5 minute read
CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL VIP PROTECTION
Keeping Your Edge:
By Elijah Shaw
An excerpt from Introduction to Executive Protection
It is a very natural phenomenon to go abroad making the same assumptions about how people act, and things work that you would find in your domestic environment.
But these assumptions can get both you and your client into trouble. Each part of the world presents its own unique set of challenges, and a protector who travels internationally will do well to always keep this fact in the forefront of their mind.
For example, you may know that in the United Kingdom, firearms are hard to obtain, and even the police traditionally do not carry them, instead opting for a variety of nonlethal weapons like the ASP baton. However, when the threat level is elevated, let’s say for a major sporting event hosted in the UK, you will see law enforcement armed with a variety of semiautomatic rifles - heavy firepower.
A protector moving his client into this area of operation, - a VIP who will be attending the games - will want to take the preceding into consideration. Question if the officers who previously move about unarmed, received regular training and a high level of proficiency with the long guns now slug across their chest? Will they be more on edge, because of the added stressors inherent in the assignment and therefore be less accommodating to you and your VIP? You will have to plan for the specifics of the countries you will be visiting, including contingency planning because you can’t assume that what you know from your experience in the US, or wherever your home country is, will apply elsewhere.
Things will be different
Part of knowing that things will be different is recognizing that, no matter how much you plan, you are going to have to make some decisions on the fly. Unless this is a repeat visit, you may not have a local network of trusted providers. One way to get initial referrals for local providers is from the client’s concierge service, if they use one. Even better is to reach out to a colleague who may have local connections. Embassies and consulates may also be helpful, though if you are traveling in relation to a major international event (see below), they may not have time for you, because they may have their hands with a whole host of other challenges. Also, for travel to areas under a State Department travel advisory, the embassy or consulate may not be too forthcoming with assistance, because you are not supposed to go there in the first place.
Language issues and customs
It’s entirely possible you may not speak or read the local language, and if you don’t happen to have a team member fluent in that language, you may need to hire a local translator (and needless to say, you need to vet that person – I’ve even seen a client hire a second translator to make sure that the first was relating everything back accurately). And then there is the issue of local norms and traditions. You (or your client) may find yourselves inadvertently violating social customs or even breaking unfamiliar laws, especially in nondemocratic countries. Depending on where you are geographically, you may well stand out physically, based on your height or skin color, and even if you try to be discrete, you will be noticed. Because of those differences from the norm, it is entirely possible that locals may even think that you, the protector, must be a celebrity, and ask you for your autograph. Conversely you cannot be visibly offended then, that a culture can be quite different from what you know. If example, when you go into a restaurant, you may see animals on the menu that would be considered beloved pets back home.
Censorship and intellectual property theft
The free expression that you and your client are accustomed to on social media and other internet use in the West may be illegal or restricted in the countries that you visit in performance of your role. Before you go, you should know and plan for the reality that your communications will be monitored. Some countries are known to tap into communications of foreign visitors – and especially the kinds of high-profile/net worth individuals who utilize our services. The reason why may be a variety of things, from keeping tabs on interactions with local problematic citizens, or even to steal trade secrets that your client might have in the form of data.
This theft of intellectual property could be anything from obtaining an unreleased recorded from a popular musician, to stealing technology design plans from a businessman. Operationally, this means that, from the moment you get off the plane, you – and your client – should assume that your phone and laptop and any other electronics have been compromised. Prepare for this before the trip, making sure that your devices do not contain sensitive trade secrets or other material, because if you don’t, local hackers, sometimes with official backing, can tap into those devices, obtain the data and/or designs, and reverse-engineer as needed to produce a knockoff or beat a high value product to market.
To mitigate the risk, you might decide to leave those electronics at home, and bring new, burner phones just for this trip. Keeping in mind even conversations are susceptible to wiretap, sensitive information must be transmitted carefully.
Elijah Shaw is the National Director of the North American Bodyguard Association and the CEO of ICON Global, and International Executive Protection Consulting Firm. Elijah, who has been featured in international publications such as Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Portfolio, runs the ICON Academy, an EP Training Program specializing in Celebrity & VIP Protection. He also currently sits on the Board of Directors of Executive Security International (ESI), the United States oldest Executive Protection Training School. His book, An Introduction to Executive Protection & Touring: A Guide to Mastering the Business of VIP Security, hit the Amazon best sellers list, and is available now worldwide.
