Our CEO Security Series (Links):
While I am sure you have your own in-house or personal security support, we present the below information as supplemental data we hope you find useful and never necessary.
What you should consider before you get behind the wheel in Cuba
How to survive a terrorism attack
Security Guide to the Rio Olympics
RECOMMENDED READING
Suite Of The Week:
Ty Warner Mansion at Las Ventanas
Rosewood’s Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico has added the 28,000 sq. ft. Ty
Warner Mansion. The villa offers a private beachfront infinity pool, swim
up bar, palapa-covered dining patio and personal spa, in a private, residential
style setting. Conceptualized by Warner, who owns the resort, and constructed by
Jorge Torres of Cabo Development with interiors designed by Robert Couturier, the
house is accessed by a private entrance that mimics the main resort’s
arrival experience.
Residents enter into a white great room, overlooking the sea with
floor to ceiling windows that provide views of the ocean. Immediately
within the mansion, a reflecting pool is lit by sunlight which streams through
a retractable glass sun roof onto more than 7.5 million hand-laid, glittering white marble tiles. The room transitions into an
indoor/outdoor living room, which is decorated with brightly colored sofas
upholstered in Indian silks and a multi-colored wooden dragon sculpture made by
Claudio Ojeda Morales.
Adjacent to the great room, a Hacienda-style chef’s kitchen with
top appliances and wooden pizza oven is available to guests who prefer to dine
in the retreat. Custom menus are created each day by the private chef according
to guest needs and the dining destination and place setting are chosen
according to the meal. More than five dining enclaves are found
throughout the mansion, including “the silver room,” an elegant dining room
outfitted with a silver leaf ceiling, dining chairs and a dining table, all of
which have been designed by San Miguel-based tinsmith artist Cecilio Hernandez.
Flanking either side of the mansion, two ocean view
master suites with en suite bathrooms feature 20 ft. ceilings, Indian silk sari
upholstery, and 30 ft. wide sliding glass doors opening directly onto the pool deck. The suites are also adorned with custom designed Mexican
artwork, and offer private steam rooms, saunas, and outdoor showers for
indoor-outdoor living beneath a glass rooftop pool that tops the ceiling of the
master bath. Bedrooms are outfitted with Technogym
equipment.
The mansion features a media room complete
with a 14 ft. widescreen UltraHD projector and 90 inch flatscreen with surround
sound and a pinball game room. In addition, The Ty Warner Mansion offers a tequila library
stocked with a collection of rare tequilas, including Clase Azul Ultra and Don
Julio Real.
Outside, nearly 7,000 sq. ft. of outdoor space features a 328-ft.
long private infinity pool overlooking the Sea of Cortez and complete with dual
spas and a sunken in-pool living room, an oversize chess set, and a private
palapa-covered dining patio for entertaining al fresco. On the rooftop, which
is accessible by private elevator, is a 9,000 sq. ft. terrace with sundeck, including a glass-bottom lap pool, whirlpool spa, bar, inlaid
Indian bed, putting green, pool table and massage pavilion.
The Ty Warner Mansion has a staff of seven on call. This
includes a private chef, a driver for chauffeured car service, and two butlers. A fireworks display is available on request. Rate
is $35,000 per night.
Email: TyWarnerMansion@Rosewoodhotels.com
Seven Ways You And Your Flight Crew Can Improve Security
By Mac Segal, AS Solution
Passing through Ataturk
Airport in Istanbul. Enjoying a rock concert or an evening meal in Paris.
Dancing at a nightclub in Orlando. Catching a movie in Frankfurt or doing some
shopping in Nairobi.
All of these things might
be a small part of an executive flight crew’s trip. And on the wrong day, these
otherwise mundane activities might all turn fatal.
The unfortunate reality is
that anywhere and anyone could be legitimate targets for hostile acts. But
compared to the average tourist, executive air crews have even higher risks –
as well as the potential to improve or reduce the principal’s security, too.
In this column for DG
Amazing Experiences we will look at how to support and empower air crews to
increase their own safety and security – and function as an additional ring of security for the clients, the executives and families they fly with.
Executive flight crews are
exposed to a broad spectrum of potential threats. As they move from country to
country, hotel to hotel, and restaurant to restaurant, their personal risks can
be anything from crime to sexual harassment and terror. Knowing how to detect
hostile surveillance, improving situational awareness to spot potential
developing threats, and knowing the basics of emergency response actions and
physical self-defense can all increase the odds of positive results in bad
situations.
Not All Attacks Are Frontal
One avenue that can be
exploited is that of executive flight crews. By conducting
hostile surveillance on the flight crew, hostiles can gain information
regarding the principal’s scheduling, timing and routines. Another tactic could be
approaching a member of the flight crew in the hotel bar in order to gain
information about you and your planned movements.
Seven Skills For
Executive Flight Security
Personal security is far
more than carrying a can of mace or taking a self-defense class. Let’s examine
seven skills that executive flight crews should be trained in.
1. Understand The Threats
The threats in today’s
world are multiple and varied – especially when traveling.
Possible threats include
theft of credit cards, passports and personal goods; petty street crimes and
harassment, sexual abuse, violent crimes and even terrorist attacks are also
possibilities. But before one can understand how to mitigate, contain and
control such threats, it is essential to understand their probability and criticality.
By examining these risks
and the circumstances of where and how they occur, crews learn how to assess
them. A good assessment of potential threats lays the foundations of other
skill sets that enable crews to not be a victim, and how to respond if faced
with a hostile situation.
2. Detect Hostile
Surveillance
Hostile intelligence
gathering predicates any form of attack.
From a simple mugging all
the way to complex, multipronged terror attacks, the hostiles employ rational
choice theory to pick out the highest-value target with the easiest access.
Hostile surveillance can take many forms and is made easy by the fact that most
people are happily oblivious to its insidious existence.
Understanding surveillance
indicators and learning how to detect them enables your flight crew to stop the threat as
early and far away as possible. We train people to improve awareness of the
earliest indicators that something is afoot. Whether it is someone following or
taking pictures of them and their colleagues, a stranger approaching one of your crew at a
night club, or a person sitting in the lobby of your hotel taking note of when they come and go, it is essential to know how to spot these indicators and know
what to do when they do see them.
Hostiles may be targeting flight crew hoping to get to you. The stranger who starts a
pleasant conversation in the lobby and asks what they do or who they fly for,
when they’re leaving, etc., may just be a friendly person. Or not.
There are signs that the person chatting with you or your flight crew may not be as innocent as they appear and if you see them, it does not necessarily mean the person is hostile, it simply means you and they should be aware and take care what is said.
The person brings up something that immediately establishes a personal connection with them. For example, a shared hobby, a shared loss, brings up a topic close to your heart. All these may be coincidence, however, they are all tools used by skilled intelligence gatherers to establish trust in a short space of time so that you will be more inclined to share information.
Someone encouraging you or your flight crew to drink. Whether the motivation is intel gathering or taking advantage of you or conning you, either way when a stranger is encouraging you to drink, it should raise a red flag and you should be on your guard. Never leave your drink unattended. Never accept a drink from a stranger. Have a waiter bring it to you or take it from the bar.
The person seems to know detail that they shouldn’t. For example, they tell your flight crew they hear you’re in town or staying at whatever hotel, but the visit is not public knowledge. This indicates a specific interest and again, should raise a red flag.
Being asked specific questions about your flight crew’s job, your schedule, how long they are staying, where they are heading and even if they do not answer, the person keeps coming back to the same questions.
3. How To Handle Unwanted Questions
Knowing how to handle such a situation, what to say and what not to say are all part and parcel of hostile surveillance detection. Whether you or your flight crew is being targeted by a criminal, knowing how to notice that you are being observed is one of your primary tools to avoid trouble.
You and your flight crew should only give your first name, do not tell them where you are from, your family situation or your actual job.
They should never reveal your name or that they fly a VIP or celebrity around the world.
Never tell anyone your room number, where you are staying, who they are with or when they are departing.
Keep the conversation general, without giving specific information.
Flight crew should not give strangers access to their phones. Do not let them handle it or enter information into it.
Once more, I reiterate, none of the above means that the person they are talking to is hostile, however it means they should sit up a little straighter and pay closer attention to them and their motives.
The advice regarding safeguarding personal information is simply good common sense in today’s world. There is no reason for someone you or they just met and will most likely know for a brief moment in time to learn details about your life, job or family. Flight crew can be friendly and have a good time but never let your good manners compromise personal safety !
They do not have to answer the questions. They do not have to share just because the other person did. We are brought up to be polite, trust people, answer truthfully but in cases like described above, that is not always the best policy to ensure the group’s well-being.
4. Spot Pre-Attack
Indicators
Continuing along the lines
of observation skills, there are usually, but not always, clear indicators that
a human being is about to engage in an act of violence.
Whether it’s a robber, a
mugger, an active shooter or a suicide bomber, there are most often behavior
patterns or other indicators that something is about to happen.
Here again, most people are
oblivious to these clues. With training, however, the indicators are quite
apparent and will enable you to avoid or distance yourself and others from the
incident, or maybe even alert the authorities and help prevent a tragedy.
5. Know Travel Security
& Safety Practices
Good travel security habits
can help your flight crew prevent everything from stolen wallets to being the victim of a
kidnapping.
Whether it be at an
airport, coffee shop, leisure activity or night club, there are many best
practices that should be second nature to frequent travelers. These habits can
greatly reduce the risk of falling victim to an unfortunate incident.
What are the essentials one
should always carry? Are their rooms safe? How do they secure
transportation? What should they know before heading to a destination? What should they think about when participating in leisure activities?
While many of these
questions seem easy to answer when it comes to personal security, there are
considerations which are not obvious until pointed out. Most people who fall
victim to crime when travelling could have avoided the unpleasant experience
had they followed a set of basic personal security guidelines.
6. Think Through Emergency
Response Procedures
The seconds after a hostile
incident occurs are critical.
The faster you respond
correctly to what is going on around you, the higher your chances of a positive
outcome. When bullets are flying or the ground is shaking, hesitation and
indecision are your worst enemies.
Faced with an extreme
threat, most people tend to follow the crowd and do what everyone else is
doing. But that’s not necessarily the smart thing to do. Even though everyone
is running in the same direction, hiding under tables or freezing in place,
there is nothing to suggest that the wisdom of the crowd extends to the
appropriate response that will optimize your chances of getting out of the
situation without injury.
Slogans like, “Run, hide,
fight” can get you into serious trouble. The first order of business is always “Think”,
never “Run”. By understanding the thought processes behind responding to an
emergency situation and what your considerations should be in order to make the
right decision to protect yourself, you exponentially increase your chances of
a positive outcome. This can save you and your loved ones from potentially life
threatening situations.
7. Develop Some Basic
Physical Protection Skills
We do everything to avoid
physical conflict. We don’t like to contemplate its reality and are
uncomfortable talking about it. However, in today’s world, having physical
response skills can stand you in good stead.
If you are ever in a
situation where your choice is fight or be a victim, you fight. Clearly a short
training course is not going to turn you into a seasoned commando. However,
like so many other disciplines, if you establish a good foundation and
understand the basics, a little knowhow can go a long way. Learning applicable
and relevant techniques, and the combat strategy behind them, increases your
chances of winning exponentially when faced with an extreme threat. As a
colleague of mine says, “Avoid trouble at all costs. But if you can’t avoid it,
win!”
Conclusion
These seven personal security
skills are essential for corporate air crews and anyone else who travels the
globe. Like a good insurance policy, it is far better to have the skills and
not need them than to need the skills and not have them.