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Security has primary concern which is preservation of life and creating a balance between competing dynamic forces that are at work in society in favour of safety .

On Sunday 13th of Aug two of SQR security staff assigned to JW3 a high profile Jewish community hub were alerted to a potentially serious incident. A double-Raymonddecker London bus with passengers on board had caught fire .

SQR’s Emilio Garcia and Marius Asteika both responded immediately with Marius assisting the passengers to evacuate the bus  and Emilio in fighting the fire to stop its escalation and the dangers it posed to the passing cars and pedestrians all this amid bellowing smoke and explosions in the engine compartment .They both proceeded to maintain a cordon to prevent bystanders approaching the blazing flame.

Emilio and Marius are trained close protection operatives trained at SQR’s centre of excellence .

During this incident they acted within SQR protocol during life threatening incidences  remove from danger e.g evacuate in this instance , protect ,  deescalate when ever possible  maintain control and safety .

Their actions have been praised by Raymond Simonson  the leader of the JW3

“Their only thoughts were for the safety of the passengers caught on the burning bus, which is typical of all the SQR security staff at JW3,” he said.

“I wasn’t at all surprised – we constantly receive praise and positive feedback from members of the public for our wonderful security team.”

sqr staff involved in fire rescue

the national and international press were also quick to see the merits and professionalism of the SQR staff and have given a wide coverage of their actions in their out lets .

The renowned London daily had this to say

A security guard who said today that he thought the double-decker was going to explode.

Emilio Garcia, 36, was on duty at a nearby building when he heard a loud bang outside Finchley Road and Frognal Overground station on Sunday.

He ran towards the noise and saw flames and smoke billowing from the No 117 bus. He helped several passengers off before grabbing a fire extinguisher from the driver.

The national paper The mirror also covered the incident along with Jewish chronicle and Times of Israel

https://www.thejc.com/news/videos/jw3-security-guards-hailed-as-heroes-for-tackling-bus-blaze-1.442903

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/london-bus-bursts-flames-mans-10984234#ICID=sharebar_whatsapp

http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/jw3-security-guards-heralded-utter-mensches-for-tackling-bus-blaze/

 

 

Close Protection in USA a reality check

Let’s take a look at some facts and figures so that we can identify the real Threats and Risk and not the falsely perceived namely Terrorism which accounts for 31 deaths on average in USA with the 9/11 taken into account.Close protection in USA is about more about professional approach to the fundamentals and basics than the glory hugging action hero gestures and posturing .

Some 13,286 people were killed in the US by firearms in 2015, and 26,819 people were injured (those figures exclude suicide]) Those figures are likely to rise by several hundred, once incidents in the final week of the year are counted. Source:  Gun Violence Archive

The US death toll between 1968 and 2011 surpasses all wars ever fought by the country. There were about 1.4 million firearm deaths in that period, compared with 1.2 million US deaths in every conflict from the War of Independence to Iraq. Source: Politifact.

There were 372 mass shootings in the US in 2015, killing 475 people and injuring 1,870. A mass shooting is describing a single shooting incident which kills or injures four or more people, including the assailant. Source: Mass Shooting Tracker

There are thought to be about 300 million guns in the US, owned by about a third of the population so that is 106.6 million people with guns.

There were 372 mass shootings in the US in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870. These events take place in cinemas, shopping malls and all public.

source the Mass Shooting Tracker.

There were an estimated 1,165,383 violent crimes (murder and non-negligent homicides, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults) reported by law enforcement.)

There are approximately 1.4 million active gang members comprising more than 33,000 gangs in the United States.

Source 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment FBI

343 well-armed anti-government militias numbering over 100.000 members, many have been involved in armed stand offs with federal and local forces.

Added to that there are 800,000 armed police with a stablished reputation of using their weapons aggressively.

The main threat in USA is guns and crime and occasionally the law enforcements. The figures make it clear that this is no Walt Disney landscape and you need to develop a good local knowledge for example of crime hotspots, type of crimes, active gangs, and their area of operation and methodology.

It is essential to take into account active, current threats rather than the news driven high profile threats that frankly are statically should be very low on the scale of priorities.

Essential tools for close protection operative in USA is an accurate threat and risk assessment, thorough planning, well-practised situational & spatial awareness and hopefully a gun!

surveillance by SQR

Surveillance  workshop  by SQR group

The Technical Surveillance attack workshop conducted by a top field professional. This  work shop is being at SQR’s centre of excellence . It will advance the candidates  knowledge of current technical surveillance environment. They will be introduced to some of the most advance equipment and their capability. Technical aspects covered are Audio, Video, Long range covert surveillance, image intensification.

SQR’s Technical surveillance workshop is set to be a great successes with attendance from active CP, Police, Military personnel . Join us for the next session .

SQR group conducts an Enhanced close protection course .The close protection course has many additional modules over the required by SIA for its licences.

Understanding Surveillance in all its forms is a key aspect of close protection work in the modern era.

The workshop is one day long and is certificated By SQR group.

Surveillance  SQR group

https://www.facebook.com/sqrgroup

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surveillance by SQR

Technical surveillance
by SQR group

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