A Close Protection Officer or a Bodyguard is a kind of security guard who is entrusted with the responsibility of the security of a person, who is usually a famous personality from any field. The Close Protection Officer is expected to protect the person from any possible threat to his life in the form of an assassination attempt, kidnap, assault etc. The clients may include people from politics, royalty, TV, Film, Music and celebrities of all other fields also. 

The top important functionaries in the public service sector are usually protected by a group of these bodyguards who might be hired from a professional agency. People next in the hierarchy are usually given one or two bodyguards. We even observe some famous personalities using the service of the bodyguards to protect themselves from any unusual attack by their fans or from any mishaps during their public appearances. 

Perhaps you are traveling abroad to some country and worried about the threats you are receiving. Your life may be at risk, but that shouldn’t just stop you from going abroad. All that you need to do is take a bodyguard service support. Fame gets you admirers as well as enemies. That is where the necessity for a bodyguard arises. 

A Bodyguard is someone who physically protects a person; generally some well known political figure, celebrity or famous and wealthy person. They are trained in firearm tactics, driving, first aid, crowd controlling and detecting of explosives. Bodyguards often work long hours. Persons with military and martial arts training are highly preferred in this industry.  

The increase in violence all around the world is raising the necessity for more number of bodyguards. Some of the people who may need bodyguards are bank managers, lawyers, celebrities, VIPs, religious leaders, witnesses, ministers and many more. Some bodyguards are trained to speak a number of languages so that they can provide security to international clients. 

There is an International Bodyguard Association (IBA) which was formed in 1957. The aim of the IBA is to train candidates so that they conform to world class protection standards. 

A bodyguard’s duty is to protect the hiring authority – an individual or its family. These security guards can be hired through private bodyguard agencies or can be government appointed agents as well. The persons who usually hire bodyguards from different bodyguard companies are those who are famous and wealthy or have received threats for assault or kidnapping and thus need bodyguard protection. Mostly, a bodyguard agency or bodyguard company is contacted for bodyguard protection by celebrities like sportsperson, movie stars etc. whereas important public personalities like politicians, head of the states etc are protected by the governmental bodyguard agencies.

"The CSO's note book"

The importance of security surveys – what to look for in a survey

A good cost effective security system is the kind that addresses the most feasible vulnerabilities and threats to critical assets within the security budget restrains.

In order to reach that goal one should first answer the following questions:

1.       What are the critical assets to be protected?

2.       How vulnerable are they?

3.       What are the potential threats?

4.       What is the likelihood of these threats to actually happen?