Thanks to Sunil for sending me this article, and bravo to him and his company for securing a contract for the Olympics. Like the World Cup or Super Bowl, the Olympics can be an massive security undertaking, requiring numerous types of security professionals. If you would like to check out the opportunities, click on the highlighted links below. So lot’s of work for guys and gals up there, and good luck. –Matt
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Bodyguards and security agents to beef up security at the Games
By Ethan Baron, Vancouver Province
January 26, 2010
VANCOUVER — Celebrities and business bigwigs are hiring legions of bodyguards and security agents during their Olympic visits to protect their safety — and their reputations.
One security company has added an extra 300 staff to safeguard just a dozen high-flying clients. Many bodyguards won’t be slab-faced apes with earpieces. You may not even see the security that’s in place for CEOs and Hollywood stars — unless you get too close.
“A lot of times when we’re looking after these people, it’s not obvious that we’re there, until we have to be,” says Sunil Ram, owner of Executive Security Services International, a Canadian company with several clients attending the Games.
Although private bodyguards aren’t allowed to carry guns in Canada, those providing what’s known in the industry as “close protection” possess hand-to-hand combat skills.
Many are former police officers and soldiers. However, violence in the service of a client remains a last resort, private-security heads say.
For most who buy security services, an ugly incident with a celebrity-obsessed fan or an angry protester could cause injury beyond the physical.
“We’re not the dogs of war, we’re the cats of war,” says Mark LaLonde, a director of Canpro Global, an international “risk mitigation” company working the Games. “At the first sign of trouble, we get our clients to run away. It may be a personal safety and security issue, but it may also be something that can prove embarrassing.”