence form the foundation of contemporary executive protection services.

Executive protection specialists in the 21st century, will be expected to provide secure transportation, communications, accommodations, meeting rooms, and leisure activity for the highly mobile chairman or chief executive. There are many new tools available to assist with this challenging protective, organizational and logistical assignment.

Digital Imaging
If time permits, advances are always highly recommended. Advance planning is never too detailed. A member of the protective team travels ahead of the executive. The length of the advance depends on the complexity of the trip, its location, the nature of the visit, local environment, personal requests of the person(s) receiving the protection and risk assessment information. The use of a digital camera and laptop computer can assist in the advance planning process.

The protective agent performing the advance may utilize digital photos of vehicle and walking routes, meeting rooms, airport, medical facilities, accommodations, or any other useful information. These images along with comments of the advance protective specialist can be immediately e-mailed back to headquarters or other locations for review and further analysis. The entire trip can be documented photographically and digitized from beginning to end. Arriving protective agents will have the benefit of actually seeing the arrival points, departure points, hotel entrances/exits, meeting rooms and other security related areas necessary to perform their duties, prior to arriving at the site. This allows the planning process to begin, even before the protective specialist who performed the advance planning returns to the home base, or as he/she leap frogs ahead to the next locale or venue.

Digital cameras store images digitally rather than recording them on film. Once a picture has been taken, it can be downloaded to a computer system, and then manipulated with a graphics program and printed. Unlike film photographs, which have an almost infinite resolution, digital photos are limited by the amount of memory in the camera, the optical resolution of the digitizing mechanism, and, finally, by the resolution of the final output device.

Even the best digital cameras connected to the best printers cannot produce film quality photos. They do produce images that are excellent for documenting an executive protection advance which, is reduced to the resolution of a color printer. The big advantage is the expense and speed because there is no film processing cost or delay. The advance team can make comments, attach the digital photo(s) and e-mail them for review.

Many digital cameras come equipped with 8MB SmartMedia cards (where images are stored). However, 16MB and 32MB even 95MB cards are now available. Other digital cameras use a standard floppy disk for storage. The advantage to this is in the ease of transfer of images from the camera to computer. This all means more images can be stored and transmitted via electronic media.

The photo(s) can be blown up, cropped, edited and placed in a presentation package for the executive, protective team, public relations/media specialist or special events planner to review prior to the trip. The finished product provides a demonstrable starting point for planning. Improved technology in large capacity storage disc drives such as the Iomega 100-250MB Zip disc makes filing digital information by city, region, hotel, or convention center, easy, secure and efficient. Files can be referenced again in the future. Digitally stored images can also document valuables, vehicles, aircraft and personnel.

We do recommend physical advances for each trip, regardless of how many times the protective team has visited a particular site. Once again, however having a documented starting point provides a powerful planning tool. We have found that a camera capable of 1.5 million pixels primary color CCD provides high quality, high-resolution (1280x1024 pixels) images in JPEG format.

Other ease of use features should include, LCD so you can preview your shots and edit or re-shoot if necessary and compact size. We travel with a camera that is 82x123x36mm, weighting 8 oz. A fixed-focus lens with auto-focus capability eliminates most of the guesswork. The built-in auto-flash feature again, provides ease of use. We would recommend date and time recording displayed on the LCD. Pack plenty of batteries and extra floppies or SmartMedia disks.

Normally, these cameras come with all the necessary software to organize, edit, store and publish photos, text and even audio. We have had excellent results with the Toshiba PDR-M1 Digital Camera and SmartMedia. This camera is 4 7/8 x 3 ¼ x 1 3/8 inches and weights in at 8.6 oz. It has a resolution of 1280x 1024 pixels and can record as many as 322 images depending upon the size of the SmartMedia Card and type of the subject images.

Graphic Information & Global Positioning Systems (GIS-GPS)
The use of information systems designed to work with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates is now widely available for use by the protective specialist conducting advance planning of an actual protective assignment.

GIS and GPS technology provide powerful tools when planning security and logistical support for the traveling executive/dignitary. Street maps can be generated, routes and back-up routes can be planned, examined and altered, and driving directions can be given at a start address to a stop address. Aerial photography and satellite imagery can be accessed and used to plan and execute countersurveillance, and position barriers and security personnel during large special events. We do recommend physically driving and walking all routes, regardless of their length, numerous times before, during and if possible, after any protective assignment. During advance planning, vehicle and walking routes should replicate the exact times they will be used during the actual protective assignment moves.

In addition, GPS technology can be utilized effectively to provide secured transportation services, tracking the executive’s vehicle, monitoring speed, direction of travel, alternations to planned routes and even alarms transmitted from the vehicle. A variation of this, using cellular technology, can be used to conduct audio monitoring of the vehicle interior, if an alarm is activated, remote start and kill of the engine and even remotely disable the vehicle so it cannot be used.

A 3Com or Hewlett Packard Palm computer equipped with Windows CE and Earthmate GPS Receiver can provide real time mapping with SolusPro, a relatively new mapping application for handheld computers. Information can be exchanged with a laptop computer, which can be set up in a command post. A powerful, well equipped laptop, bubble-jet printer, equipped with Microsoft’s Office Suite for example, allows the transmission and reception of Fax and e-mail messages, provides paging, logs events, maintains the status of multiple team movements, access to on-line databases and provides word processing capability. The contemporary protective professional’s contacts can be stored in these units. Personal comfort preferences, favorite wines, cigars, restaurants, emergency medical and other service related information is at the fingertips of the close escort security team and can be accessed easily and efficiently. The Earthmate GPS fits in a shirt or jacket pocket. The 3Com hand held will display your position, updated on the map as you travel.

Another software package, Delorme Street Atlas USA 6.0 or Topo USA can help you create or drive a proposed route or routes. This technology provides you with your speed, time, heading and latitude and longitude. It allows you to add route marks, to indicate specific places along your route. This could be used to indicate hazardous locations, vehicle choke points, locations of hospitals, emergency road assistance, security checkpoints, etc. It is the details that matter in executive protection work. The true professional will know exact drive times and be able to respond precisely to inquiries from the principal. He or she will also have alternate routes identified and will have them driven, prior to placing the principal in the vehicle. Expediting movements plays a key role in the success or failure of many protective assignments. These tools can provide assistance in organizing, filing and displaying critical information in an organized, timely, accurate, highly professional manner. Providing executive protection is a service driven function. It is important for the security services to be high quality. It is also critical that the manner or style, in which they are delivered, complement and support the recipient(s) business needs and public and private persona.

Palm/hand held computer technology allows you to compress your business information, phone numbers, names and addresses of contacts, schedules, calendar, notes, international time zones, currency conversion tables, expenses, and things to do checklist into one neat portable package. Recent additional enhancements of Palm handheld computing include applications for collecting digital signatures. Electronic signatures are becoming as good as ink, and as legally binding. This will eventually allow a business executive armed with a Palm computer to sign E-Commerce transactions with their handheld. E-Signatures may also be used to open brokerage accounts, sign contracts, and other documents, on the go.

The technology savvy EP specialist will have to concern him/herself with securing these units, which will become smaller and more powerful, as new technology emerges. More powerful encryption is being made available for these small, powerful Personal Digital Assistants. Virtual as well as physical security concerns must be provided for.

Useful typical applications for Executive Protection work using GIS & GPS

• Street Maps
• Generates street-level maps when given a street address
• Interactive Atlas (Mapquest)
• Address Finder (Expedia)
• City Maps (Yahoo)
• RoadMaps (Lycos)
• Street Maps (Infoseek)
• USGS Topo Maps On-Line (HTI/ESRI)
• Route Planner
• Generates maps and directions given a start address to a stop address
• Tripquest (Mapquest)
• Driving Directions (Expedia)
• Point to Point Driving Directions (Yahoo)
• Driving Directions (MapBlast)
• Imagery
• Provides aerial photography and satellite imagery over the web. TerraServer is one of the world’s largest databases ever created.
• NOAA Operational Significant Events Imagery
• TerraServer (Microsoft Image Server)

Communications Security
The contemporary executive protection specialist is faced with a multitude of risks, which should be anticipated. Securing communications from interception and or surveillance is a key issue, which will become more complex at the speed of technological innovation. Industrial espionage and telephone surveillance is a serious problem for the executive protection team traveling with a high profile industrialist, celebrity or government official.

The unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information pertaining to proposals, acquisitions, costs, contracts, personnel, personal information and budgets can cause economic, political and professional damage to people and companies. Simple voice scrambling may not totally resolve this issue. These communications can take place over wire, fiber, microwave, satellite and even over the Internet.

Recent technological innovations, made available to commercial enterprise, may hold a partial solution to these issues. L-3 Communications of Camden, New Jersey has released a small, highly portable device for the commercial sector, which provides users with portable, clear voice, secure conversations from virtually any office, home, or private telephone. Technological innovation allows it to be small 5.5”x3.5”x1.6” and 0.8 pounds. The unit will easily fit into a briefcase or handbag. L-3 uses a Diffie-Hellman public key exchange and a 168-bit key length proprietary algorithm. This type of technology has been available only in the military and government sectors until a relatively recent commercial release at the 1999 Paris Air Show. Two units are necessary to conduct secure communications. These units are priced beginning under $700.00 per unit.

A word about vehicle security in the 21st Century
A British computer security firm, Oceanus is developing solutions to help protect the newest wave of remote automobile radio technology from malicious attack. The technology pioneered by Formula One racing teams allow an engine to be monitored in real time and even remotely tuned via radio connection. Oceanus is developing public key encryption measures designed to prevent radio signals from being intercepted or mimicked by an unauthorized third party. Currently, the McLaren F1 sports car is the only car that comes complete with an on board modem allowing engine information to be sent back to McLaren headquarters. BMW has hinted that they are working on similar technology. The guys at Oceanus believe that this technology may soon be available for many more commercial vehicles and argue that it is fundamentally important that security measures are incorporated in any design. An Oceanus spokesman says, “Modem traffic can potentially be intercepted by unknown third parties, who may be able to manipulate transmitted data. Well-designed encryption measures can prevent this, but few firms are aware of potential risks involved with unencrypted data. We believe that a substantial proportion of risk can be eliminated by security professionals evaluating and providing services in the design and implementation process. If car manufacturers do not properly assess the risks, and involve security people, they will be increasingly open to electronic attacks.”

Oceanus is also currently researching ways to protect existing automobile technology such as remote central locking systems and alarms from cyber attack. Close escort security personnel spend many of their duty hours in or around vehicles. Many of these are luxury models with the latest technology and instrumentation. Protective professionals must be aware of and understand the vulnerabilities of high technology innovation.

Many attacks, abductions and assaults have taken place in close proximity to vehicle transportation. This will continue to be problematic, as the vehicle remains as a “center of activity” for many whom benefit from personal protective services.

Site Security
The executive protection team may find themselves responsible for the security of a large estate or compound. Technology can assist the team secure a large area, which may be wooded, dark and difficult to patrol.

Thermal imagers rely on thermal contrasts to generate video images. They see heat rather than light. Unlike traditional night vision goggles, thermal imagers are totally unaffected by visible light and can see in total darkness. They can also see thermal clues that cannot otherwise be detected. For example, with a thermal imager a protective agent can determine if a car has been recently driven or if a person is hiding in foliage.

The equipment can also be used to detect hidden compartments in vehicles and buildings, general surveillance and search and rescue. New generations of thermal imagers, previously available for military applications have been placed at the disposal of executive protection teams in the private sector. A Palm version of this equipment, the PalmIR 250 produced by Raytheon Commercial Infrared, closely resembles a Camcorder. It makes an excellent tool for providing protective services in fixed or mobile applications. We have used and field-tested the PalmIR 250, with excellent results. A Plano, Texas company, Aspect Technology & Equipment has integrated infrared technology into their Thermal Sentinel surveillance system. Thermal Sentinel units are highly effective in zero lux lighting conditions and when incorporated into standard CCTV pan and tilt controls can provide outstanding remote video monitoring through foliage, tall grass, mist, fog and smoke. The units have been deployed in estate sized residences and to provide surveillance of priceless art collections that demand low lighting during certain hours to help preserve the artwork paint.

Thermal imaging systems will be offered as safety options on select luxury model automobiles as “head up displays” for the drivers. This will allow the driver to literally “see through” heavy fog, mist and even smoke.

Your advance work was detailed, the pick-up at the local FBO went smoothly and you have transported your principal to a large, multi-room suite in a luxury hotel for the week. As with many corporate executive security services programs, you do not have a staff of 20, and the itinerary is non-stop with many changes and adjustments for appearances, interviews, meetings and social events. The fact is, you may be a two or three person security detail, at best. You must rely on technology to assist you perform flawlessly and securely around the clock.

Wireless Technology
Portable, wireless alarm and closed circuit television equipment technology has become very cost effective and can help be a manpower multiplier when used properly. We have used a completely portable, covert security and surveillance system that transmits voice alarm messages over radio, cellular or standard phone lines to handheld radios or phones. The voice messages can be customized to announce alarm information in any language. Range on many of these systems is limited only by the communications systems being used by the protective detail. Panic/duress buttons, motion detectors, door switches and motion switches can be added to provide space and perimeter protection. Alarm signals can be transmitted to a hand held transceiver. The transceiver can be used to query each sensor for the time and nature of activity prior to arrival at a hotel suite, motor yacht or aircraft not equipped with alarm systems. Procedures are developed to investigate any unknown or unauthorized alarm activity further. Some units come equipped with 7.5 AH gel-cell batteries capable of supporting your needs for up to 500 hours between charges. We have found the Agent, a fully portable security and surveillance system distributed by SecureTech Systems of Cedar Hill, Texas, to be highly effective while providing close escort security. It can be deployed to provide portable protection for hotel suites, vehicles, aircraft and high value materials and displays. The agent is capable of voice alarm messaging, which can be customized with detailed response information in any language, a four-channel briefcase receiver and four wireless sensors (PIR, panic button, door contact and mercury tilt sensor. The agent can be integrated with CCTV cameras, video recording equipment or other peripheral devices. The system can be monitored via phone or cellular link. Sensing devices can be interrogated remotely to provide information to the protective team about entries into a protected area with time and date reported. The unit is highly portable and can be set up in minutes.

Wireless CCTV surveillance technology can provide attended or unattended video coverage of hotel suites, valuable displays or vehicles, during temporary protective assignments. Portable video surveillance kits for use by protective teams is limited only by imagination. For example, a compact wireless, 2.4 GHz Transmitter/Receiver with video and audio transmission capabilities connected to one or two wireless CCTV cameras, a small monitor and portable recorder, will provide excellent images up to 400 feet, inside without having to run video cable. This is where your advance planning and contacts pay off. A hotel suite, at the end of two converging hallways, with a connecting room, or a room(s) on either side of the suite, provides a low-key, securable hotel configuration. We have not encountered a hotel in the world that was not willing to provide the necessary requested services, after their guest’s needs and requirements were explained and discussed in a professional collaborative manner. A selection of medium and high gain antennas and a battery pack with charger should be considered, to complete the package. It can all be transported in a weatherproof Pelican carrying case, easily and unobtrusively.

We have touched on several emerging technological innovations for the private sector in the highly specialized and demanding field of Dignitary and Executive Protection. They are the new and emerging tools of the trade. Service is the operative word in delivering personal protection in the 21st Century. As technology is utilized more and more by individuals and/or groups who would target well known executives, celebrities, political candidates or others, it is the responsibility of professionals providing the security services to have a current and working knowledge of how technology can assist them to deliver state-of-the-art services. Responsibility for the personal protection of a high profile executive, entertainer, political figure or anyone for that matter, is a stressful, demanding and precise occupation. Protective personnel must have diverse experiences and training in order to deliver proactive, anticipatory service. Tolerances for “off days” are narrow in deed, for those planning, organizing and implementing global protective plans and logistical support. Multiple fourteen or eighteen hour days are not unheard of in this line of endeavor. Technology can assist the 21st Century Protective Services Professional carry out his or her assignment professionally and in a manner that complements rather than detracts from the professional and personal objectives of those being protected.

All the traditional “tools of the trade” are a reality. The world, as we know it call for them to be part of most protective assignments. As professionals however, we don’t really want to be in a position where we have to call upon them. As my associate and colleague says so well, “You can do anything once in Executive Protection.” Reliance upon planning, advance work, timely intelligence, accurate risk assessment and threat management serve those who place their well-being or their family’s well-being in our hands, best. Decision-makers who manage protective assignments should strongly consider placing the very best technology in the protector’s hands as well.