KIDNAPPING; EXTORTION;
EXECUTIVE PROTECTION TRAINING;
RISK MANAGEMENT

Hostage-Kidnapping, Extortion, Terrorism

MAI has responded to several international kidnap scenarios and we have furnished consultation services and bilingual hostage negotiators to negotiate ransom demands with kidnappers. In every case where ransoms were paid, the amounts paid were less than originally demanded and the victims were returned unharmed.

MAI investigative talent includes former FBI Special Agent multi-lingual negotiator specialists. These experts have the experience to effectively deal and negotiate with hostage-kidnapping and terrorist scenarios and can subsequently neutralize a crisis and reduce ransom demands.

Executive Protection and Training

Why do highly placed business people need Executive Protection? The truth is that they face threats to their safety and well-being at a higher degree that most other people face. They are more attractive targets for criminals because their busier travel schedules expose them to more potential accidents and attacks.

Seventy-five percent of the world's kidnappings occur in Latin America. Today's developing countries in Latin America are socially, politically and economically unstable. Predictions of a breakdown in law and order have turned out to be all to accurate, as is evident in the wave of violence unfurling over this hemisphere. Mexico is number one in kidnappings and Brazil is a close number two and Columbia is number three. The Middle East despite all the publicity and drama of a "hot" war has just three percent. The Orient weighs in with 15 percent. Increasingly, Mexico kidnappings are becoming a problem of epidemic and a new growth industry.

In Mexico City, and select other cities and the border, the range of threats to a person's safety and well-being is vast. The following list represents real threats faced by many high-profile, high-net-worth individuals. The list is formidable: kidnappings, drug-trafficking and crossfire, police brutality and corruption, hold-ups and assaults, street violence, carjacking, among others, are highly local phenomenon and are devastating urban life and bringing about a new segmentation of fear. The overriding problem is that the police and the criminals are sometimes one and the same.

An Advance is a personal inspection of all routes and areas a principal (protectee) will visit and a survey of all facilities available—hospitals, emergency health facilities, pharmacies, police stations, paramedics, potential problem areas, such as choke points, secured and unsecured areas, and check points. The Advance is to learn about a protectee's route and destination and all the details that affect the trip and stay. Its practical effect is a preemptive strike against confusion and exposure to risk.

An example of the types of information an MAI Advance Teeam gathers before a principal undertakes the simple act of going out to dine at a restaurant: whether reservations are required; restaruant's name, address, telephone and fax numbers; name of manager and maître d’; entrances and exits, including emergency exists; location of restrooms; locations of telephones; seating arrangements (convenient and safe for both client and agent; examination of where other high-profile clientele are typically seated); seating capacity; menu and wine list; quality of service; dress code; methods of payment; availability of private rooms; availability of smoking and nonsmoking sections; parking arrangements; other events the restaurant is planning on the day of the client's visit; name and address of the nearest rescue squad, hospital and police station.

The firm specializes in the training and implementation of high-security executive protection programs. MAI associates have instructed at the FBI and U.S. Secret Service Academies, the FBI National Academy, U.S. Military Training Academies, and at U.S. and foreign Police Academies.

MAI furnishes comprehensive training in conducting protective operations and management training for security personnel charged with the protection of government and corporate executives. Our programs provide state-of-the-art training in protection team operations and deployment, route and vehicle security, surveillance detection and avoidance, advance planning procedures, executive life support, hostage survival, protective shooting and evasive driving instructions.

MAI executive protection instructors consist of former U.S. Secret Service Agents, former military professionals and experienced law enforcement. MAI instructors have trained Latin American Presidential Guard Commandos in executive protection. All protection instructors are multilingual in the Spanish and Portuguese languages.

Risk Management

MAI risk management programs include security surveys and vulnerability studies of office, facility and residential security, namely: risk analysis, physical security, technical security, operational security, access control, information security, executive security and crisis management planning.

The corporate security program details the matching of security procedures and equipment to the level of threat and to the desired level of protection.

Facility and Physical Security, Risk Analysis, and Security Surveys

Security surveys are divided into two parts: 1) an evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of the current security system; 2) an assessment of additions and improvements needed to achieve the level of protection for personnel and property which would be commensurate with actual risk as well as cost-effectiveness from management's point of view.

Risk analysis are likewise divided into two segments: 1) a determination of most likely events, man-made or natural, which pose potential serious risk to employee safety and/or company operations, and 2) assessing the degree to which current security/crises management plans and procedures address those potential risks.

MAI personnel walk through the surveys and inspections and focus on employee movement patterns, evaluation of check stand anti-theft and price verification procedures, break routines, security/safety consciousness as well as methods of inventory control, merchandise price labeling, high risk item storage and display, shipping and receiving, correspondence controls, computer security and many other activities which pose potential risk for sabotage, thefts, industrial espionage or serious accidents. Also included is an analysis of the socio-economic conditions and other demographic features of the surrounding community which are reliable predictors of both level and types of criminal activity common to that community and therefore a potential security risk to the facility as well.

Security inspections also are made of physical security items such as gates, fences, locks, hazardous materials storage facilities, electrical vaults, lighting; etc. Still photographs as well as video recordings are taken at all sites in order to conduct an even more detailed analysis of systems and procedures. Key executives are interviewed and their comments are helpful in terms of their insights and information about relevant company policies and procedures. MAI will also conduct an independent assessment of the availability, quality, and capabilities of local private security forces as well as for several local companies which specialize in electronic surveillance systems.

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