LADDER: Protective Security Specialists…

How long does it take for a lethal attack to occur against an At-Risk person?

Just 2 Seconds is the best selling book by Gavin De Becker. Along with his long time colleagues Tom Taylor and Jeff Marquart, they document how to use time and space to defeat adversaries.

There are some compelling insights gained from their research:

• In the US, attacks are most likely to be undertaken by lone assailants 87% vs. outside the US where attacks are typically the work of multiple assailants 71%.
• Attacks in the US are about as likely indoors (53%) vs. outdoors (47%).
• However, 64% of attacks happen when the protected person is outside in or around the car and 77% of these attacks are successful.

Most of these happen within a distance of 25 feet or less using a handgun. Corporate executives and their Protective Security Detail (PSD) already know these statistics and have trained together for these increasing risks.

Many have adopted the LADDER model from “Gavin de Becker & Associates” training academy:

> L ogistics

> A dvance

> D istance

> D eterrence

> E vacuation

> R esponse

The study of the motives and the psychology of why these actors pick their targets and choose the time and place has become a science. The methods and tools to assist corporate security in predictive analytics requires a substantial baseline of historical data and real-world experience.

Over 30 years ago Gavin and his team developed the MOSAIC Threat Assessment system. It is now in use with dozens of police and government agencies to help authorities and “Protective Security Details” to be more proactive and preemptive.

Protective Security Specialist’s (PSS) today are certified professionals utilizing intelligence in combination with the attributes of Time, Mind and Space to provide safe and secure travel for their clients.

The Science and the Art have converged to provide a fusion of data, strategy and ad hoc tactics to ensure the mission is completed without incident.

The profession doesn't stop there. Some Operational Risk Management firms who have these certified individuals on staff, go much further in their training and their vetting of employees.

We agree and recommend that you add these questions to your due diligence when obtaining Request for Proposals (RFPs) from these firms:

• Review all policy documents the firm has their personnel sign to become a PSS on staff.
• Review the firms hiring process and the prerequisites to join the firm.
• Review the operational standards and operating procedures to ensure 24 x 7 x 365 capabilities.
• Review the 3rd party agreements that encompass any transportation and private aviation suppliers.
• Review the firms technology and communications infrastructure including Internet, radios, information systems security controls and privacy countermeasures.

The profession has come a long way and people like Gavin de Becker & Associates have for decades established the baseline for others to compete. High net worth individuals, movie stars, public officials and corporate executives have much at stake and require comprehensive strategy execution.

Think of every assassination like attack you've ever heard about. For most people, a few of these major ones come to mind: Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, John Lennon, Israel’s Prime Minister Rabin, Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.

From start to finish, all of these attacks — combined — took place in less than one minute. And the hundreds of attacks studied for the book, all of them combined, took place in less than a half-hour.

Those thirty minutes, surely the most influential in world history, offer important insights that can help today’s protectors defeat tomorrow’s attackers...