Is there a difference between CP and PSD

[Hippo]

Looking forward to seeing other peoples views.
In my view yes and I'll cover that later after a few others have joined the debate/discussion

[co19]

PSD follows the principals of CP, ideally you are relying on infantry fighting skills to get you out of situations should your vehicles be unusable. I found PSD work to be a really easy job, you would get your tasking after an awful risk assessment by an ex SF, who never went out on the ground, and if a recce was inpracticable you would get to your location by the safest means. I have seen some right sean beans who give it lets just do it, lets just do it attitude without making a proper team risk assessment of timings and route, and fortunately i never had to work with them. more to follow

[co19]

CP in my eyes needs a lot more thought, in the UK and Europe the threat is so low you are mainly there as a facilitator. Getting someone from A to B with the littlest fuss and providing a very corporate service. Good etiquete is essential, good manners and knowing how to conduct yourself in certain places and situations. Not all UK CP people will make good CPO's and not all UK CPO's will make good PSD operators.

[Hippo]

CO 19

Thanks for that i'll let it ride for a bit.

Hippo

[saps-za]

Good advice CO19, its so true what you say as i have been asked those questions a few times as well.

[alan mcclean]

Hi Hippo nice to see you can find a few hours to get on chat forums. well cp and psd in the professional world would certainly be different . Inever realised the entire private security personnel for armour and crg had all been serving memebrs of the SAS. any wonder they were so good with over 60,000 members ha ha and if you work with a few walter mittys in iraq then 'well what the hell, lets just make it up as we go along' the risk assessment can get wrote after something goes pear shaped!! sad but true. keep up the good work, and remember i told you, you were the man for the job. alan

[littlewoman]

I think CO19's explanation is very good. I would like to add that with work in the UK, as most of it usually passes off without incident, I think there is a danger of complacency. ie. people not taking proper precautions or staying vigilant because of a lack of any threat showing itself. This complacency can be a danger in itself and threats, whether a deranged stalker or a more professional threat, will notice an opportunity and take advantage of it.
I don't think its so much of a problem with PSD as the threat is a lot more evident, maybe not as a direct attack on your principal but in terms of hearing reports of others getting attacks and lot s of people with guns around.

[Hippo]

One of my many views on this is -

CP - Is 1 protection team with 1 principle and PSD is 1 team with multiple principles with the same aim to get from a to b without incident. However when the shit hits the fan the drills will differ due to the number of principles. Any thoughts?

[co19]

It not so exact, I have done cp jobs in the UK with more than one principle, and in Iraq on numerous occasions I had only one priincipal.

I would add that a large number principals of CP in the UK are used to having close protection or some sort of security. Most principals in Iraq are not used to having protection and when they leave that country will more than likely never have it again.

I used to term Iraq "Auf weidesehn Pet with guns" as most principles are engineers, if not military or bankers

Apologies on the german spelling

[littlewoman]

You can have more than one Principal with CP. Man (who is target) with his wife and kids for example. Whilst he is the principal target he may want you to prioritise the safety of his wife and kids and his threat may well target him to get at him. A bit more complicated than a PSD environment where there are usually no kids being protected.
There are also music bands that have one BG looking after all of them.
It does make things more complicated when there is more than one Principal, even more complicated when the Principals have emotional attachments with each other. Obviously it requires different tactics.

I'd also say with CP there is the added problem of trying to remain discreet (ie unnoticed) and trying to impact as little as possible on the Principals daily life whilst at the same time maintaining adequate security. As well as the possibility of the CP team getting complacent there is also the possibility of the Principal getting complacent and wanting to reduce the precautions they are taking. Also, if you do your job well in keeping the Principal away from any threat, at some point they may think that the threat no longer exists and get rid of the CP team. Its a problem that happens with Doorwork - you stop the trouble from getting inside, manager decides they don't need security any more and you're out of a job (for a few weeks until trouble realises your not there and comes back in!)