Feral Jundi

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Legal News: Security Officers, Driver For LV Sands CEO File Lawsuits Alleging Violations Of Overtime Law

Filed under: Executive Protection,Industry Talk,Las Vegas,Legal News,Nevada — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:36 PM

The lawsuit claims Las Vegas Sands employed the agents routinely in excess of 40 hours per week and frequently for more than 150 hours per week.
“The defendants knowingly and willfully failed to pay the lawfully compelled legal overtime rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay at which plaintiffs were employed” in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the suit charges.

Thanks to Matt for sending me this one. Cases like this emphasize the importance of why companies should do things right or take care of their people. Now of course this company will have some fantastic lawyers working this case. But they will still get the negative press on this, and if the plaintiffs win in this case, it will set precedence, and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. will have to pay damages.

With that said, let me throw my two cents in on this matter. Besides the violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, working guys into the ground like this would certainly degrade the security of the principal(s). In my experience, anything over a 12 hour shift that lasts for weeks or months, is dumb. If these guys were working longer than 12 hour shifts, and for an extended period, that is uncool.

Personally speaking, the optimum shift schedule would be three eight hour shifts if the client can afford it. (hell, four six hour shifts would be really cool if they paid a daily rate) Weekends off are excellent as well, or even just one day off a week. Your protection force needs time to cut away from being in sheepdog mode in order to recharge, and I am a big fan of very sensible and rest conducive shift schedules.

At the most, 12 hour shifts would suffice, if cost is a factor or if it is a short term gig. Anything more, and the client is being cheap and they really do not care about the quality of their security and the welfare of their protection team. I am not alone in this thinking either, and if you go to Tactical Forums, they have an excellent thread about this topic.

Now of course there are the other issues in this case. If the company is not paying a daily rate, and paying an hourly rate, then of course they should follow state laws in regards to overtime rules. That is why I hope these guys win this one, so it can build on ‘precedence’ for this industry. Other legal cases that are similar, can draw on this one.  Perhaps even OCONUS cases can build off of this one?  You never know..

There is another point I want to bring up about overseas contracting, on land and sea.  Because this work seems to be out of the reach of any labor laws, companies seem to try and get away with all sorts of horrible labor and pay practices. With that said, if cases like this become successful, contractors can use mimicry strategy and contact the same lawyers that were successful. Litigation is one way of getting the companies to do things right, and it is only when companies pay a price for bad behavior will they then get the picture that doing things right is actually ‘cost effective’.

The downside with litigation like this is cost and time.  It is also a threat to your career, and this is why guys really don’t pursue this stuff to it’s fullest degree. The odds of success are kind of low as well, just because companies have the resources and contractors do not. The companies know this reality, and the contractors do as well. So that is why companies really don’t get too upset about this stuff.  They will drag their feet and try to make litigation as costly for the contractor as possible and the companies definitely have the advantage here. But as more class action law suits come up, where contractors get organized and pool their resources, then the scale gets balanced somewhat. It is still a fight, and most contractors choose to ‘let it go’.

Now I am not a big fan of unions, because I mostly see them as negative to the business. They are like using a hammer for surgery, and unions not only bash the poor companies, but also end up ruining the good companies as well. Nor do I want to be required to join a union and pay dues, just to work in this industry. I like being an independent contractor and not answering to groups like this.

But I also understand why unions form, and if the abuses within an industry are too great, then labor movements happen. I am a fan of preventing that from happening by promoting how to do things right in the first place. Because if companies do not do things right, then unions do happen, and these groups will certainly cut into your profit margin. Pay now, or pay later as they say….

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this goes.  If anyone has anything further to add to this story, please feel free to do so in the comments. –Matt

Security officers, driver for LV Sands CEO file lawsuits alleging violations of overtime law
By Steve Green ?11 June 2011
Nine executive security officers and a driver for Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson filed lawsuits Friday claiming violations of overtime law and other laws.
The suits were filed in federal court in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas law firm Campbell & Williams — the same firm representing fired Sands Macau executive Steven Jacobs in his lawsuit against Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd.
One lawsuit was filed against Las Vegas Sands on behalf of Vincent Burlingame, Richard Carty, James Jackson, Christopher LaCascia, James Martin, Jonathan Molnar, Benjamin Ness, DeJuan Robinson and Michael Statkiewicz.
The suit described these plaintiffs as “executive protection agents” who provide or provided security services to Adelson, his wife and children on a 24-hour basis, including frequent air travel in the United States and around the world.

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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Industry Talk: STRATFOR–Protective Intelligence Lessons From An Ambush In Mexico

Filed under: Executive Protection,Industry Talk,Mexico — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:37 PM

This is a fantastic post from STRATFOR, and I wanted to get it out there to the readership. Of course this post is in accordance with their republication policy, with two links at the beginning and at the end of this excellent article. Thanks to David for giving me the heads up about the article as well.

When this ambush originally happened, Borderland Beat put it out there and that is where I heard about it.  It is a shocking incident, because it brings up a lot of  points on the realities of the war south of the border. This was not some gang shooting a couple rounds at a rival gang in a drive by–this was a complex attack, complete with military grade weapons and a well planned and disciplined execution. This ambush was also between two drug cartels, and this ambush resulted in the decimation of the target, which happened to be the Los Zetas cartel. (the irony is that the Zetas were the guys that came from Mexican SF forces)

What this article below emphasizes is that size or weaponry is not everything in the world of convoy or psd operations. The Zetas had plenty of guns, plenty of manpower, and even armored vehicles. They lost this fight, because the attacking force knew their routes and were able to prepare an effective ambush. The Zetas also had poor immediate action drills or plans to deal with this kind of thing. Although a well executed ambush is pretty effective, no matter what IA you have.  The lesson here is how important the ‘advance’ or route planning and reconnaissance  is to the protective detail, convoy operation, or any movements through enemy territory. The Zetas got caught with their pants down in this deal, and paid a heavy price….

It also emphasized the importance of OPSEC and PERSEC.  Obviously the attacking force was able to find out when and where this Zetas movement was going to commence. The Zetas felt they had plenty of manpower and firepower to deal with any threats, and probably did not care too much about OPSEC or PERSEC.  The Zetas in this case, remind me of Poncho Villa in the Battle of Celaya, where intelligent strategy and tactics by General Alvaro Obregon defeated the frontal assault and idiotic bravado of Villa.

The other thing I wanted to add to this article that wasn’t mentioned, was the use of drugs by these combatants. After following these fights down there for awhile, I have actually come across some video that showed combatants of a cartel using cocaine before a raid. (at minute .53 in this video) This was a common act with insurgents in Iraq or even in Afghanistan, and using drugs to enhance performance or steady the nerves before an attack, is a factor to keep in mind. This simple act of using drugs, actually makes a combatant tougher to kill and more erratic or unpredictable to fight. But it also impacts their decision making, which is a huge detriment. It might explain why the Zetas were so careless in this scenario.

Stuff to think about, and for those of you operating down in Mexico, I wish you well.  You have a tough job in a very intense and complex operational environment. I also wanted to point out another source for information that has grabbed my attention. The guys at Small Wars Journal have been posting a series called the Mexican Cartel Tactical Note, by Dr. Robert Bunker and I highly recommend reading and commenting there if you can. Know your enemy…. –Matt

 

 

Protective Intelligence Lessons from an Ambush in Mexico
Jun 2 2011
By Scott Stewart
On the afternoon of May 27, a convoy transporting a large number of heavily armed gunmen was  ambushed on Mexican Highway 15 near Ruiz, Nayarit state, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. When authorities responded they found 28 dead gunmen and another four wounded, one of whom would later die, bringing the death toll to 29. This is a significant number of dead for one incident, even in Mexico.
According to Nayarit state Attorney General Oscar Herrera Lopez, the gunmen ambushed were members of Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel. Herrera noted that most of the victims were from Mexico’s Gulf coast, but there were also some Guatemalans mixed into the group, including one of the wounded survivors. While Los Zetas are predominately based on the Gulf coast, they have been working to provide armed support to allied groups, such as the Cartel Pacifico Sur (CPS), a faction of the former Beltran Leyva Organization that is currently battling the Sinaloa Federation and other cartels for control of the lucrative smuggling routes along the Pacific coast. In much the same way, Sinaloa is working with the Gulf cartel to go after Los Zetas in Mexico’s northeast while protecting and expanding its home turf. If the victims in the Ruiz ambush were Zetas, then the Sinaloa Federation was likely the organization that planned and executed this very successful ambush.

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Monday, May 23, 2011

Jobs: Industrial Security Asc Mgr For Executive Protection Team, Maryland

Filed under: Executive Protection,Jobs,Management Positions,Maryland — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 4:57 PM

For this gig, you need a Top Secret clearance and a degree or “experience/combined education, with professional experience and specialized training commensurate with assignment“. This would be classified as being a detail leader for an EP team from the sounds of it, and would be a good job for a guy wanting to do work CONUS.

Either way, this would be a good gig for anyone on the East coast. You would probably get a lot of travel in as well. I am not the POC or recruiter for this, and please follow the highlighted links below in order to apply. Good luck and let me know how it goes? –Matt

Req ID: 201768BR
Industry Job Title: Industrial Security Asc Mgr
Standard Job Code/Title: L4524:Industrial Security Asc Mgr
Required skills:
-Effective written and verbal communication skills.
-Extensive knowledge of the Washington, DC metro area.
-Proven tactical driving and navigational capabilities.
-Knowledge and experience in law enforcement procedures and processes.
-At least five years executive protection or law enforcement experience to include tactical driving experience.
-Possess or have the ability to possess Maryland and VA Special Police Commission and concealed weapon permits
-Demonstrated ability to meet physical requirements for potential protective actions
-Proven ability to embrace and demonstrate Full Spectrum Leadership behaviors
-Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret Security clearance

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Mexico: Providing Security In Juarez

Filed under: Executive Protection,Industry Talk,Mexico,Video — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:01 AM

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Executive Protection: Some Thoughts On How To Protect Members Of Congress

Filed under: Arizona,Executive Protection,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:08 AM

     I thought this first article was a good little run down of some commonsense moves for protecting members of congress.  Of course all of this is coming out after the recent shooting that killed six and critically wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. The other two articles detail the potential for copycat killers, and what members of congress think about their own personal security or lack of it.

     Although I would have liked to have heard more of a discussion about private security and specifically privatized executive protection services for members of congress.  We use highly trained private security specialists to protect members of congress in war zones through programs like WPS, but what about for members of congress in the US?  Perhaps a similar program could be started just to meet the needs of congress throughout the nation?

    Or a stipend could be given to members of congress with the idea that they could contract the services of competent executive protection specialists wherever they go in the nation.  To depend upon police departments purely for this type of security could be a strain on them in terms of man power and financially, or these officers could be the wrong tool for the job.  In some parts of the country, I don’t know if a member of congress would want a police officer watching their back. Meaning there are some cops out there that are very low paid and minimally trained for high end executive protection duties.  Private industry is very good at this task, and this is their bread and butter.

     Finally, the government could just ramp up the Secret Service and task them to get this going.  They could literally assign a detail to every member of congress, and give everyone custom tailored protection.  Of course the cost of this could be pretty high, but they are leaders of this country and they are public figures.  Or we could tell members of congress to wear a vest, a gun, and tell them to hope for the best. It is a dangerous world out there and executive protection services, either private or public, should be a priority. –Matt

How to Protect Members of Congress

Officials warn of Arizona copycat attacks

Lawmakers rethink security after Arizona shooting

How to Protect Members of Congress

It doesn’t have to break the budget to provide the security they need.

By Marc Ambinder

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

On Wednesday, the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police will brief members of Congress on basic security precautions they can take when they’re interacting with constituents. Also on the agenda: an explanation of how Capitol Police officers conduct threat assessments. What the members are likely to hear may be as simple as surrounding themselves with aides wearing suits or setting up a thin rope line to create a slight barrier between them and possible danger.

They will also hear about threats beyond the shooting in Tucson, Ariz. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrence Gainer told WTOP Radio on Monday that he had referred 49 threats against senators alone to the FBI within the past year. But the rarity of actual assassination attempts against members of Congress underscores the challenge for investigators.

“A lot of people will talk, but a tiny few will act; and most who act tend not to talk beforehand,” is how one current federal agent describes people who threaten public officials.

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