«

»

Every detail leader is NOT a Front right seater

The detail leader is the boss of the detail. He is the direct liaison with the protectee, and the shift. He is the on the ground representative of the protection company that has the contract with the client.

Every detail leader of a detail is not equipped to be the detail leader of the front right seat of a close in protection detail. The boss of a special event detail is still a detail leader and has the confidence of his company to manage the event. But this is not the same responsibility of a detail leader that occupies the front right seat of the primary victor. Handling a large number of specialists on fixed posts is a huge responsibility but the event is static and does not require the same mental dexterity and multi tasking requirements of the front right seat.

At your event you are concerned with access control, post integrity, possibly badging, concentric circles that start with your surveillance team inward to your inner perimeter assets. As the event nears it’s start the rush of the guests entering starts to dwindle down and the energies on the event and it’s flow becomes your main focus.

You may start collapsing down some of your mag tunnels and redistribute your assets to other areas. But the crux of your attention is now on the event, its participants and guests.

There may be a time when you start your push, if you’ve allocated personnel for that necessary feature. But for the most part you are now on a “high alert” cruise control. Special events and static events are very important but never get too far over your skis to think that you are ready for that front right seat.

It takes a very special person to run that front right seat. As I said, you are the boss and represent the company you work for. More importantly you are the brains of the team deployed for the close in protection. Your focus is not limited to just one location as the special event DL. Your day is filled with a series of events. Each one different and requires a different approach. As soon as you arrive at your first site and get through it, guess what? On to the next one. If you have to leap frog your advance specialists around it is a chess game constantly playing in your head. There is never a lull in action in your brain.

If you are fortunate in having a strong shift leader you will know that there are automatically duties that he/she is responsible for yet in your mind you want to make sure you aren’t taking little things like how do we get the principal to the next phase of the current location.

As a front right seat DL you rely on your resources yet at the end of the day you are the go to guy when something goes wrong. Managing the principals movements, the shift, drivers and vehicles is just a few top shelf responsibilities of a front right seat detail leader that a special event DL does not have to deal with.

There is a progression process that we use at BPI Security. The guys that occupy that front right seat are of the caliber that they could almost run their own company. Most of my guys can shift lead from the front right seat of the follow and working their way up to that premiere seat in the limo.

Company owners: do not take this position lightly. It is not for everyone. Details are lost due to the wrong person in that seat. He/she has to e personable yet professional enough to know the difference between cordial and comfort. The mental acuity that I have spoken of before has to be at the highest levels for this person. Problems have to be addressed before the issue arises and there can be no sign of distress shown. Confidence in the DL in the front right seat trickles down to the shift and is picked up immediately by the principal. More importantly this attitude has to maintained at high levels for long hours. Everyone can not do that. Br careful on your selection.

I personally know of local specialists that assign themselves to the front right seat when the best person for the job was relegated as a post stander of one of the sites. This FRS is the attention getter. He/she is the boss and everyone that sees that limo pull up knows it. Problem is that lesser equipped specialists think too highly of themselves and put the “me” in front of the shift (team). The entire day is like having a pyramid on one of it’s 3 ends and not on its base. Eventually it will topple over.

Over the next couple of days I will feature specific BPI incidences where the attributes listed above were put to test.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *