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A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government
The work of a bodyguard consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the backgrounds of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and escorting the client on their day-to-day activities. In the event of an emergency, a bodyguard's priority will always be to evacuate their client, rather than engage with threats.
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
officer, or servicemember who protects an important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public officials, wealthy businesspeople, and celebrities, from harm. The personnel team that protects a VIP is often referred to as the VIP's security detail.
Most important public figures, such as heads of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
, heads of government, and governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
s are protected by a team of bodyguards from a government agency, security forces, or police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
forces. Less-important public figures, or those with lower risk profiles, may be accompanied by a single bodyguard who doubles as a driver.
Bodyguards have existed since ancient civilizations, with notable examples including the Roman Praetorian Guard, Persian Immortals, and the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. These roles have evolved into modern executive protection professionals, equipped with advanced technologies and training.
Roles
The work of a bodyguard consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the backgrounds of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and escorting the client on their day-to-day activities. In the event of an emergency, a bodyguard's priority will always be to evacuate their client, rather than engage with threats.
See also
* List of bodyguards * List of protective service agencies * Private investigator * Private military company * Secret service * Security detail * Security police—persons who guard government property. * Royal guards * Republican guard * Witness protection *Counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...
* Tactics and skills
** Counter-sniper tactics
** Close-quarters combat
Close-quarters battle (CQB), also called close-quarters combat (CQC), is a close combat situation between multiple combatants involving ranged (typically firearm-based) or melee combat. It can occur between military units, law enforcement and Cr ...
** Threat assessment
** Unarmed combat
* Security company
* Regulation of private security guards
** :fr:Conseil national des activités privées de sécurité (French regulator)
** Security Industry Authority (UK regulator)
* Particular units or kinds
** Housecarls (medieval Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England)
** Antrustion, the bodyguards of the Merovingian kings
** Praetorian Guard, the bodyguards of the Roman Emperors
** Rynda, ceremonial bodyguard of early Russian tsars
** Somatophylakes, the Macedonian bodyguard of Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
** Spatharios, the bodyguard of Byzantine emperors
** Yojimbo, the Japanese word for ''bodyguard''
** Pontifical Swiss Guard
** United Kingdom
*** Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department of the Metropolitan Police
*** Sovereign's Bodyguard
**United States
*** Bureau of Diplomatic Security
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and pr ...
of the United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
*** Secret Service
**India
*** National Security Guards (NSG) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), responsible for protecting the Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
*** Special Protection Group (SPG), a specialized unit created after the Indira Gandhi assassination in 1984
*** President's Bodyguards, a mechanized regiment of the Indian Army that is the ceremonial bodyguard of the President of India
The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...
References
{{Authority control Protective service occupations Law enforcement occupations Military personnel Security guards