Valuetainment - Celebrity Bodyguard Reveals How They Work

00:00:00.000 We had brought a principal to a large venue in Las Vegas for a UFC fight.

00:00:06.000 Kind of all hell broke us in this fight.

00:00:08.000 Thousands and thousands of people.

00:00:10.000 We had to get this person who was very close to the ring out of there very quickly.

00:00:14.000 That's why planning is so very important.

00:00:16.000 But that's somebody I've got to have my eye on. What do you look for?

00:00:18.000 First thing, obviously, anyone who you do have a bow look for, be on the lookout.

00:00:22.000 You have information on someone, you're always scanning for them.

00:00:24.000 If they show up at an event, that's a problem.

00:00:26.000 You have to address immediately.

00:00:27.000 Wherever you are, you should have a heightened sense of awareness with those people

00:00:31.000 because they're erratic and you're not sure what might happen.

00:00:34.000 Communication skills, handle the stress, think quick, and mitigate.

00:00:38.000 Do the best you can to accommodate the principal.

00:00:41.000 Most of this job is communications and understanding how to handle people.

00:00:45.000 Good judgment calls so much more than firearms proficiency and mixed martial arts.

00:00:51.000 Really, communications and good judgment is the most important weapons we have.

00:00:55.000 We don't stay and fight. That's not what we do.

00:00:58.000 So if someone pulls the gun, we get that principal in the vehicle

00:01:01.000 and we're out of there as fast as possible.

00:01:03.000 We don't care about the aftermath.

00:01:05.000 Our job is to get that principal out there, not stay and have a firefight.

00:01:09.000 So my guest today is a bodyguard, and I'm not talking about Kevin Costner from the movie Bodyguard with Whitney Houston.

00:01:21.000 I'm talking about real life bodyguard, a certified bodyguard.

00:01:25.000 He runs a company. He's a CEO of Global Threat Solution, a retired army intelligence officer, United States Army Captain.

00:01:33.000 And he's a bodyguard to celebrities, presidents, politicians, all walks of life.

00:01:37.000 With that being said, Kenneth Bombas, thank you so much for being a guest on Valuetainment.

00:01:41.000 Thank you. Thank you for having me on your show. I'm really looking forward to this.

00:01:46.000 So, so I'm curious. So, you know, kids grow up, we say, oh, I want to be a baseball. I want to be the next Mickey man.

00:01:52.000 I want to be the next Jeter. I want to be the next this. I want to be LeBron, Kobe, Jordan, who wakes up and says, you know, Dad, Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a bodyguard.

00:02:01.000 Well, to answer that question, I didn't wake up and say that I, you know, since I was five years old, I consider myself very lucky that I knew what I wanted to do.

00:02:11.000 I wanted to go in the military, wanted to go into law enforcement, want to be a police officer. And I've done both of those.

00:02:17.000 So it was during those careers that led me to creating my own company and and operating as a protection firm.

00:02:26.000 You know, primarily at the end of my law enforcement career last six years, I led protection operations for one of the largest police departments in America.

00:02:36.000 And that's what kind of led me to think that I really enjoyed the work. It was challenging.

00:02:41.000 It's a lot of it's definitely a thinking man's game. And I enjoyed the work, got a great deal of experience.

00:02:48.000 They sent me to a ton of great training. I've been trained by some of the by Blackwater.

00:02:53.000 I've been trained by federal law enforcement training center.

00:02:56.000 I've created a program to train people through the police department.

00:03:00.000 And I enjoyed the work. And then I also when I retired, I was 45 years old and I saw the opportunity of starting my own firm to do this type of work.

00:03:10.000 And that's what I've done. So.

00:03:12.000 So in the in the position of being a bodyguard, going back to yourself saying you always knew you were going to be a cop or you were going to go into military law enforcement.

00:03:21.000 Did you have a were your parents in it? Was an uncle was a grandfather?

00:03:26.000 Was it like you looked up to your father so much were like, one day I want to be a cop?

00:03:30.000 So partially my father was in the Air Force. He wasn't in law enforcement.

00:03:35.000 He was an air traffic controller his whole career and did that for many years, went into leadership.

00:03:40.000 But ever since I was young, I was I was taught, I guess, mostly by observation.

00:03:47.000 My parents, I'll tell you, probably more so than my father, who was a great patriot was my mother, who is an incredible patriot.

00:03:54.000 And she's me and her see eye to eye to this day. And she's in her 80s.

00:03:59.000 And I knew that I wanted to go in the military since I was five.

00:04:04.000 And I knew that I wanted to go become a police officer.

00:04:07.000 And I'll just say that the two go sort of hand in hand.

00:04:10.000 A lot of people who go into the military end up transitioning into law enforcement.

00:04:15.000 And if you look at any police department, a large one, I know one in our department at the time, we had over twenty six hundred officers.

00:04:22.000 Over six hundred of them were veterans. So it's the two careers.

00:04:26.000 It lent itself to a career in law enforcement, the camaraderie, the type of work, you know.

00:04:31.000 So I knew both, though, that I wanted to do both of those since I was very young.

00:04:36.000 Five years old. Are you an older brother?

00:04:39.000 No, I'm actually the youngest of five children.

00:04:42.000 Get out of here.

00:04:43.000 Yeah. So how is the youngest protective?

00:04:46.000 Because to do what you want to do, you've got to have a protective DNA.

00:04:49.000 Were you always the guy that kind of protect you wanted to protect people?

00:04:53.000 Was that part of your DNA?

00:04:54.000 I love the idea of it since as long as I can remember, I think that's what probably the attraction to the military, you know, was was defending people, protecting people that couldn't protect themselves.

00:05:07.000 The same thing with law enforcement ever since I was young.

00:05:09.000 I guess, you know, I grew up in the 70s.

00:05:12.000 I would watch movies, war movies.

00:05:14.000 I'd watch Dirty Harry was my favorite movie, probably still is all of them.

00:05:18.000 And I'm just turned 50 years old this year.

00:05:21.000 So, you know, it was a culmination of things.

00:05:25.000 But I would say that that I knew I wanted to be in the military.

00:05:29.000 Law enforcement was just it goes hand in hand, the two work together.

00:05:33.000 And it's great that I've been able to do both in a parallel career.

00:05:36.000 I initially, of course, at 18, the day after high school, I went in the military.

00:05:41.000 I joined when I was 17, as soon as I was allowed to join.

00:05:45.000 And, you know, I served in the military, military, and then that transitioned into eventually a law enforcement career with a parallel reserve forces military career.

00:05:55.000 Got it. Got it.

00:05:58.000 And your siblings, did they ever go into military or were they any any one of them law enforcement or military?

00:06:04.000 No, no, it's just you're the only one.

00:06:06.000 Yeah.

00:06:07.000 Got it. Interesting.

00:06:08.000 OK, so.

00:06:09.000 So then, by the way, back in the days when I left the army, the first thing I got a job offer.

00:06:14.000 This is what's funny.

00:06:15.000 I got a job offer for twenty eight thousand eight hundred dollars a year at Fort Lauderdale Police Department to be a cop.

00:06:23.000 Right. But I live in California and I was in Kentucky at the time.

00:06:27.000 I'm like, I don't even know where Fort Lauderdale is now.

00:06:29.000 You know, I'm 20 miles away from Fort Lauderdale today.

00:06:32.000 Then when I went back, my dad said, Patrick, you know, people like you who are big and intimidating, you need to go be a cop.

00:06:40.000 You know, with his Tony Robbins speech, you know, you need to go be a cop.

00:06:44.000 So I went and applied to twenty one years old.

00:06:47.000 I applied to be LAPD.

00:06:50.000 I passed obviously the stuff that you need to pass, but.

00:06:53.000 They don't like 16 speeding tickets.

00:06:56.000 So that that was what hurt me from being a cop or else I would have also been a cop.

00:07:02.000 But you're right. Military typically leads to going into that side firefighter.

00:07:07.000 You know, there's some areas because you get that additional ten points that they give you.

00:07:10.000 I don't know what it was.

00:07:11.000 It was a certain right you get for the test that you take.

00:07:14.000 Anyways, let's transition to being a bodyguard.

00:07:16.000 So, you know, you've been in this space of bodyguard.

00:07:19.000 You know, it's your business. It's what you do protection.

00:07:22.000 What are if you notice a trend, especially today?

00:07:26.000 Who are you noticing, calling you, telling you, hey, I need protection.

00:07:30.000 Are you noticing a trend with industries?

00:07:33.000 Are you noticing the trend with, you know, a certain level of success?

00:07:37.000 Are you noticing a trend or is it all over the place?

00:07:40.000 There's not like forty eight percent of our clients that make a call to us.

00:07:43.000 They're from et cetera, et cetera.

00:07:45.000 What are you noticing on who's giving you a call, meaning your ideal customer that calls you?

00:07:48.000 So, right. I'll tell you what you always have celebrities.

00:07:51.000 They always have protection, mostly, especially, you know, your A-list celebrities will have bodyguards.

00:07:57.000 By the way, we call it executive protection, close protection.

00:08:01.000 Bodyguard in our industry is almost kind of looked down upon the term because it's it gives an image of maybe like almost like a bouncer.

00:08:08.000 You know what I mean? You have someone who's like 300 pounds and stands at the door.

00:08:12.000 And like I mentioned before, protection operations, it's so much more than that.

00:08:17.000 So much logistics and so much training and planning to go into it.

00:08:22.000 But to get back to your question, I'll tell you that it's celebrities, definitely corporate.

00:08:27.000 Corporate. That's big. So the way this works nowadays is a lot of corporations, once they go public, a lot of times right in the bylaws for those companies, they put in there that these certain positions will have protection.

00:08:42.000 And it's it's sort of works well for the executives because it takes the responsibility.

00:08:48.000 You know, having a big, expensive security detail can be a liability as a business person, politicians, too.

00:08:57.000 So what this does is these companies are saying, listen, you're safe for a C-suite member.

00:09:03.000 You're the CEO of a big company. They'll say you're an asset. You don't have a choice.

00:09:08.000 You're getting this protection services where anyone in that position gets it.

00:09:13.000 Got it. So once you take that position, you have an executive protection driver.

00:09:17.000 You have residential security. Many of them. When I say executive protection, it's not just taking them out from morning to their home for the evening of 24 hour residential protection, too.

00:09:27.000 So you look at a lot of big companies, tech firms that I'm not going to give names, but people would be so surprised because it really is a niche industry.

00:09:36.000 Who has these? Like, well, who gets these services?

00:09:39.000 Well, any big company you look at who has a C-suite and I'll say large company, you know, companies definitely.

00:09:48.000 Five hundred million and higher, probably if I were to throw a number on it, they're going to have some type of protection for their C-suite or senior executives.

00:09:58.000 And, you know, it's not doesn't necessarily relate to a direct threat level.

00:10:05.000 You know, like obviously a high profile person is going to have executive protection.

00:10:10.000 Some of the famous tech firm CEOs, everybody knows. Right.

00:10:13.000 Right. But also companies that you wouldn't even know who the CEO is still large companies, but they're just not that high profile.

00:10:22.000 They have it as well. And so corporate accounts are big in this industry.

00:10:26.000 In this industry, they will hire they will often subcontract companies to provide services for them.

00:10:33.000 And then celebrities is another one. And people of high net worth family offices.

00:10:40.000 They will also hire companies like mine to provide those services.

00:10:45.000 Very interesting. And it does make sense. So it's not really by choice.

00:10:49.000 Sometimes if it's in if you're a CEO or high C-suite executive of a 40 billion dollar company, they're going to say, look, John, you know, this is you don't have a choice.

00:10:58.000 You got to have somebody. We're hiring somebody that's going to protect you because now you're an asset to the company.

00:11:02.000 The board wants you to be protected. OK, check. So that's one.

00:11:05.000 Celebrities will typically call and say, hey, we're going here.

00:11:08.000 Their team's going to call and say they're going to need somebody. Fine. Check.

00:11:11.000 That makes sense. Residential. You mean there are instances where you are pretty much with the client 24 seven.

00:11:17.000 There are those instances as well. That's right.

00:11:20.000 24 hours a day. You know, that's a big vulnerability, especially when you have someone who is very high profile.

00:11:25.000 We've all heard the stories, especially with celebrities.

00:11:27.000 Somebody could come on your property. You can find out where anybody lives these days. Right.

00:11:31.000 No matter who you are. And they'll have 24 hour residential protection.

00:11:36.000 I'll be honest for someone who has a full executive protection detail or protection detail.

00:11:41.000 More than not, they're going to have residential protection, too.

00:11:44.000 They're going to have someone there 24 hours a day.

00:11:49.000 Kenneth, what's a what's a full time 24 seven 30 365.

00:11:56.000 What is that cost a client if they want 24 seven residential protection all year long?

00:12:03.000 What does that cost per year?

00:12:05.000 Per year. I'd have to break that down. It depends.

00:12:07.000 There's so many variables. How many agents do you have in a detail?

00:12:10.000 What is it typically? So if you want to say ideally, typically it's two or three and what you break it out.

00:12:15.000 Remember, then you might have 24 hour coverage. Not one agent works seven days a week.

00:12:20.000 And, you know, you're talking 24 hour billing millions, you know, definitely a few million dollars.

00:12:26.000 You're going to have for someone to have year long coverage.

00:12:28.000 It would start at that level, maybe two, three million dollars.

00:12:31.000 Someone's going to have 24 hour residential protection and a protection detail where they'd have a driver and an agent.

00:12:37.000 You know, all are different. Some people might just have one person, but you really, you know, let's talk.

00:12:44.000 Let's talk about moving your we call it a principle. You're driving them around. Right.

00:12:48.000 If you're the driver, sometimes I said, no, no, we just need one.

00:12:51.000 If you're the EP driver, we call it executive protection driver and you're armed, you can't just jump out of that car and go in places with them.

00:12:59.000 You can't escort them in places. So it's a big vulnerability.

00:13:02.000 So oftentimes you'll have a driver and then you'll also have your your lead agent.

00:13:07.000 That'll be a person sitting maybe in the passenger seat who's going to exit a vehicle and they're going to accompany that principle wherever they go.

00:13:14.000 But by the way, it's always dictated by the principle.

00:13:17.000 People like to, you know, you watch a lot of TV, a lot of movies, and people have this idea where they a agent will say, no, sorry, sir.

00:13:27.000 We're not doing that because there's a risk. You could got you could advise them any way you want.

00:13:32.000 But ultimately, the principle is going to make that decision. And I'll be honest with you, that's all the way up to the president.

00:13:37.000 You know, yes, does it did the Secret Service not want President Obama to suddenly say, hey, pull over.

00:13:44.000 I want to go into this hamburger place in Washington, D.C.

00:13:47.000 Of course, they said they'd rather him not do that. Did he do it? Yes.

00:13:51.000 So, you know, ultimately, the principles will make those decisions.

00:13:55.000 All you can do is advise them the best you can and then you mitigate.

00:13:59.000 OK, he's going to do it. Let's take steps to mitigate any threats that might be there.

00:14:04.000 That's how it works. They ultimately do call the shots.

00:14:07.000 So full time, 24-7, residential protection, if these guys got to get their sleep.

00:14:16.000 So if you're doing 24-7, eight hours, it's like a rotation is a rotation of three different.

00:14:21.000 Well, that depends, too. So there's a couple of ways we bill in this industry.

00:14:26.000 Sometimes we do a daily flat rate, which we will put a limit on that.

00:14:30.000 That would be an agent from morning to when they're in for the evening.

00:14:33.000 And we bill them a daily flat rate because you have to make sure that that agent's being paid according to the laws of the state they're in.

00:14:40.000 California, as I'm sure you're aware, I've run details out that could be expensive because, you know, you have agents anything over eight hours and then 12 hours they're going to make overtime and you have to accommodate for that.

00:14:52.000 So we like to when possible. You don't want a lot of turnover. Eight hour shifts are too short for two reasons.

00:15:00.000 First of all, it's easier for staffing and scheduling to have an agent do 12 hour shifts.

00:15:07.000 Also, your principal, they don't like a lot of turnover. I haven't run a detail yet where they don't say, listen, every time I go outside, I see a new face.

00:15:15.000 They want to they want to get comfortable with the people protecting them.

00:15:19.000 So you're never going to be able to do it with one, but you're going to try and limit that number of agents you use for detail.

00:15:25.000 So it's a balancing act. You know, you want it to be efficient, economical, but also don't want to have every time they walk outside, there's somebody new.

00:15:33.000 You know, it's interesting. Last year, not last year, 2019, when it was still open, we had our event at the Mirage and I invited the late Kobe Bryant and President Bush.

00:15:43.000 President Bush. So when President Bush came, you know, they have to call and say, hey, he's coming. He's speaking.

00:15:48.000 Secret Service showed up. Everybody gets that yellow. You know what I'm talking about, that little.

00:15:52.000 Yeah, you do it. And so that there was a first time where the board said we need somebody around you full time. Right.

00:15:58.000 So they had somebody. I'm the CEO of the company. So we had seven thousand people there convention.

00:16:03.000 You never know. People are walking competitors, et cetera.

00:16:06.000 So it was amazing that when the executive protection firm, obviously you mentioned Blackwater earlier, that's Prince and he runs a, I don't know, multi-billion dollar company.

00:16:16.000 It's a very big operation. I think one of my associates, Chris Paranto, I did some projects for him, but that was overseas.

00:16:22.000 And also some people that just use that company for different kinds of services.

00:16:29.000 When the executive protection guy came in and he was with me, when they changed it the first day, I said, no, I want the same guy.

00:16:37.000 So they brought the same guy. Well, the fee is going to be a little bit hard if you want that.

00:16:40.000 I don't know. I want that guy. There was a level of comfort with them that we brought him in and we brought him in.

00:16:46.000 I said, listen, my wife and I having breakfast. He was standing at the best. Do you mind just joining us?

00:16:49.000 He says, I can't. I said, just, can you like, he says, well, I got to do my job.

00:16:52.000 I said, if you want to eat something, he says, so it was, it was good talking, making some kind of a connection to know what his background was, but it wasn't cheap on what we paid.

00:17:02.000 And I remember that. What is the daily rate right now? If you were to say ball, you know, ballpark high low, give me the high low numbers.

00:17:09.000 I know you said California was a varies by state. Give me high low.

00:17:12.000 So I've built, I like to consider myself a, a, a, a company with fair rates.

00:17:19.000 So I build as low as we'll do a thousand dollar daily flat rate for an agent.

00:17:24.000 Of course, that's in addition to expenses or anything you might have to provide if they need a vehicle.

00:17:29.000 If there's lodging involved for the agents travel, things like that.

00:17:33.000 Um, but we, I've built more than that, depending on the detail.

00:17:37.000 And there's other companies that bill far more than that $2,000 a day, you know, they'll bill or more for an agent.

00:17:43.000 So, you know, but we're in the business to be fair.

00:17:46.000 We, we want to make sure we pay our people.

00:17:48.000 Well, that's the main thing so that, you know, the really, honestly, the way we run our companies, our profit margin comes secondary.

00:17:55.000 We have to make sure the agents get taken care of.

00:17:58.000 And I'll tell you another thing that is becoming more and more important to companies that contract you.

00:18:05.000 They want to know.

00:18:06.000 They just don't want to know what your billing rate is.

00:18:08.000 You'll say, especially some of the really big high profile companies, social media companies.

00:18:13.000 They'll say, that's great what you're billing us.

00:18:16.000 What are you paying your people?

00:18:17.000 Are you giving them health insurance?

00:18:18.000 They want to know.

00:18:19.000 They want to know that you're taking care of their, your people, because that reflects on them too.

00:18:24.000 Because they're, yes, it's a contract, but it's working for their firm.

00:18:28.000 So, so we, the first thing is that, and then, you know, you just want to make sure you have a profit margin in there that's fair for you and the client.

00:18:37.000 And that's what we try and do.

00:18:38.000 I'll tell you, we're, we're definitely, I'd say below average in the billing rate for, for some companies.

00:18:44.000 Plus you'll have companies that'll, for lack of a better word, gouge.

00:18:47.000 You know, when you go in and do an initial assessment, they'll say, well, you need this many agents and you should have someone here and someone here.

00:18:54.000 You do one of these assessments, you should be giving them the most cost effective and efficient option you can that still provides them the appropriate level of protection.

00:19:05.000 It's very easy to say, well, let's do 10 agents because they know it's billable hours, right?

00:19:10.000 It's like attorneys.

00:19:11.000 They know they're looking at math rather than what this person really needs.

00:19:15.000 So when you're saying millions of dollars for executive protection 24 seven, how many agents are you calculating that would need to run that?

00:19:21.000 Because I did the math, I'm like, okay, 168 hours.

00:19:24.000 Is there a limit on how many hours an agent can work?

00:19:27.000 Is it a four at 40 hour limit that you have that an agent can work per week?

00:19:30.000 Or is it 50, 60?

00:19:31.000 What number do you guys go based on?

00:19:33.000 Depends on the state you're working in.

00:19:35.000 Also, if someone's sometimes you use an independent contractor, maybe they have their own LLC.

00:19:40.000 So I'm billing them.

00:19:42.000 They're billing for hours with that.

00:19:45.000 And then it changes everything.

00:19:46.000 They're no longer an employee, right?

00:19:48.000 Exactly.

00:19:49.000 Yeah.

00:19:50.000 But when they're working as an employee, it depends on the state.

00:19:52.000 But for the most part, 40 hours is what you're limited.

00:19:55.000 Let me rephrase that.

00:19:56.000 Not limited to, but you're going to be paying overtime over that.

00:19:59.000 Okay.

00:20:00.000 Got it.

00:20:01.000 And that just goes by the state.

00:20:03.000 So if we were to do the math, I got my phone in front of me.

00:20:07.000 So if I'm doing 24 seven protection, does an average family only have one guy working at a time?

00:20:13.000 Or do they typically like two at a time?

00:20:15.000 Because it's not going to be a small house.

00:20:17.000 They're not living at a small house.

00:20:18.000 So it's probably going to be a place where you need eyeballs, different places.

00:20:21.000 Do they typically ask for one or two?

00:20:23.000 You know, it's a difficult question, but I would say two would be an average probably on it.

00:20:28.000 You're talking an overnight residential.

00:20:29.000 Yes.

00:20:30.000 Yes.

00:20:31.000 So, you know, overnight residential, two would probably be an average.

00:20:35.000 Some have many more.

00:20:36.000 Some will just have one.

00:20:37.000 And then for detail during the day.

00:20:40.000 Now, remember this.

00:20:42.000 They're going to have that during the day too.

00:20:44.000 Even when that executive protection details traveling with that principal, bringing them to work or events or wherever they have to go.

00:20:51.000 You're still going to have that 24 hour protection at the residence, even when they're traveling.

00:20:55.000 They're somewhere else.

00:20:56.000 That makes sense.

00:20:57.000 Because there's a vulnerability there, right?

00:20:58.000 So now it's almost like you have two separate details.

00:21:01.000 It's exactly what it's like.

00:21:02.000 You have your residential protection agents, and then you have your executive protection.

00:21:06.000 You can see how it adds up quickly.

00:21:09.000 And that's millions.

00:21:10.000 You're saying that's a $2 million bill per year.

00:21:13.000 Yeah.

00:21:14.000 We had a client in California as an example.

00:21:17.000 Two principals we were protecting, two residences, and they had a driver and an agent with them.

00:21:24.000 And I could tell you it was between $3 and $4 million we were billing a year gross.

00:21:29.000 $3 to $4 million.

00:21:31.000 And in what?

00:21:32.000 Okay.

00:21:33.000 So three.

00:21:34.000 That was only one residential agent at a time.

00:21:37.000 And that's not a public.

00:21:39.000 Like, that's not a politician you're talking about.

00:21:41.000 That's a private business.

00:21:43.000 Right.

00:21:44.000 So I'll be honest with you.

00:21:45.000 Most politicians, almost all, they have government protection.

00:21:51.000 They're not going to have their own security.

00:21:53.000 When it would come into place is if someone leaves office and they no longer have security.

00:21:58.000 Right.

00:21:59.000 Say like a vice president.

00:22:01.000 I've done.

00:22:02.000 I've done.

00:22:03.000 I was contracted my firm to provide security during Democratic presidential forums leading up to the election.

00:22:10.000 All over the country.

00:22:11.000 We did them.

00:22:12.000 And one of the candidates, as we now know, is the current president.

00:22:17.000 President Biden.

00:22:18.000 He would attend these and he would have, he would have a private security with them.

00:22:23.000 He no longer had the secret service protection.

00:22:25.000 So in that scenario, maybe, but when you're talking about anyone from like a county executive or a mayor or a governor, they have, they have police providing their security, executive protection, like I did when I was a detective.

00:22:41.000 And I've worked with, I've worked with law enforcement members from so many different governors and mayors details.

00:22:50.000 We would all, you know, you would all interact because politicians interact.

00:22:53.000 Right.

00:22:54.000 So you would come across these different details.

00:22:57.000 And then it's funny because I've also run into some of them who like me have transitioned into the private sector and doing the same thing.

00:23:04.000 Got it.

00:23:05.000 So, so let me, let me ask you this question.

00:23:07.000 I don't know how you would answer this.

00:23:08.000 I've had Clint Hill on and Clint Hill was a secret service for Jackie Kennedy and four other presidents.

00:23:15.000 So he has a lot of stories.

00:23:17.000 So, you know, they typically say like, if you go to the DMV and you don't like the way they handle, you're getting a new license registration.

00:23:25.000 No one is really going to give you any kind of customer service.

00:23:28.000 You go post a review on Yelp.

00:23:29.000 No one cares.

00:23:30.000 It's not like it's going to make it up to the president.

00:23:32.000 Why did you mistreat a customer that came in?

00:23:34.000 Right.

00:23:35.000 Versus you go to a restaurant and like, hey, Mary, the hostess gave an attitude to my wife and my kids. 1.00

00:23:40.000 I don't like it.

00:23:41.000 Hey, Mary, we have to have a conversation.

00:23:43.000 What's this about?

00:23:44.000 Right.

00:23:45.000 So there's a little bit more accountability.

00:23:46.000 Who's better at executive protection, secret service or private, you know, executive protection companies that you go through?

00:23:56.000 So, listen, I work closely with the secret service wasn't a secret service agent.

00:24:00.000 I was a detective and they have their like a partnership program.

00:24:04.000 It's like a liaison program.

00:24:05.000 It's like a liaison program.

00:24:06.000 So when they go to do security, like they would do in the Hamptons in Long Island when I was working, they had to work with police.

00:24:13.000 We provided resources.

00:24:14.000 They didn't have boats, helicopters, highway patrol, lots of bodies to do security.

00:24:20.000 Right.

00:24:21.000 So I work closely with them.

00:24:22.000 They're great at what they do.

00:24:23.000 They are the worldwide premier protection agency.

00:24:26.000 Right.

00:24:27.000 Everybody kind of respects them as that.

00:24:29.000 But I'll tell you, it's also very different.

00:24:31.000 They have a lot of resources all the time and authority to do that.

00:24:37.000 You don't have in the private sector.

00:24:39.000 We're not shutting down express the Long Island Expressway with my company.

00:24:44.000 But I did it when we were working with the secret service.

00:24:47.000 They have benefits like that.

00:24:48.000 They can bring in agents from all the different states to work a big event.

00:24:52.000 So, you know, that's an impossible question.

00:24:56.000 Many of the people I've worked with in the private sector were secret service agents.

00:25:00.000 That's what they did, you know, who come into my line of work.

00:25:04.000 So then that means they would be, though, right?

00:25:06.000 The guys who were former secret service guys, because they're bringing that training.

00:25:09.000 Yes.

00:25:10.000 And they're bringing what they learned in the public.

00:25:12.000 So if it's a former secret service guy that's also working in the public, so he's going to have a multidimensional experience and somebody that just was secret service.

00:25:19.000 Oh, of course.

00:25:20.000 Yeah.

00:25:21.000 I would say they, you know, the two are definitely different.

00:25:23.000 There's not a secret service agent that would tell you that doing private sector security and doing government work like that.

00:25:30.000 Very different.

00:25:31.000 But they come with an incredible skill set and an experience level.

00:25:34.000 They know how it works.

00:25:36.000 They get the, you know, executive protection is a customer service based business.

00:25:40.000 I always like to say when we're training our agents, we do get bags, you know, that whole attitude where I would be like, no, I'm here for security.

00:25:48.000 That's not the way this works.

00:25:49.000 You know, these are clients of ours.

00:25:51.000 We're here to help them and whatever they do within reason, you know, we're not going to have people doing ridiculous things so that security is jeopardized, but we're here to work for the client and the secret service really gets that.

00:26:03.000 They work in that same type of a manner with all of their principles they've worked with.

00:26:09.000 And, and I would say that they have a great afterlife because, you know, the name secret service agent goes a long way in the corporate world, you know, or not just for executive protection, but becoming security directors and working in corporate security.

00:26:24.000 People like that, that title, you know, that they bring with them on their resume.

00:26:28.000 Do some of these guys come out and they say, you know, I'd love to just lend a family and they go live with a family.

00:26:37.000 They, they get closer to a family and a family pays them.

00:26:41.000 I don't know, 150, 200, 250, $300,000 a year.

00:26:44.000 And they're just like, look, kind of like, you know, how somebody has a nanny or your home, whatever you want to call it.

00:26:49.000 They get a place in the back and you're getting paid a quarter million.

00:26:52.000 Just make sure our family is protected when we travel, you go with us.

00:26:55.000 Is there those types of relationship as well for some of these folks?

00:26:57.000 Oh, I've heard everything, the full spectrum.

00:27:00.000 You know, you have people that might just be per diem agents protecting someone when they come to visit New York or Las Vegas or LA.

00:27:07.000 And then you have people that they bring in a relationship is very important.

00:27:12.000 If they, like you mentioned earlier, if they have someone they really like, and like, like you said, you like the agent, I'd like that one to work tomorrow.

00:27:19.000 That people will pay top dollar and they'll make accommodations for them.

00:27:24.000 I've heard everything from a an executive protection agent in the private sector.

00:27:28.000 There was someone hiding a very high net worth who allowed him to use his cars.

00:27:33.000 I mean, Ferraris and things when when he was off off duty, not working.

00:27:38.000 I mean, of course, private sector.

00:27:41.000 That's what's nice about it is that there's no you know, you don't have the strict adherence to rules that you have in the government work.

00:27:48.000 Right. People, they are the boss. They are the principal.

00:27:50.000 And a lot of these people have tremendous resources themselves.

00:27:53.000 And if they really like someone, you know, it's a fine line you have to tread, but they'll bring them almost in.

00:27:59.000 They want them almost sort of like a member of their family because they're going to be around their children.

00:28:03.000 They're going to be around their family.

00:28:05.000 They're going to see them at their most intimate moments all the time.

00:28:08.000 So they want someone they're comfortable with.

00:28:10.000 You know, there's just that fine line as someone who runs an executive protection firm that we want them not to cross where they, you know, you don't want an agent that feels if they're working for my company, feels like they're empowered because they have a close relationship with a principal, my client.

00:28:25.000 And they feel like they can call the shots and tell me what's going on.

00:28:28.000 You know, that's a challenge. I think anyone who has a company like mine has for the most part, the people we recruit and train, they get it.

00:28:36.000 They know where their loyalty is and and they will they know how to how to walk that line.

00:28:43.000 Yeah, very, very insightful because, you know, you know, most most most of us all we know is movies.

00:28:50.000 You know, when you think about buying, you know, movies, you think about executive protection.

00:28:53.000 You think about, hey, in that movie with Kevin Costner and that movie with Liam Neeson or that movie.

00:28:58.000 So that's the interpretation we have.

00:29:01.000 And so, hey, you know, you know, but but in reality, it's slightly different on what happens versus in movies.

00:29:08.000 Let me let me go with a different angle with you here on on this.

00:29:12.000 This was very helpful is what what are what are some commonalities amongst executive protection agents that you'll say?

00:29:22.000 Here's what they're very good at. And what is the priority?

00:29:25.000 Yesterday I interviewed a sniper, Nicholas Ingram, Nicholas Irving.

00:29:31.000 He had 33 confirmed kills in Afghanistan in 100 days.

00:29:37.000 And I said, tell me about, you know, what are the trends of snipers?

00:29:40.000 Are they loners? Are they, you know, this? Are they that?

00:29:43.000 And just kind of trying to see is there like a trend with them?

00:29:45.000 Because, you know, engineers, if you look at engineers that are coding, they're quiet.

00:29:49.000 They put the headset on. They don't want to be around people. Don't bother me.

00:29:52.000 You know, let me just kind of get to work and finish my project.

00:29:54.000 So with executive, if you were to say, well, if I was to judge one from the top to bottom, the most important quality is to have a feel for the room.

00:30:04.000 Number two is, you know, being able to protect somebody with firearm.

00:30:10.000 Firearm is more important than actually fighting because we rarely fight.

00:30:14.000 Being able to drive and escape and got to be good in math, got to be good at common sense.

00:30:19.000 How would you say, like, if you were to say, these are the five things we look for for somebody to be very good at what they do?

00:30:24.000 So what I would say is communication skills is top, top tier.

00:30:30.000 It's a number one priority with an agent that we recruit.

00:30:33.000 You have to be able to communicate with not only the principal, but their staff.

00:30:37.000 We're working with a lot of staffers.

00:30:39.000 Sometimes there are like a right hand person when we're running these details.

00:30:43.000 You know, they're the one we're coordinating with.

00:30:45.000 So you need to have great communication skills.

00:30:49.000 Also, equally as important, you have to be able to handle stress well.

00:30:54.000 If you can't handle stress, this is definitely not the industry for you.

00:30:59.000 Little things.

00:31:00.000 I'm not talking about assassination attempts.

00:31:02.000 I'm talking about making a wrong turn in New York City and your principal has to be at a meeting in 10 minutes.

00:31:08.000 That is real stress.

00:31:09.000 I can tell you, in this business, something that small is critical.

00:31:16.000 Making a wrong turn is devastating.

00:31:18.000 You know, little things like that.

00:31:19.000 Small details can bring a lot of stress.

00:31:22.000 Also, they'll change their plans.

00:31:24.000 You'll have done an advanced site visit to hotels, to meeting venues, all these places.

00:31:30.000 You have their schedule.

00:31:31.000 And then as you're driving, they said, we changed our mind.

00:31:34.000 We want to go to this location now in Westchester County from Manhattan and changes everything while your agent is sitting in that seat and the driver.

00:31:43.000 You have to be able to react immediately like that and mitigate.

00:31:47.000 Is that perfect?

00:31:48.000 Do I have time to get somebody up to that venue and see it before we get there and arrive?

00:31:52.000 Probably not.

00:31:53.000 You have to be able to think quick, not handle the stress.

00:31:57.000 Think quick and mitigate.

00:31:58.000 Do the best you can to accommodate the principal.

00:32:01.000 So stress, communication skills.

00:32:04.000 And also for me, you know, we use law enforcement people and we use military.

00:32:10.000 I'll be honest.

00:32:11.000 I was both.

00:32:12.000 I love the military people because they have a mission first attitude.

00:32:17.000 I'm the first person to say I've worked in law enforcement for over 20 years.

00:32:21.000 Sometimes a union civil service mindset can set in with people and they'll be like, oh, listen, I've been working for 10 hours already.

00:32:30.000 It's got to be mission first.

00:32:32.000 Very interesting what you just said, right?

00:32:34.000 You know, I've had Bernard Carrick on before and we had a great conversation and him and I communicate every once in a while.

00:32:40.000 And it's it's very interesting how, you know, different it is with military and PD, especially when union gets in and you have to deal with politics and you have certain protection and it's makes your job a little bit tougher.

00:32:57.000 So it's interesting you're saying this.

00:32:58.000 So so let me ask you this.

00:32:59.000 Does it what if I'm not a good fighter?

00:33:01.000 What if I don't know how to fight?

00:33:02.000 Does it even matter the fact I'm a fighter?

00:33:04.000 Like, do I need to be good at jujitsu boxing?

00:33:06.000 Because, you know, the impression is, oh, my gosh, that guy's an executive. 1.00

00:33:09.000 He could probably kick my ass. 0.99

00:33:11.000 What does that rank in the executive protection priority? 1.00

00:33:15.000 So right now you have communication, stress details.

00:33:17.000 Think quick.

00:33:18.000 What is fighting and right?

00:33:20.000 Are arms coming in?

00:33:22.000 So here's what I'll explain that.

00:33:25.000 First, I'll say this in in protection services.

00:33:30.000 What we do, there's a thing called getting off the X.

00:33:34.000 We don't stay and fight.

00:33:35.000 That's not what we do.

00:33:37.000 And it's a big retraining process we have to go through, especially for law enforcement.

00:33:41.000 You're a law enforcement officer and you're in the street and somebody pulls a gun.

00:33:45.000 You run towards them.

00:33:46.000 There's going to be a blue swarm, right?

00:33:48.000 They're going to tackle that person.

00:33:49.000 They're going to get that gun in our business. 1.00

00:33:52.000 We just get out as fast as we can.

00:33:54.000 Our job is to get off the X, the X being the point of most danger.

00:33:59.000 So if someone pulls the gun, we jump in and we get that principle in the vehicle and we're out of there as fast as possible.

00:34:06.000 We don't care about the aftermath.

00:34:08.000 I mean, look, I don't want to sound uncaring, but my point is that's not our job.

00:34:12.000 Will we, of course, relay any information to law enforcement?

00:34:15.000 Of course we would.

00:34:16.000 Our job is to get that principle out there, not stay and have a firefight, not stay and wrestle with someone in the streets.

00:34:22.000 That's not our job.

00:34:23.000 So I'll say that first and foremost.

00:34:26.000 With that being said, do you need to be able to protect your principle?

00:34:30.000 Of course, you have to be physically fit.

00:34:32.000 Any martial arts training is always beneficial.

00:34:35.000 As far as firearms, I'll say this.

00:34:38.000 Many, probably the majority I've dealt with in the United States are unarmed details.

00:34:43.000 A lot of corporate executive protection are unarmed.

00:34:45.000 One reason for that is the crazy gun laws we have in this country.

00:34:49.000 Every state has their own set of laws.

00:34:51.000 Licensing, licensing to carry firearms, license to do security work.

00:34:56.000 Every state needs its own licensing.

00:34:58.000 So it's a it's a difficult requirement to get around.

00:35:03.000 So one thing is a lot of it's unarmed.

00:35:05.000 The other thing is, let's say it is armed or if you're in a high threat doing high threat protection, say overseas protection,

00:35:11.000 you're bringing someone maybe to the Middle East or someplace in Central or South America.

00:35:16.000 Maybe that's a high threat region.

00:35:18.000 Um, then you're going to want someone who has that better that strong skill set of of firearms proficiency.

00:35:26.000 So when I I'll be honest with you, when I use armed, the vast majority of the people I use armed in the United States are former law enforcement.

00:35:34.000 You want to know why? Because they come with their training.

00:35:36.000 Wait, wait, can you say that one more time?

00:35:38.000 So so the vast majority of people that I use that are armed are former law enforcement.

00:35:43.000 What do you mean by that?

00:35:44.000 Domestically. So in other words, you can have someone who just has a armed security license and a firearm and they've never been in law enforcement.

00:35:53.000 However, what I what I would say, the majority I've hired people like that.

00:35:58.000 The majority I use are former law enforcement when it's an armed detail.

00:36:02.000 First of all, it really is beneficial for all the licensing requirements.

00:36:06.000 If they're a former law enforcement officer like myself, I have H.R. 218.

00:36:10.000 I could carry a firearm anywhere in the United States.

00:36:13.000 That's a we can't do that.

00:36:17.000 Only you can. It's not something available to the public.

00:36:20.000 No, it's not. Right.

00:36:22.000 There's a cut out. I'll get off track for a second.

00:36:24.000 I say there is a combination of per licensing for a few different states where if you get them, it gives day of reciprocity.

00:36:31.000 You can carry in 44 states. What is it called?

00:36:34.000 It's like California, Utah and maybe Nevada.

00:36:38.000 There's a couple of states where if you get those, my operations manager knows because we're familiar with it.

00:36:43.000 If you get those licenses, they have reciprocity with other states and you can carry in 44 states.

00:36:49.000 However, as you would guess, New York doesn't take part in any of those.

00:36:53.000 New Jersey doesn't take part in any of those.

00:36:55.000 California, I'm surprised California is on there.

00:36:57.000 I mean, I remember buying a gun in California.

00:36:59.000 I had to wait 30 days to get the gun.

00:37:01.000 You know, Texas, you go in, you leave five minutes later.

00:37:04.000 Right, right.

00:37:05.000 So California is one where you have to have the California license.

00:37:08.000 But if you have it in combination with those others, it'll give you 44 states.

00:37:11.000 It's amazing that California has that.

00:37:14.000 Yeah.

00:37:15.000 Please continue. I'm listening.

00:37:16.000 Yeah. So so what I would say is I like the law enforcement for the armed work.

00:37:20.000 First of all, it's it's easy because, you know, they could carry legally.

00:37:23.000 Secondly, they come with their own firearms training.

00:37:27.000 You know, they've done 20 years.

00:37:29.000 Most of the people I use are retired 20 years minimum of annual training.

00:37:34.000 Some of them were in specialized units.

00:37:36.000 They're comfortable carrying a firearm.

00:37:38.000 They get it.

00:37:39.000 You know, they're there.

00:37:40.000 It's they're very comfortable with it.

00:37:42.000 They know where it could go, where it can't and how to use it.

00:37:45.000 So for that for that specific purpose, law enforcement is often used for armed security work.

00:37:52.000 So so here's a question for you.

00:37:54.000 What is the worst situation you have been in yourself as an executive protection or one of your agents that reports you and works for you?

00:38:02.000 What's been a case where, you know, we were in a situation where at a restaurant, we were on road, you know, all of a sudden this is what happened.

00:38:11.000 And it got ugly very quickly.

00:38:12.000 And we had to figure out.

00:38:13.000 Obviously, you can't disclose a name, but if you could disclose the situation you were in, what would you say is the worst situation you've been in?

00:38:19.000 So I'm going to I'll tell you about a few of them.

00:38:22.000 Right.

00:38:23.000 One of them was similar to what you just said.

00:38:24.000 We had brought a principal corporate principal to a large venue, high occupancy venue in Las Vegas for a UFC fight.

00:38:34.000 And while we were at there doing security and our agent was in there with the principal, we had agents waiting outside, kind of all hell broke loose at this fight where we had to get this person who was very close to the ring out of there very quickly.

00:38:50.000 So that's something that is a real thing that could happen when you're protecting a principal.

00:38:56.000 And you're talking about, you know, thousands and thousands of people.

00:39:00.000 You that's why planning is so very important.

00:39:02.000 You need to know where you have an egress route to get out of that building. 1.00

00:39:05.000 Where is your vehicle stage to get them in that vehicle and get them out quickly?

00:39:09.000 That's one of them example like that.

00:39:11.000 And we were successful, but it was very chaotic to get them out.

00:39:14.000 Another one I had was a very high ranking corporate executive.

00:39:20.000 I was at a venue, a business forum.

00:39:25.000 And this person who I was protecting personally at the time, because right now I manage a lot of details, but at this time I was the lead agent, sort of gave me a look and asked.

00:39:38.000 We were in the green room and they asked me to come over.

00:39:41.000 And they whispered to me.

00:39:44.000 There's a person standing here in the green room.

00:39:47.000 Um, that is a known stalker who's been following me.

00:39:51.000 And now this was not a fault of mine for not recognizing this because it was I was never giving what we call a bolo.

00:39:58.000 Now, who are the company that hired me never provided me with this information that there was, in fact, someone who's been following them.

00:40:06.000 Usually if someone if there's a known entity and often there is high profile business executives don't have many people that they keep an eye on.

00:40:13.000 They track because they've made threats.

00:40:15.000 They show up at a lot of their events.

00:40:17.000 It's common.

00:40:18.000 Got it.

00:40:19.000 I was not given that intelligence.

00:40:21.000 Also, the person had legitimate press credentials.

00:40:24.000 So, you know, they were allowed in there.

00:40:27.000 That's another problem you'll find in security these days is that press credentials are easy to get.

00:40:33.000 You could have a blog and somebody will issue you some type of a press credential where you could get pretty close access to people.

00:40:39.000 Um, so that was it was a successful mission.

00:40:44.000 And as I was told this, the person had took off.

00:40:46.000 She the person in question, the subject, saw me walking over talking to the principal and fled.

00:40:54.000 But I had two other agents out in the audience who, through my description and me talking to them in the radio, located the person, followed them back into the forum.

00:41:03.000 We were able to get local law enforcement to show up waiting for them and they walked out.

00:41:08.000 And it was a complete success.

00:41:10.000 The company was very happy with the operation that it turned out that way.

00:41:13.000 That's another example of something that could happen, a real everyday occurrence.

00:41:18.000 Another one was on a personal note.

00:41:20.000 I was contracted by the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

00:41:26.000 Or I should say, I was requested by him.

00:41:29.000 He had not yet been elected.

00:41:31.000 It was a controversial election.

00:41:34.000 Uh, TC Katie was the, uh, he's the current president.

00:41:38.000 A few years, two years ago, within 24 hours, I had to get, uh, I got two agents to accompany me and I flew to the DRC.

00:41:45.000 No weapons.

00:41:46.000 It was a lot of political violence.

00:41:48.000 I think something like over 900 people had been killed in political violence in the country.

00:41:52.000 We went to Kinsasha and, uh, I was kind, I was advising the soon to be hopefully elected president because the former president Kabila was a dictator for 20 years.

00:42:04.000 And it was serious security concerns.

00:42:06.000 So he brought me there to, uh, guide him in this during this month or so.

00:42:10.000 The Supreme Court in their country was determining who would be in fact the new president.

00:42:15.000 They, cause they said there was election fraud.

00:42:17.000 In any case, he ended up becoming the president.

00:42:19.000 I was there the night he got sworn in.

00:42:21.000 We were worried about violence, but I would say that that is, that was a high threat protection detail for sure.

00:42:29.000 We had no weapons.

00:42:30.000 Um, and, uh, you, it was a lot of experience.

00:42:34.000 It's another reason I like the military people for the high threat operations.

00:42:38.000 I had two top tier people retired, uh, former Marine infantry and a former Green Beret who within 24 hour notice were with me at the airport with a goat bag ready to go to fly to Africa. 0.76

00:42:51.000 We landed.

00:42:52.000 We didn't even have a visa.

00:42:53.000 The president, newly elected president, soon to be elected president said, just, just fly over.

00:42:58.000 Don't worry.

00:42:59.000 I'll take care of it.

00:43:00.000 And we were detained in a dark room with police.

00:43:02.000 We had a language barrier for a few hours.

00:43:05.000 Well, there's a lot of challenges.

00:43:07.000 Like I said, you have to be able to handle stress well.

00:43:09.000 And I find that the, the military people, the high threat regions, they're the way to go for sure.

00:43:14.000 They, they, you know, there's nowhere they won't travel and they don't get, um, stressed out.

00:43:19.000 They don't, they don't get nervous very easily.

00:43:21.000 Military more than, uh, interesting military more than, uh.

00:43:24.000 Oh yeah.

00:43:25.000 Yeah.

00:43:26.000 I'm not, I wouldn't bring law enforcement overseas to regions like that.

00:43:28.000 It's all military.

00:43:29.000 It's usually a special operations people.

00:43:31.000 Got it.

00:43:32.000 Who, who have been deployed, obviously who have experienced being deployed.

00:43:35.000 I've never been deployed.

00:43:36.000 I've never been deployed.

00:43:37.000 Those who have been deployed have experienced what it's like to be deployed.

00:43:40.000 So there's a little bit more, uh.

00:43:42.000 Right.

00:43:43.000 Awareness when a crisis happened and how you responded to it.

00:43:46.000 Even myself, you know, if I had not had the experience in the military and operating in

00:43:51.000 Smar, Iraq, where it was a highly dangerous city, Lola city. 0.98

00:43:55.000 It made it much, uh, more manageable flying over to the DRC.

00:43:59.000 I bet.

00:44:00.000 And, uh, you know, you know how to handle yourself.

00:44:02.000 Like I said before, most of this job is communications and understanding how to handle people, make good

00:44:08.000 judgment calls so much more than firearms proficiency and, uh, and, and mixed martial arts.

00:44:14.000 It really communications and good judgment is the most important weapons we have.

00:44:18.000 So, so question as far as eyeballs on what you're looking at.

00:44:22.000 So say a husband and wife, they have three kids.

00:44:26.000 I have three kids.

00:44:27.000 One on the way we go into a house and we're thinking about, you know, renting this house for Christmas or for whatever.

00:44:32.000 Okay.

00:44:33.000 You know, let's, let's rent this house. 0.99

00:44:35.000 I look at the house.

00:44:36.000 I'm like, okay.

00:44:37.000 Nice pool, big theater room.

00:44:39.000 Pretty cool.

00:44:40.000 I like it here.

00:44:41.000 Versus her eyes will look at there's sharp edges on these tables.

00:44:45.000 It's too low.

00:44:46.000 Okay.

00:44:47.000 This step, the kids are going to follow this step because they're going to run and they're

00:44:51.000 going to fall.

00:44:52.000 And so the, the, the eyes are seeing two different things, same home, same city, same

00:44:57.000 situation, but different lengths.

00:44:58.000 When you walk into a place yourself, forget about.

00:45:01.000 Forget about with a client.

00:45:03.000 You're walking into a restaurant because you know, once you live the life that you live, you

00:45:08.000 can't help but be like that 24 seven. 0.99

00:45:09.000 Cause you're wired that way.

00:45:11.000 What are you looking for when you go into a restaurant?

00:45:13.000 What things are you looking for when you go out and you know, you're, you're going

00:45:16.000 out into place where other people are there.

00:45:19.000 Yeah.

00:45:20.000 So there's two sides to that.

00:45:21.000 First of all, as a law enforcement officer, my whole life, basically adult life.

00:45:25.000 Uh, I go into a restaurant.

00:45:27.000 It's a common joke.

00:45:28.000 My, my family knows to let me sit with my back against the wall.

00:45:31.000 So I can see the door.

00:45:32.000 They position themselves.

00:45:33.000 They've been trained since they're little.

00:45:35.000 They know how I, how I operate.

00:45:37.000 Cause I want to know if something comes in, I want to be able to address it.

00:45:40.000 I don't like my back being faced to the door.

00:45:42.000 So it's very similar in protection work.

00:45:44.000 When I go into assess, say I'm going to do an advanced site visit.

00:45:47.000 That's what we call it.

00:45:48.000 The principal is going to be going to a restaurant for a meeting tomorrow night.

00:45:52.000 We go ahead of time.

00:45:53.000 Uh, we're going to check where the exits are.

00:45:55.000 What, what entrance do we want to bring them in?

00:45:58.000 Depending on your principal.

00:45:59.000 Can we bring them in a side entrance or a back entrance so we could avoid crowds?

00:46:03.000 Um, sometimes they won't want that.

00:46:05.000 They're like, no, no, I don't like that.

00:46:06.000 I want to come in like everyone else.

00:46:07.000 They all have different preferences.

00:46:09.000 I've had a principal said, don't hold doors for me.

00:46:12.000 I don't like it.

00:46:13.000 So we didn't hold doors, which is, you know, being raised the way I was.

00:46:16.000 It's a common gesture, right?

00:46:17.000 It's what I do for everybody.

00:46:18.000 Um, but, but you, uh, you have to adjust to your principal.

00:46:22.000 When I'm going into this restaurant, what type of people are here?

00:46:25.000 Is there drinking here?

00:46:26.000 They have cameras in here where the doors, the exits.

00:46:29.000 Is there a room in this place?

00:46:31.000 I could bring this person and use it as a safe room.

00:46:33.000 If I had to very quickly, just until we could get help.

00:46:37.000 How, where am I going to position my vehicle?

00:46:39.000 Is there a point of contact?

00:46:41.000 Sometimes when we go there, we'll meet with a manager.

00:46:43.000 Say, listen, I'm going to be bringing someone here tomorrow in certain area places.

00:46:47.000 They're used to it.

00:46:48.000 They've dealt with it before.

00:46:50.000 And, uh, hotels, you know, you go to the four seasons, they've dealt with protection

00:46:54.000 details.

00:46:55.000 They get it.

00:46:56.000 You know, they know firsthand what you're doing.

00:46:58.000 You're going to, you want to know all of these things.

00:47:00.000 Where can my vehicle be staged?

00:47:01.000 And they'll work with you on that too.

00:47:03.000 They want your principal to come to their place.

00:47:05.000 They want them to have a successful visit to their location.

00:47:09.000 So there's so much that's part of it, a site visit.

00:47:11.000 I do it every time I walk in a place.

00:47:13.000 Just, you know, it's ingrained in you.

00:47:15.000 I bet.

00:47:16.000 And, and last but not least, before we wrap this up is, uh, I'm in sales.

00:47:23.000 So a big part of my business is body language, right?

00:47:26.000 So I need to sit there and say, okay, the wife doesn't trust me yet. 1.00

00:47:30.000 Let's see what I can do to break the ice.

00:47:32.000 The husband is disinterested.

00:47:34.000 He has no interest in what I'm talking about right now.

00:47:37.000 How do I gain his interest?

00:47:38.000 You know, I have the two kids over there that are being allowed.

00:47:41.000 The audio of the TV is at 46.

00:47:43.000 I can't sell at 46.

00:47:45.000 What do I need to do to get the kids to calm down?

00:47:48.000 Because mom's already looked back seven times.

00:47:50.000 She's worried.

00:47:51.000 So you're looking at all this stuff, kitchen table.

00:47:53.000 Where do we sit?

00:47:54.000 Do I sit with my back towards where the TV's back to or the TV's back here?

00:47:57.000 You know, do I sit to be on the side of them to feel like we're on this?

00:48:01.000 Everything is a bit of psychology when you're selling.

00:48:05.000 And when you're around long enough and you lose enough sales and you're broke, you have

00:48:08.000 to improve or you're going to go and not make it, right?

00:48:11.000 So what are you looking for?

00:48:13.000 Signs of threat of a, you're looking at somebody and you're saying there's some irregular,

00:48:19.000 you know, not normal behavior that guy has got going on.

00:48:23.000 And I'm going to keep my eye on that guy.

00:48:25.000 What is he up to?

00:48:26.000 What are some things you look for in somebody that triggers something to say,

00:48:30.000 hey, I'm not saying he's going to do something right now, but that's somebody I got to have

00:48:33.000 my eye on.

00:48:34.000 What do you look for?

00:48:35.000 Right.

00:48:36.000 So there's a few things there.

00:48:37.000 The first thing, obviously, anyone who you do have a bow look for, be on the lookout.

00:48:41.000 You have information on someone, you're always scanning for them.

00:48:43.000 If they show up at an event, that's a problem you have to address immediately.

00:48:47.000 Aside from that, anyone who would have an unnatural interest in your principal,

00:48:53.000 that's a concern.

00:48:54.000 That's not the question I'm asking.

00:48:55.000 Here's the question I'm asking.

00:48:56.000 I'm asking, not your job.

00:48:58.000 Assume it's me.

00:48:59.000 Like, I don't do what you do.

00:49:01.000 Right, right.

00:49:02.000 Assume a private citizen that's watching this right now, and we keep hearing about all

00:49:05.000 this stuff, and people are concerned, where a parent who has kids, a husband who's trying

00:49:09.000 to protect the wife and the family, or, you know, a mother who's going out that wants

00:49:13.000 to say, okay, maybe it's time we leave.

00:49:15.000 I'm not going to stick around you, because I guess, what things can you share with us

00:49:20.000 as the public, not you, that we can learn from you to say, here's some things to look

00:49:25.000 out for where you may want to behave this way and do this?

00:49:28.000 That's the question.

00:49:29.000 Yeah, so very similar, very similar to what I would do, right, is what I would explain.

00:49:33.000 One thing is, like I said, anyone who is, anyone, first of all, who's acting irrationally,

00:49:39.000 abnormally, maybe someone who's emotionally disturbed, let's face it, you run into those

00:49:43.000 people all the time in society, it's the way it is.

00:49:47.000 They're a concern.

00:49:48.000 Wherever you are, you should have a heightened sense of awareness with those people, because

00:49:52.000 they're erratic, and you're not sure what might happen.

00:49:55.000 Another thing is, anyone, like I mentioned, who you notice seems to have an unnatural interest,

00:50:02.000 say, in your children, when you go someplace, or you, or yourself, that's of concern.

00:50:08.000 You know, people, it doesn't necessarily take training.

00:50:11.000 Everyone has training.

00:50:12.000 It's called life, right?

00:50:13.000 You've been around, you know what's normal, when it's not, and when something's wrong,

00:50:17.000 your instincts will kick in, you might not even know why.

00:50:20.000 But if someone's acting not normal or naturally, it's really easy to pick up on when you think

00:50:27.000 about it.

00:50:28.000 So anyone who has an unnatural interest in you, your children, family, anyone who's acting

00:50:32.000 abnormally or emotionally disturbed in that sense, those are really what you're looking

00:50:37.000 for.

00:50:38.000 Also, if you had someone, you've always heard this, right?

00:50:40.000 Someone who's just doesn't fit in, right? 1.00

00:50:42.000 Like somebody who comes in, they seem really nervous.

00:50:45.000 Maybe they're sweating a lot.

00:50:46.000 Maybe they're wearing inappropriate clothing for the climate or the location you're in.

00:50:51.000 That's what picks up my interest.

00:50:53.000 I'll notice it right away.

00:50:54.000 I'm like, that's strange.

00:50:55.000 Why would they do that?

00:50:56.000 I could give you a good example, and anyone could develop these skills.

00:50:59.000 I drive into my neighborhood, I'll come home, and I'll walk in my house and I'll tell

00:51:05.000 my wife, did you see that blue Jeep parked three houses away? 0.99

00:51:09.000 She's like, no, I have no idea what you're talking about.

00:51:11.000 I notice it, because it's never there.

00:51:14.000 And it's been there for two days.

00:51:16.000 Why is it there? 0.99

00:51:18.000 I'll say that, and she goes, you're crazy.

00:51:21.000 I'm not crazy. 0.85

00:51:22.000 And a lot of the times I've said that, there was an issue.

00:51:25.000 Maybe it was abandoned, or maybe there was an issue.

00:51:28.000 A lot of times I'll be driving home, I see something like that in my neighborhood, I get

00:51:31.000 the phone out, I get a picture, I get the plate.

00:51:33.000 Never know what might happen later, and now I have it.

00:51:36.000 You know, you would be surprised when you put a little thought into it, just your regular

00:51:41.000 person, you could do the same thing.

00:51:43.000 When things are abnormal, and some people I've met who have never been in law enforcement,

00:51:47.000 they have good inherent skills.

00:51:49.000 I've seen it, and they have good observation skills, and they notice when things are a

00:51:53.000 little different, you know?

00:51:55.000 And people can train themselves that way to improve it.

00:51:58.000 In this day and age, let's be honest, people should, right?

00:52:01.000 I totally agree.

00:52:04.000 Do you recommend, no matter how much money somebody makes, you know, whether I'm a $50,000

00:52:08.000 person or a $200,000 executive, do you recommend having cameras around the house, workplace?

00:52:13.000 What are your thoughts on cameras so you can watch it on your phone?

00:52:16.000 And if yes, is there any recommendations you have?

00:52:19.000 So yes.

00:52:20.000 What I would say is this.

00:52:21.000 You should definitely, rather than not, of course, for two reasons.

00:52:24.000 One of them, the most important reason is a deterrent.

00:52:27.000 You know, people see cameras, bad guys see cameras, they're going to come and maybe see

00:52:31.000 if your door's open in your car, something as small as that.

00:52:34.000 Maybe they're going in to do a burglary during the day.

00:52:36.000 They see cameras, they're going to go to the next house.

00:52:38.000 They're going to go to the next house because they don't have cameras.

00:52:41.000 So I always say, you never want to be the softest target on your street.

00:52:45.000 You want to be the hard target.

00:52:46.000 Let them go to the next one. 0.95

00:52:47.000 I don't know what to say.

00:52:48.000 Yeah, too bad for them.

00:52:50.000 What I would also say from practical experience as a detective and in the private sector, a lot of times,

00:52:56.000 cameras don't, after the fact, a crime has happened, it's not always that easy to use them to identify people.

00:53:03.000 They're not that accurate.

00:53:04.000 Look at today's day and age.

00:53:05.000 People have masks on, right?

00:53:07.000 I mean, that's an obstacle, right?

00:53:10.000 Yeah.

00:53:11.000 But the deterrent factor is strong and they can be used to ID people.

00:53:15.000 They are successful in that.

00:53:17.000 As far as the quality, listen, there's a lot of really good systems out there that like simply safe, right?

00:53:24.000 I don't want to draw brand names, but I will.

00:53:26.000 I mean, you don't have to spend a tremendous amount of money to have a good system, decent resolution,

00:53:33.000 infrared capability, outside, inside, and they're all accessible right on your phone.

00:53:40.000 That you can access while you're at work, while you're out to dinner.

00:53:43.000 They'll send alarms to them and they're cheap.

00:53:45.000 They're not expensive.

00:53:46.000 So you don't have to spend a lot of money.

00:53:48.000 I tell my clients in this business, you have to guard against companies.

00:53:52.000 They want to sell you the most expensive stuff there is and mark it up.

00:53:55.000 I tell people anything's better than nothing.

00:53:57.000 And a lot of these systems that are very affordable, they're decent.

00:54:01.000 They're good quality.

00:54:02.000 So it's interesting what you said.

00:54:04.000 So the idea of having the small cameras that nobody sees at a house is not good.

00:54:08.000 You want the camera for the person to know, I have cameras at my house.

00:54:12.000 It's like an announcement you're making.

00:54:14.000 You don't want it to be the small ones that nobody sees.

00:54:16.000 Well, I would rephrase that and just say I like both.

00:54:19.000 I like for deterrent factor the big ones people can see.

00:54:22.000 But having a covert camera is not a bad idea, too.

00:54:25.000 So if they think that they've gotten around, they've bypassed your camera.

00:54:30.000 Maybe they didn't because they don't see the other one.

00:54:33.000 You know, there's so much inside your house, too.

00:54:36.000 What if they do get in?

00:54:37.000 Maybe you have a camera in there that's covert that's going to pick up on that.

00:54:41.000 That's also based on privacy issues.

00:54:43.000 You know, I've had some clients, they're celebrities.

00:54:46.000 They do not want anything Wi-Fi based in their home.

00:54:50.000 They have a fear that someone could tap into that and get video of them in their own home.

00:54:55.000 So you have to get the appropriate system for the right person, the right client.

00:55:01.000 Very good point.

00:55:03.000 And this is why we have guests like you to get smarter. 0.68

00:55:05.000 I feel like in the last 59 minutes, I have become smarter because of you.

00:55:12.000 You know, this is a very educational last hour.

00:55:18.000 And what a story you got.

00:55:19.000 And, you know, before we wrap this up, where can people find you?

00:55:23.000 Obviously, we're going to put your LinkedIn below.

00:55:25.000 We're going to put all your links on where people find you.

00:55:27.000 But is there a website?

00:55:28.000 Is there one main place where people can find you if they have more questions?

00:55:31.000 That's right.

00:55:32.000 GlobalThreatSolutions.com.

00:55:34.000 That's our company's website.

00:55:36.000 And through that website, you know, as you mentioned, I'll give you all of my social media info and links.

00:55:42.000 But through that website, GlobalThreatSolutions.com, they can find, they can get in touch with not only representatives of my company, but myself.

00:55:51.000 One thing we pride ourselves in, a lot of companies in this industry, they get very big.

00:55:56.000 They're corporate and they lose quality.

00:55:59.000 Client has a problem.

00:56:00.000 These are important people, our clients.

00:56:02.000 They're talking to some supervisor or maybe an operations manager.

00:56:06.000 My clients, 24 hours a day, can get me on the phone.

00:56:09.000 And I can tell you it's a big selling point.

00:56:11.000 This is a concierge service.

00:56:13.000 Like you mentioned before, people spending a lot of money.

00:56:16.000 They don't want to be talking to a supervisor.

00:56:18.000 When they have a real problem, they want to talk to me.

00:56:20.000 And that's what they get.

00:56:21.000 Well, we're going to put all the links below where people can get ahold of you.

00:56:23.000 And if any questions they have.

00:56:25.000 But with that being said, Kenneth, thank you so much for being a guest on Value Taming.

00:56:28.000 This was wonderful.

00:56:29.000 Thank you.

00:56:30.000 It was great being on the show.

00:56:31.000 I really appreciate it.

00:56:32.000 Appreciate you, buddy.

00:56:33.000 You know, I got to tell you, when the team first brought up his name that, hey, Pat, would you like to interview him?

00:56:37.000 I looked him up.

00:56:38.000 I'm like, there's not a lot on him.

00:56:39.000 I don't know.

00:56:40.000 So I thought about it.

00:56:41.000 I said, let's do it.

00:56:42.000 And I did it.

00:56:43.000 And I just told him right now.

00:56:44.000 I mean, you didn't see it, but I told him privately.

00:56:45.000 I learned a lot.

00:56:47.000 And I'm sure this is going to be something that anybody who is a civilian can learn a

00:56:51.640 lot from it and apply it.

00:56:53.240 But what a fascinating interview.

00:56:54.820 I got so educated about the whole world.

00:56:57.400 And I hope you did as well.

00:56:58.360 And if you enjoyed this interview, there's another interview I did, which we talked about

00:57:01.240 in the interview.

00:57:02.240 Clint Hill, former Secret Service agent for four presidents and Jackie Kennedy.

00:57:06.000 It's got a few million views.

00:57:07.000 I think six or seven million views.

00:57:08.800 If you've not watched it, it's a must watch.

00:57:10.680 Click over to go watch it.

00:57:12.200 Take care, everybody.

00:57:13.200 Bye-bye.

00:57:17.000 Bye-bye.

00:57:24.760 Bye-bye.

00:57:24.840 Bye-bye.

00:57:28.940 Bye-bye.

00:57:37.760 Bye-bye.

00:57:42.080 Bye-bye.

00:57:45.720 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - February 26, 2021

Celebrity Bodyguard Reveals How They Work

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript