Personal Protection Officers Duties and Responsibilities
Responsibilities of Personal Protection Officers
Personal protection officer is a specialized type of a security guard, who specializes in protecting publicly, politically and financially important people from all types of physical dangers, such as assault, assassination, kidnapping, theft, harassment or loss of confidential information. The practice demonstrates that the service of professional security guards is in some form present in all countries. In the United States of America, these functions are exercised by the United States Secret Service. The agents of this service are vested with responsibility to protect the President of the United States, Vice President, Speaker of the Congress and some other notable dignitaries (Emmett, 2014).
The practice reveals that the existence of personal protection officers’ existence is highly important for harmonious political life in the United States of America. It is especially important to emphasize the fact that it is the personal protection officers, who prevented numerous assassination attempts, taken by the communists and by the terrorists (Emmett, 2014). Their role appears to become more and more important in the light of the tremendous technological advancements, when the means and the methods of mortification have taken the most sophisticated forms.
Personal protection officers may be classified into the two major groups. The first type of these security agents are those, who work for the independent companies, providing services to the private parties. In practice, they guard the bodies of the media celebrities, famous athletes and wealthy business people. The second group of the personal protection officers are those specialists, who have been hired by the government, either from special companies or from the ranks of the national armed forces, and whose primary responsibility is to provide adequate and professional protection to the state officials (Kessler, 2010).
Brief History of Personal Protection Officers
The mission of providing adequate and professional personal protection to the high-ranked officials of the United States has been entrusted to the Secret Service of the United States. Founded in 1885, this organization is one of the oldest institutions in the United States. After President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, the Congress of the United States decided that the Secret Service of the United States should start providing adequate physical protection to the highest-ranked dignitaries in the United States (Emmett, 2014).
The main goals and responsibilities of personal protection officers
The Congress decided that one of the missions of the Secret Service would be to arrange physical protection of the President, the Vice President and members of their respective families, former presidents of the United States, visiting heads of other states, who are temporarily present on the territories of the United States of America. Within one hundred and twenty days before the general presidential elections, the secret service of the United States is obliged to protect major candidates for the American presidency and their spouses (Kessler, 2010).
Everyone, except for the President of the United States and the Vice President may decline protective services of the service. It is also worth mentioning that in some cases, the agency cooperates with other special services to arrange adequate protection of the government officials. For instance, when Hillary Clinton travelled overseas in the capacity of the Secretary of State, her protection was arranged by the professionals of the Diplomatic Security Service of the United States.
The duties of a personal security officer of the Secret Service depend on several critical factors. Firstly, his role is determined by his position in the protective squad. Thus, these specialists are classified into driver-guards, specialists of close-protection or professionals, which are attached to the ancillary units. These units are responsible for arranging invisible police work, such as preliminary search of the facilities, which a dignitary is expected to enter, organizing monitoring of the surroundings against snipers etc.
In general, professional duties and responsibilities of a personal protection security officer may be classified into the following fields:
Driving
In the majority of cases, one of the personal security specialists may be expected to act in a capacity of a driver. The practice shows that the bodyguards of the USA dignitaries, as well as those, who work with the celebrities and wealthy people never leaver a vehicle to prevent potential machinations with it, like attachment of an explosive device, tracker or hampering the car mechanical parts. Thus, having only one guard is not sufficient in such cases.
In order to qualify as a driver guard, a security professional should receive sufficient training in evasive driving and maneuvering. It is also important to emphasize that the security guards are responsible for keeping the vehicles in secured buildings, so that all forms of sabotage and tampering are prevented.
Using weapons
Depending on a particular working scenario, the bodyguards may be armed or unarmed. In accordance with the US law, those, who protect the president and other high-ranked officials are always armed. They should be sufficiently trained to operate all types of combat and civilian arms. The attacks upon the protected persons may be highly sophisticated, therefore, in many cases the bodyguards should be prepared to use anything, which is at their disposal. Professional marksmanship skills are necessary to fulfill the requirements of these positions effectively.
Arranging counter-sniper duties
The research shows that the most effective and the most justified tact of a close protection officers is to minimize exposing of the protected person to the firing range. When the principal is escorted from a vehicle or a secured building, the guards encircle him/her to minimize visibility and reduce the time window, which may be used by the sniper to make a shot.
Searching of the vehicles and providing travel safety
Before the principal enters the car, the security experts inspect it, trying to find out any mechanical problems, as well as searching for the attached explosives or other devices. In some cases, a motorcade is used an only a few senior guards are aware in which car the protected person sits.
In addition, when the vehicle with a dignitary arrives to the destination place, one of the security officers should leave the vehicle and become assured that the staff, who is greeting the protected person is the same, who has been agreed the day before arrival (Emmett, 2014). The officers also check and monitor all exits and entrances to guarantee that only authorized persons enter or leave the building.
Keeping professional
Finally, because safety of the world’s most important persons often depends on the professional skills and expertise of the personal protection officers, these people should always maintain their skills on a due level (Kessler, 2010). Therefore, one of their most important responsibilities involves continual physical training, acquiring new techniques of personal defense and monitoring of the newest assassination techniques.
Conclusions
References
Emmett, D. (2014). Within arm's length: a secret service agent's definitive inside account of protecting the president. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Kessler, R. (2010). In the president's secret service: behind the scenes with agents in the line of fire and the presidents they protect. New York: Three Rivers Press.
