Close Protection – Two Common Misconceptions
“The guys have to be big” or “everyone has to be ex-military” are probably the two most common misconceptions about close protection.
I have spoken to some huge guys who said they were close protection officers, and they told me that if something happened they would easily be able to stop it! The one thing that both clients and people new to the industry forget is that close protection is about spotting potential problems before they happen and getting the principal away from the threat. The “I can stop trouble when it happens” train of thought most likely comes from working on the doors for years, where that’s exactly what you have to do.
I have seen people who use close protection services surround themselves with the biggest guys they can find, but big doesn’t necessarily equal safe. If you choose to have this style of security, be aware that wherever you go, everyone will know where you are and how many security officers you have.
Regardless of what guys you have in your security team, just make sure they are suitable for the position. A good test is to ask prospective security officers what their definition of close protection is. If they answer “to stop trouble” or “to keep the principal safe” then there’s a chance they don’t really understand what close protection is really about.
I have worked with many close protection officers who have been ex-military, and they have been some of the top guys I have worked with, but if you do require close protection, do you really require ex-military personnel?
If we are talking about security details in hostile environments, then 99% of the time you have to come from an ex-military background to get these positions. But for the sake of this article, we are talking about working in a London security team.
Just because someone has been in the army, it doesn’t automatically qualify them to work in the close protection field and it certainly doesn’t make them security experts. Ex-military personnel do have skills that security officers form a “civvy” background might not, but do you really need those skills for your London secuirity?
Some ex-military personnel are lucky enough to have completed extensive courses on close protection whist serving, but most haven’t. People leave the armed forces every day, complete the same SIA close protection courses that everyone else does, and that’s it.
Personally, when I’m putting a CP team together, I don’t over look anyone who has the relative experience for the job in hand. It doesn’t matter that some close protection officers might be ex-military and some might not. What matters is that the close protection officers know how to do their job so that their principal can go about their business in a safe environment to the perceived level of threat.
