The executive protection is suffering a prolonged conceptual crisis. Traditional schemes have proven inefficient in the face of the violence in Latin America and the social changes brought about by the digital revolution. This crisis has generated many deaths and injuries among the protected and protectors, as well as many scandals and image problems for several executives, as a result of the actions of their bodyguards, exposed in social networks.

In view of this situation, many analysts have highlighted the lack of training of the protectors, their poor selection and training, as well as the lack of resources, considering that the escorts, their actions and omissions, are the root of the problem, and that, therefore, the escorts themselves are the key factor to solve the problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is true that the consequences of the crisis of the executive protection ultimately manifest themselves in the protectors, the solution does not lie with them, nor does it lie with the protected; there is another crucial factor in this equation.

This factor is the security director. He or she is the only person who can really put an end to the crisis and transform this profession, since he or she has authority over the escorts and their chiefs; defines the operation to be implemented; decides on the suppliers and the type of training to be provided; has constant contact with the executives, whom, if he or she is skilled, he or she can influence. In this way, he is the only person capable of generating the changes that our profession needs.

However, there is a problem here. Despite the fact that among corporate security managers we have great specialists in executive protectionHowever, this activity is generally not a favorite for most CSOs. Security managers have a myriad of responsibilities, all of which are highly sensitive, time-consuming and stressful, so getting fully involved in security management is not a favorite of most CSOs. executive protection adds to these activities another degree of complexity that directly involves the top leaders of the organizations along with their escorts. For many (of course, not all), this is overwhelming and they opt to apply the "ostrich strategy", leaving both executives and escorts to their own devices until something extraordinary happens. Fortunately, these situations do not happen often, but when they do, they are very delicate and put the job and reputation of the security director at risk.

Therefore, the CSO should take a more active role in the executive protection both for their sake and for the sake of our profession. It is therefore essential for the security manager to have a solid background in executive protectionThis will allow you to implement a functional system that really reduces risks, applying security measures such as intelligence, counterintelligence, counter-surveillance, protective logistics or early warning, and not only the implementation of agents accompanying the executive, who alone have little reach.

By having the right vision and knowledge about executive protectionIn this way, the security manager can adequately influence the protégé and, thus, apply security systems that are discreet and effective, which allow our profession to overcome the crisis in which it finds itself and become safer for both the protégés and the protectors.