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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!

7 July 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the “continued, unlawful” acts of armed fighters in Ukraine after reports that they are regrouping in eastern provinces, and urged Ukrainian authorities to exercise maximum restraint and protect civilians.

According to media reports, armed groups have regrouped in Donetsk and Lugansk, from which more and more residents have fled and others are trapped in zones of heavy fighting.

On 30 June, an extended ceasefire that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had put in place ended, resulting in Ukrainian forces to engage in what Mr. Ban termed “intensified military activity.”

Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the UN chief also underscored the importance of a “renewed and lasting cease-fire upheld by all parties” and a political solution to the ongoing crisis.

“The continuation of a political and diplomatic process towards a definitive cessation of violence and a peaceful resolution of the crisis is critical,” he said.

Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, last week warned against “utterly reprehensible” incitement to violence targeting women and underage girls, and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

She said that in the past week, her team had received numerous alarming reports of deaths in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including the killing of a five-year-old girl, due to the intensified security operations.

Ms. Pillay said she was particularly disturbed by a message on the website of one leader of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic,” stating that underage children and women are legitimate targets and that the goal is to ‘immerse them in horror.’