What is Executive Protection and how does it differ from hiring a bodyguard? Executive Protection, also known as “Close Protection”, “VIP Protection” “Bodyguard” and “Personal Protection” refers to security measures taken to ensure the safety of VIPs or other individuals who may be exposed to elevated personal risk because of their employment, celebrity status, wealth, associations or geographical location.
So while all these phrases seem interchangeable, there is no doubt from professional security-minded people that Executive Protection sits squarely at the apex of the protection industry.
While there have been many Hollywood productions of bodyguard movies, showing fistfights, gunfights and car chases, even at the level of Executive Protection, the object is to avoid those situations, including the romance depicted in a certain Kevin Costner movie.
What is Executive Protection?
Now this is going to upset some people, but the facts are this. Most bodyguard trainers say they have Executive Protection Training, but it’s in name only.
While the basic premise of a bodyguard goes back hundreds if not thousands of years, Executive Protection is a relatively new field. Executive Protection was coined in the 1970s by the United States Secret Service when they created the Executive Protection Service to guard visiting foreign dignitaries.
How Executive Protection Differs from Bodyguards for Our Clients
Even most bodyguards wonder “What is Executive Protection?” Why? Most bodyguards have never heard such words as Threat Assessment, Advance Tactics, Route Reconnaissance, Embus and Debus plans, Area Surveillance, Movement Safety, etc. These guys usually show up on the day of an event/gig and depend on physical deterrence. The problem with that is, there is usually someone in the crowd that no matter how big you are, they will still try something foolish. A lot of times, purposely, in an effort to get you to go hands on with them and then collect a payday in the form of a lawsuit or out of court settlement/payoff. Just ask Justin Bieber.
If you are considering Professional Executive Protection for yourself, your family, or a group, either in the US or abroad, you’d best call a Real Executive Protection Company. We’d like you to consider ESS Global Corp, and here’s why. As one of only a handful of Department of Education licensed and approved Executive Protection Schools (and the only D.O.E. Approved Executive Protection School in Florida), we continually train Executive Protection Agents around the world and we keep the very best students for our client protection projects in over 60 countries. You owe it to yourself to call us.
How Executive Protection Training Differs from Bodyguard Training
Most folks who have paid for Bodyguard Training have never taken the D.O.E. Executive Protection Classes ESS Global offers such as;
All In One Training- Situational Awareness Training
- Executive Protection – Top Rated Certification Course
- Executive Protection Advanced
- Threat Assessment and Security Advance Tactics
- Motorcade Operations
- D – License
- G – License
- Defense Tactics and Hand-to-Hand
- Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP)
- ASP Tactical Baton, OC Spray & Handcuffing
- Gun Safety / Shooting Fundamentals Course
- Church Security
- First Aid & CPR/AED
In the protection industry, there is no “license”, no testing, and no boards in most states. Executive Protection is usually lumped into the same category as Security Guards or Private Investigation and has little to do with either. Yet we see training to earn your “certified protection specialist credentials” advertised online. Unfortunately, nobody is regulating these schools, training centers and trainers. Meaning, nobody regulates or monitors what is taught and who is teaching it. Anybody off the street could be teaching you false information and you are paying for it. So your “protection credential” is a piece of paper from the trainer and nothing more.
This is exactly where ESS Global Executive Protection School differs. We are licensed and our curriculum and instructors are all regulated and monitored by the D.O.E. And, only a few elite schools are D.O.E. approved and certified for executive protection.
Having a government certified protection school on your resume is a big plus, and a great way to get started.
In Summary, Executive Protection is more in line with Secret Service Protection, than taking phones and smashing them when Bodyguards are bewildered on how to handle a situation.
So if you are looking for the very best is security and protection for your company, yourself, or your family, you owe it to yourself to call ESS Global Corp.- If you’ve been “trained” before, you should call us and let’s talk about furthering your career.
- Lastly, if you are considering a career in the Protection Industry, we’ll answer your questions, including “What is Executive Protection?” and we won’t feed you lies and misrepresentations.