Executive Protection Books: A Reading List for Private Investigators

This article overviews some popular executive protection books to help you learn bodyguarding techniques.

Executive protection refers to the security measures and protocols implemented to ensure the safety and well-being of high-profile individuals, such as corporate executives, politicians, celebrities, and others who may face potential risks or threats due to their positions, wealth, or public prominence. The primary goal of executive protection is to mitigate these risks and provide a secure environment for the protected individual to carry out their daily activities.

Overview of executive protection

1. Threat Assessment: The executive protection process begins with thoroughly analyzing the individual’s potential threats and risks. This assessment includes evaluating personal and professional circumstances, analyzing travel itineraries, reviewing public profiles, and conducting background checks to identify potential threats.
2. Security Planning: Based on the threat assessment and to address specific risks and vulnerabilities, a comprehensive security plan is developed. The plan includes physical security upgrades, personnel deployment, emergency response protocols, and coordination with local law enforcement agencies.
3. Close Protection: Close protection, also known as bodyguarding, is a core component of executive protection. Trained security professionals, often called executive protection agents or personal security details (PSDs), are assigned to accompany and protect the individual. These agents undergo specialized training in defensive tactics, threat assessment, surveillance detection, emergency response, and first aid.
4. Advance Security Measures: Before any travel or public appearances, executive protection teams conduct advance security preparations. This involves conducting site surveys, assessing potential risks, coordinating with local security agencies, and establishing secure transportation arrangements.
5. Secure Transportation: High-profile individuals often require secure transportation to minimize the risk of attacks or kidnappings. Executive protection teams arrange for armored vehicles to train drivers and follow established protocols to ensure safe travel between destinations.
6. Surveillance and Monitoring: Executive protection agents employ surveillance and monitoring techniques to identify potential threats and monitor the surrounding environment for suspicious activities. This may include using advanced technology such as CCTV systems, access control measures, and threat intelligence analysis.
7. Crisis Management: In the event of a security breach, executive protection teams are trained to respond swiftly and effectively. They have protocols to handle emergencies, including evacuations, medical emergencies, and coordinating with law enforcement agencies to manage crises.
8. Ongoing Training and Intelligence: Executive protection is an evolving field, and professionals continuously update their skills and knowledge through training programs. They also stay informed about emerging threats and trends through intelligence gathering and analysis.

Executive protection is a multidimensional discipline combining physical security, intelligence analysis, close protection, and crisis management to safeguard high-profile individuals. The aim is to provide a safe and secure environment, allowing the protected individual to focus on their professional responsibilities without compromising their safety.

List of Executive Protection Books

Anyone can learn the necessary skills, theories, and techniques by reading books, reference guides, and instruction manuals. The following books provide helpful information on the subject.

• Find suitable training courses to learn the skills and knowledge necessary. Learn how to pursue a career in executive protection and bodyguarding services.
• Determine the types of tools, techniques, and equipment you’ll need on the job and where to buy it.
• Understand how to serve as a professional consultant on business security measures. Learn how to evaluate the security measures of a business and make recommendations regarding security systems, personnel, security procedures, and more.
• Gain insight into hand-to-hand combat and self-defense techniques to prevent bodily harm.
• How to do pre-checks, bug sweeps, and perform counter-surveillance measures
• Advanced driving techniques

Also, you’ll learn how to serve as a professional consultant on business security measures – evaluate the security measures of a business and make recommendations regarding security systems, personnel, security procedures, and more.

Introduction to Executive Protection

This guide emphasizes the essential elements of security protection. These elements are often neglected or overlooked in practical application, even by professional schools of instruction, which sometimes mistakenly assume all enrollees have practiced. In addition to practical and technical considerations and how to work with people.

The author draws on his extensive and varied experience in the field to share events that inform and enlighten students and teach them how to avoid endangering those they protect.

Close Protection Training Manual

This book shows ordinary people how to protect themselves against threats and how to protect clients if they wish to secure a job in close protection. Learn tricks of the trade from a seasoned professional. The training in this book can save your life or the lives of your loved ones and clients.

The Executive Guide to Information Security

This executive protection book provides helpful information from a variety of angles:

• Understanding your security challenges and obligations
• Trends in security attacks
• Systematically identifying your risks and vulnerabilities
• Implementing best-practice processes for access, acceptable use, training, strategy, and emergency response
• Effective leadership, governance, and metrics
• Staffing security–coping with a shortage of expertise

Whether you’re a CEO, a line-of-business manager, or an IT exec who needs to get colleagues up to speed, this is the nontechnical, business-driven executive protection book you need.

The Executive Protection Professional’s Manual

This practical manual includes tips on defensive tactics, bomb search, and search for bugging devices. It covers firearms training tips, defensive and evasive driving, and advanced surveillance. In addition, the unique bodyguarding book also covers how to select the area of expertise you would like to work in. Plus, learn what preparations you should make, prepare for interviews, and read stories from the real-life experiences of a protective professional.

Executive’s Guide to Personal Security

As a company or an individual, you cannot control the desires and abilities of criminals and terrorists. However, you have complete control over effectively lowering your risk of attacks by increasing security measures–physical, technical, and procedural. The less vulnerable we are, the less attractive we are to any criminal or terrorist who may be planning an attack. This book will show you how to ensure safety at home and abroad.

The Art of Executive Protection

This book gets high marks for authoritativeness and relevance. The author, Robert Oatman, is a known leader in this discipline, and the importance of that field becomes more evident every day. Indeed, Gianni Versace and Princess Diana are not the only people who could have benefited from better protection. Business travelers, relatively well-off financially, and people recognizable to potential wrongdoers can all benefit from learning about the advantages. Anyone considering a career in this field should also read this guide.

Other Recommendations

• Providing Executive Protection – This security book is a must-read “textbook” for the field. The top performers wrote it in the field. It covers the details of working in the world of security specialists in a theoretical yet practical manner.

• Prime Target: Security Measures for the Executive at Home and Abroad describes security measures for executives who wish to protect themselves.

Need to learn more about this profession? Buy any of these executive protection books and many more at Amazon.com. Also, check out our other private investigator books.

Or, if you need to hire a professional to protect you and your family, check out our Bodyguard directory.