After 30 years as a security professional, Jerry Heying, CPP, PPS (Certified Protection Professional and Personal Protection Specialist), president and CEO of
International Protection Group in New York City, knows a thing or two about safety. His company, which handles roughly 300 events a year, specializes in executive protection, protective driving, and special event security and Heying has assisted on security for Donald Trump and Cardinal Law and provided security for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
“Unfortunately controversial people need protection,” he says, “And when you hire security they work for you. When you assume that the police or the hotel security will work for you, that’s a wrong assumption because they have other responsibilities.
“We are often called by meeting planners to assist them and that's a smart thing to do, even if the dignitary or celebrity has security. The event is on your turf and you want to insure—and it is like insurance—that nothing goes wrong,” Heying explains. Work usually begins with a sit-down discussion with the meeting planner, during which every detail of the event is discussed. Then, Heying and the planner go over the contingencies for variables.
None to be had? Guess again. “A meet-and-greet can be planned and you get there and the individual says ‘no I don’t want to do that,’ ” according to Heying, but says that it’s just as common for a celebrity to create a security situation by stopping unexpectedly for an impromptu autograph session. “Events often take on a life of their own, so you have to think of all sorts of things and a lot of work is done on the fly.
“My biggest job in a lot of situations is to keep people from freaking out – be it fans or the person who planned everything before the celebrity decided to change his mind.”
The Devil is in the DetailsHeying says that because security can come with a hefty price-tag, budget discussions are an important part of the planning process. He will refuse to do a job with too small of a budget or be clear about the limitations of coverage. He also prefers to know as far in advance as possible when he will be enlisted for an event. At that time, he begins researching the individual and monitoring the media for anything that may relate to the event, individual, or general security climate.
“At any given event, the first concern is how the person enters – front door or back door?,” says Heying. Some of his other concerns may sound mundane, but can have a big impact on the success of the event: “Where are the bathrooms? People laugh, but you have to think about it. Are they public? Private? Are they suitable for your protectee? If we’re going to a ballroom, is the space next door vacant? Can we throw a couple of chairs in there so they can sit and wait? Is the podium secure? If they lean on the podium and fall, that’s a big problem for me. Are there handrails going up to the stage? I’m also an EMT because many of my clients are elderly and are more at risk of having a heart attack than getting shot.”
Choosing a Security Team“Security and law enforcement are two different professions,” says Heying. “I’m not saying a planner should disregard a former police officer at all, but if they were a beat cop for 20 years, what experience do they have doing executive protection? If they have a government background, can they work within your budget? Former secret service agents are used to unlimited resources. The biggest point for a planner is: What’s the level of experience someone has to do this event or protect your executive or dignitary?”
In New York state, as in many others, security companies must be registered, which means that all employees must be fingerprinted and pass background checks. Requirements vary by state, so Heying recommends that planners ascertain what the requirements are in a particular state. “They might give you a business card that says ‘licensed and bonded’ but that doesn’t make it true. I would ask for copies of the license,” he says, if the company operates in a state that has licensing requirements. “Security is supposed to help reduce risk. If they’re not licensed and their people haven’t been screened, are they reducing your risk or exposing you to greater risk?”