Awareness

4 Steps Security Can Take to Prevent Kidnapping

Think kidnapping is not a risk for your organization? Think again. Kidnapping and hostage expert Chris Falkenberg tells us why the threat is real, and what you can do to minimize the risk

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

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Consider families, too
"It's one thing to kidnap the president of a company," said Falkenberg. "Who knows what will happen? But if it involves the president's kid? That situation has to be resolved immediately and the kidnappers know it. It is a far greater danger."

Potential vulnerabilities don't stop with the executive. Companies need to consider the family component of protection for executives, said Falkenberg. A crisis management and continuity plan for the family outside the office is key.

However, the family component can't really be addressed with the same techniques used for employees because families are not going to tolerate the kind of protection that c-level executives tolerate at work. Also, it is just not cost effective. But Falkenberg believes there are several ways an organization can improve security for the executive and his/her family outside of work by leveraging existing resources. Training family about potential dangers and how to behave if someone attempts to abduct them is essential. But so is training of household staff members.

"Many executive have a household staff. They can be trained in the tools and skills of counter surveillance," said Falkenberg. "They may have more information about the comings and goings than the family, particularly because some executives have multiple homes."