Executive Protection: New Solutions for a New Era

Forensic Examiner, The, Spring, 2009

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Certainly all individuals are equals, yet some require higher levels of protection than others. Governmental authorities as well as global executives require specialists that provide the type of security they need to survive.

In his 1997 book, The Art of Executive Protection, Robert L. Oatman discussed the increasing need for a new professional specialty, executive protection (EP). Executive Protection: New Solutions for a New Era is a follow-up to that book, and it focuses on the ways in which EP has changed since the terrorism-related events of 9/11. Oatman expands on both basic and advanced concepts and updates them for applicability in today's global trade, international travel, corporate responsibility, and advanced technology fields.

Written for those who provide protection and those who require it, the book begins with an examination of the world's current threat trends. It then discusses the practical value of EP in a corporate environment and describes the techniques of the all-important risk assessment, on which any intelligent protection program must be based.

Additional resources are located in appendices at the conclusion of the book. This supplemental information includes mail screening tips, a bomb threat card, and checklists for advance work. Bonus material includes online access to the advance checklists at www.rloatman.com.

The goal of EP--and of this book--is to safeguard those who face above-average personal risk due to their high positions in business or government or the special characteristics of their family profile. Written simply, yet informatively, it is of vital importance for all involved in these types of situations.

Robert L. Oatman, CHS-III, CPP, is one of the preeminent providers of executive protection (EP) in the United States. His firm, R. L. Oatman & Associates, Inc., has provided EP risk assessments, consultation, operations, and training around the world since 1989. He has been Certified in Homeland Security under the American College of Forensic Examiners since 2003.