WPG Executive Protection Detail has been doing protective intelligence since 2001.
As founder of the World Protection Group, Kent Moyer realized that it was just as necessary to understand and learn how to investigate threats, how to manage threats, and expand being a bodyguard into being a high quality executive protection agent who offered a wider range of security services to clients.
Back in 2001, the executive protection schools offered high quality courses on best practices and necessary executive protection training and services in the security industry. There were no schools teaching the importance of executive intelligence that coincided with this type of protection training. It was only in extremely high profile settings, such as with the secret service when these two skills were combined to enhance the protection level.
If you have a threat, you need to know how to respond to it, beyond simply guarding the client in the moment. A lot of executive protection schools will not train agents on these vital skills that supplement and enhance their services and instincts.
The best security and protection academy at the time offered an additional year of training that focused on intelligence courses and training and protective intelligence. This high quality training is now a crucial part of the World Protection Group ethos and services. It has developed a mindset where threats are identified and resolved before they even have a chance to reach the client.
The Value of Intelligence for Protection
More recently, the protection industry has picked up on the important connection between security and protective intelligence. Typically this connection is done through Open-Source Intelligence, also known as OSINT. Open-Source Intelligence is a collection of information and data gathered from readily available and public places, producing actionable intelligence that protection agents can respond to. You might not realize it, but 70-80% of all intelligence is on the internet, sometimes even on social media or online threads. Direct or failed threats are commonly found plastered on the internet pertaining to clients.
You can find anything on social media about anyone planning on stalking or threatening your client. For over two decades, Moyer has been honing these protective intelligence skills and seeking out additional resources and training, becoming an OSINT investigator. The World Protection Group is a leader in the protection industry in intelligence and has been for the last twenty years.
Intelligence, however, is still fairly fragmented when it comes to executive protection. Why is that? Oftentimes a company will have an executive protection unit and an Open-Source Intelligence Unit. The best protection companies will ensure that there is close collaboration and communication between these units. Especially when the client is traveling to a different country or has important meetings or work coming up. The Intelligence Unit will then feed all their information to the protection team, anything that they have learned about potential threats or activity on social media or any other online source.
These services should be subscribed to in order to obtain their open source intelligence. It allows the protection team access to crucial information. For example, if the client is traveling internationally, the protection team will be aware of any political or civil changes within the city, any activity that could disrupt traffic or the travel plans.
Using Intelligence as an Agent
All of these services are incredibly valuable. The best executive protection agent will have a mindset that understands the value of intelligence and how it can be used to elevate their client’s safety and protection.
The World Protection Group continues to place importance on intelligence training for its agents. Protection agents are given specialized training about intelligence and how they can take advantage of it for the benefit of their client. Even if your company has a separate intelligence unit, it is important for the protection agent to have these skills themselves to gather information in real time.
More so than weapon handling and combative training, intelligence is one of the most crucial elements of protecting high profile celebrities, billionaires, and CEOs. Its value and the role it plays in security teams should never be underestimated and agents should look for specialized training in this area.
