Kidnapping of Billionaires and Celebrities

What Can We Do To Prevent Kidnapping For Billionaires And Celebrities?

Just this month, Tushar Atre, a California-based tech executive, was fatally shot after he was abducted from his home. According to MSN, Atre, the founder and CEO of AtreNet Inc, was kidnapped during a crime that took place at his home on October 1st. The police previously suspected that the motive was robbery, although there have been no updates on the case since.

Unfortunately, billionaires and celebrities are always at risk for kidnappings. Their family members are also frequent targets used for criminals to get ransom money. Here’s how we can prevent these kidnappings. We highly recommend to our clients to have kidnapping and ransom insurance especially if they travel to high kidnapping countries.

Soft Skills 

Contrary to popular belief, being a large agent skilled with weapons does not mean that someone is a good protection agent. Instead, those with soft skills, like communication and knowing the customs of their clients make a more effective protection agent. Being multilingual and willing to learn about another culture is also helpful when it comes to international work.

Celebrities are often seen with large bodyguards. However, as you may have noticed, these bodyguards often fail because they don’t have the required level of skill, training, or professionalism to protect their clients effectively.

These bodyguards, which we like to call “buddyguards,” also put their clients in danger more often than not. They may post photos on their social media with the celebrity, which tells the entire world, including people with bad intentions, where they can find that celebrity.

Soft skills involve knowing how to respect their clients and their privacy.

Flexibility 

Our agents often spend hours planning an event, including the exit strategies and best routes, only for something to change at the last minute. Many clients who need executive protection lead hectic lives and an agent needs to know how to adjust and adapt.

Dwelling on the fact that they have spent hours invested in this one event means that they are essentially putting the client at risk since they could have been using that time to plan the new details effectively.

Expert pre-planning and advances is a way that protection agent prevents potential kidnappings.

Trust the Experts

In any business, you will have clients and customers that are difficult to deal with. However, executive protection agents get used to their clients’ behaviors and are frank with them when their client tries to do something that might put their safety in jeopardy.

For example, you might remember when Kim Kardashian was robbed. Her bodyguard should have told her that he would not leave her alone in the room until another agent arrived. Instead, he left her alone and ended up putting her in danger, which resulted in an expensive robbery. Ultimately, the guard was terminated and sued by his own insurance agent.

Some clients are difficult to deal with, which could also lead to a possible threat that the executive protection agent did not see coming. You may be protecting someone who fires people on a whim for no reason, while others are considerate and genuine. The executive protection agent must not be afraid to say no to the client or when the client adds to a possible threat or risk to remove himself from protection them.

Not all clients are the same, and some will be more understanding of an executive protection agent’s role. Others may be difficult to deal with, but their safety is our main priority, and we have no problem walking away if it isn’t theirs.

Preparation and Prevention

The key to executive protection is 100% prevention. This proactive method means that instead of reacting to someone attacking a client or following through on a threat. We are prepared to deal with these situations.

Planning, Planning, and Advances are a way to ensure client safety.

On the other side of this, prevention means doing proper planning. This could include planning routes for the safest, most convenient way to get somewhere, and mapping an exit or evacuation strategy in case our clients need to leave immediately.

Consider all of the photos and videos you’ve seen of celebrities who are swarmed by fans and paparazzi. They may even have a bodyguard with them in the images. However, these bodyguards did not have the necessary skill or experience to know that their client should never have been taken through a mob of people in the first place.

Do you remember when Arnold Swarzennegar was attacked earlier this year? He had at least three bodyguards with him, and all of them failed to do their job. Not only was he being walked through a mob of fans, but one of those people wasn’t a fan and was able to kick Swarzennegar in the back, and no executive protection agent was even watching that direction. Protective coverage must be 360 degrees.

Perhaps one of those bodyguards even posted that he was protecting Swarzeneggar that night on social media and told the entire world about where they would be. Not taking the proper precautions falls on those hired to protect the client.

Preparation also may not have to do with others at all. It may have to do with the client. If a client has a health issue, our agents make sure that they know where the nearest hospitals will be and the best and fastest route to get there in case of an emergency. Medical emergencies can happen more than a security threat.

Also, before we even travel to another city, state, or country, we make sure that the hospitals have our clients’ information on file. We even research to find the best doctor around for a particular health problem to make sure our clients get the best care available.

Privacy

An executive protection firm should be able to help you maintain the ultimate privacy and security of your home. A simple security alarm in your house is not enough. Instead, it would help if you had protection agents who can keep you safe while you’re relaxing in your own home.

We can use drones to survey an entire area to make sure intruders can’t get passed the gate. Our drones are also voice and video-enabled so that we can tell an intruder that they are trespassing and the police have been called. We also work with law enforcement to provide them with any evidence that they need to make sure this intruder doesn’t attempt a robbery or kidnapping.

As we have said, the key to protection is prevention. Another way we can prevent an attack is by doing a security sweep of your home to make sure that there are no areas that an intruder can get through. From there, we’ll provide you with all of the best solutions and our expertise so that we can help you stay safe.

This post is also available in: Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional)