The Six Things You Need to Know About Executive Protection

Protecting executives and upper management requires risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis and old-fashioned legwork.

By Daintry Duffy

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Tip #6 Don't forget the spouse and kids

The most vulnerable people in the corporation are not the executives under the protection of corporate security, but their spouses and children who are far more accessible and are often left out of security planning. "The family should be a huge concern," says Russo. "If someone has bad intentions and they recognize that an executive has 24-hour security at the office and when he travels, they'll think of an easier way to get to them."

Harming a spouse, child or another member of the executive's family is an easier way to get to that executive compared with trying to harm an executive surrounded by a security detail. Oatman is familiar with a recent case where an individual was fired from his job and was really upset about it. "That employee's son, who had a prior criminal conviction for assault, showed up at the CEO's home and threatened retaliation against the executive," says Oatman. The family called the police. Although no charges were pressed, the executive and his family lived with security for three months after that until the investigation was completed.

While a security detail at the executive's home may not be necessary, the protection team should evaluate the principal's home and examine whether family members should receive any training or additional protection. At ADM, Cheviron deals with everything from threats from disgruntled employees to the occasional crazed individual who reads something about ADM in a newspaper and goes on a crusade of harassment. The company supplies all its officers with a home alarm system that is monitored at the corporate office. He also considers options like home safe rooms where executives and their families can wait for police and fire assistance to arrive, and armored vehicles with trunks that contain a release in case the car is stolen and the executive is placed inside the trunk.

Sometimes the simplest steps can make a big difference to an executive's security. Many companies provide excellent facility security but omit the basic precautions of conducting background checks on the employees that work in close proximity with the CEO. Some executives have buttoned-down security with an armed driver five days a week, but nothing on the weekends. Examine your security for these kinds of commonsense gaps. The benefits of nothing going wrong are worth the costs of safekeeping your company's most valuable assets.