Data says 65% of attacks occur while in or near a vehicle. How much of your time do you spend on training that mitigates the massive risk of vehicle attacks?

For close to 50 years, we have preached the need for surveillance detection, situation awareness, and armored vehicles. We are still talking about incidents resulting from a lack of surveillance detection, situational awareness, and armored vehicles.

Mr. Panagopoulos was a very brilliant businessman, a very good employer, and an old school gentleman I would say. As he used to say to me ‘’George, I have never hurt anyone in my life, why would someone want to hurt me?’’

Since the Omar García Harfuch Ambush, we (ISDA) have received questions concerning the use of armored vehicles in protective services.

During my 45 years and for the past 18 years, Joe Autera, and I have conducted forensic analysis on countless vehicle attacks. As we have in…

There are conflicting reports about how the attack unfolded – these are some videos and articles supplied by ISDA Members – Mark Caldwell and Gerardo…

Rodolfo Torre Cantu was a physician and politician running for governor of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas. While driving in a non-armored two-vehicle scenario, he…

Throughout the years there were vehicle attacks that change the way we train. They received the attention of the security community and the businesses they…

Vehicle robbery is by no means a new crime, nor is it sweeping the nation in epidemic proportions. Vehicle owners have been victims of this…

After dawn prayers Oct. 5, 2013, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, a wanted al-Qaeda terrorism suspect, returned to his family’s home in Tripoli, Libya.

He stopped his car in front of the house, nestled in an affluent neighborhood in the coastal capital city. It was 6:38 a.m. and still dark.

A white van trailing Ruqai pulled alongside his car. Then at least three men, with guns drawn, jumped out of the van as another car blocked Ruqai’s escape and a third vehicle idled down the street.

10 Assassination Attempts That Were Shown On Television. Shocking footage that was deemed suitable for broadcast.

American Presidents have been targeted for assassination more than 20 times in history.

Presidents attacked by people 2017 Presidents attacked by people 2017

When vehicle violence occurs, the Security Driver needs to have all three side of the ”Security Driver Triangle” working for them. However, there have been scenarios where two sides of the triangle (The Driver and the Vehicle) overcame weakness in the third side (The Environment), none better than the 1995 motorcade attack on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.

One of the advantages of age – and so far the only advantage I have found – is that I have been a witness to some of the events that changed the way the industry works and trains. These were “game-changing incidents”–vehicle attacks that rewrote the rules for close protection and security driving.

Since the mid-sixties, Carlos Marighella’s book “The Mini-Manual of The Urban Guerrilla” has been a must-read for terrorist groups throughout the world. The manual is the platform for Al Qaeda’s and Bin Laden’s training manuals.

The recent video of a Secret Service Agent driving the Presidential Limo in reverse around Lime Rock Race Track took the social media by storm. According to some reports the video received 40 Million views. The majority of those viewing the video were under the impression that the video was real, but actually, it was an excellent animation. Truth be told, the first time I looked at it, I thought it was real.

The video did create many questions concerning the skills needed to drive in reverse.

So for those working in the Secure Transportation profession; some thoughts on backing up.

Here are some quick points on backing up when the objective is to escape the Kill Zone

If an individual has an average occupation, my guess would be they can survive having average skills. But as a member of the protection profession, you…

Rodolfo Torre Cantu was a physician and politician running for governor of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas. While driving in a non-armored, two-vehicle scenario, he was ambushed and assassinated.

This article was originally posted in the November 2015  ISDA Member Newsletter. Considering a recent Fox News broadcast entitled – “Al Qaeda magazine calls for…

One of the first “vehicle assassinations” was that of Tsar Alexander II in Russia. He was one of the first victims of an assassination in…

On Feb. 6, 2001, Gus Boulis left his offices on Southeast 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale about 9:30 p.m. and headed down Miami Road, a shortcut to Federal Highway on his way home to Hollywood.

As he was driving down Miami Road a car stopped in front of him, blocking his way. A vehicle coming from the other direction pulled up next to Boulis.  A passenger sitting in the back seat fired on him with a semi-automatic weapon.

Coming soon is a movie called The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken. This article comes from Tony Scotti’s book “Executive Safety and International Terrorism.” On the evening…

Chairwoman of Colombia Sportswear, Gert Boyle, was held briefly at gunpoint as a man tried to burglarize her home. The investigation of the robbery of Boyle has revealed she was the target of a kidnapping plot.

One of the features of Security Driver Magazine (SDM) and the ISDA Resource Center is a section titled “Lesser Known Incidents” There are many unknown…

One of the features of Security Driver Magazine (SDM) and the ISDA Resource Center is a section titled “Lesser Known Incidents” – There are many…

This is a collection of vehicle attacks that have occurred in about a 7 to 10 day time frame, and this is not all of…

One of the bodyguards of the Venezuelan president was shot to death while driving along a Caracas highway on Sunday May 4 2015

De Gaulle Attempt. A little know vehicle attack

German diplomats survive a vehicle ambush in Saudi.

A roadside bomb was used in the attempted assassination of the Syrian Prime minister. News reports are saying that there are multiple fatalities. An excerpt…

This is about as bizarre as it gets – listen to the comments of the victim there are many Surveillance Detection lessons in this interview.

A collection of articles concerning the fire that took the lives of a new bride and four of her friends in May of this year….

Armored car sales are booming throughout the Middle East (pun intended) – folks still insist on calling armored vehicles – “bulletproof”. My opinion creates a…

Thanks to Deni Athena for posting this article This is an excerpt from an article published in a Greek Newspaper A car stopped behind Martinos’ vehicle as…

One of the U.S.’ most wanted terrorists — an Al Qaeda leader linked to the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in eastern Africa —…

There are many unknown or not widely known incidents that had a major impact on the business. Each month we will review an incident and…

YouTube video of an assassination attempt in Thailand – A government official in Thailand survived a murder attempt thanks to his car’s armored windows.

On the morning of May 26, 1992, Geschke was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot in Mountain View California by two men as he arrived for work. “The two men called him to their car to ask him a question, then at gunpoint took him away and held him hostage for four days.

Although very old the Hunt assassination is an example of an armored vehicle that was not properly armored. The scenario:

On February 15, 1984 Leamon Hunt was assassinated at the entrance of his home. His car was an armored Alfa Romeo, and was fol­lowed by a Fiat 128. Mr. Hunt’s home hadhunt1b an electrically operated gate that had to be opened by remote control by the driver.

ATHENS, Dec 13 (Reuters) – November 17, the Greek urban guerrilla group that gunned down British diplomat Stephen Saunders on an Athens street six months ago, said on Wednesday he was their most important target in 25 years.

We tend to think about vehicle ambush as something that happens someplace other than the US. But recently one of our former students got involved…

Although an advertisement for the armored car company Centigon, this is a good and I would imagine expensive video depicting a vehicle attack. Not sure of level of protection and the type of rounds fired etc.

Counter surveillance that seeks out the attacker’s perspective is the key to good corporate executive protection.

The husband-and-wife team watched Sidney Reso for almost thirty days before they attacked. Sitting in a van parked down the street from Reso’s suburban New Jersey house, the couple documented the Exxon executive’s daily routine, learning his habits and identifying his vulnerabilities. Then, one morning, the couple abducted Reso in his driveway as he retrieved his newspaper

A clip from the filming of a movie about the kidnapping and eventual assassination of Aldo Moro – many lessons learned

It has been more than 20 years since the assassination of Alfred Herrhausen. The roadside bomb that killed Herrhausen changed the way protection was looked at. In the late 80’s surveillance detection had become part of the protection plan but it was not given the attention that was needed.

Got an email from old friend Skip Carroll (very old friend), Skip has spent time in Yemen, and Iraq. The email was about the recent assassination of a Yemeni security chief that worked at the US Embassy in Sanna. What Skip pointed out was the hit was another CLASSIC Assassination – The time & place was predictable, at the home, in the morning, on the way to work, and of course prior to the assassination neighbors noticed strangers in the street.

The recent attack on US Embassy personnel in Mexico provides a unique lessons learned from an incident where all survived.

These are our thoughts and lessons learned from the incident

The Italian Consul, Guido De Sanctis has been nice enough demonstrate, again, why armored vehicles are a good thing. I’ll wait until we can get more information about the attack – but look at where the rounds hit the side windows – does that create questions?

Rodolfo Torre Cantu was a physician and politician running for governor of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas. While driving in a non-armored two vehicle scenario he was ambushed and assassinated. Shortly after the attack I was presenting at the 2010 ESI conference with fellow ESI board member Rodrigo Munoz.

On April 29th, 1992, the president of Exxon International Sidney Reso left his home for his usual trip to work. He made the decision to drive himself to work and not to have a driver pick him up for his daily morning trip to work. He stopped his car at the end of his 250-foot driveway to retrieve the newspaper. When he got out, a white van pulled in front of his car. A man with a ski mask covering his face stepped in front of him and forced him into the van. According to the kidnapper, once in the van Mr. Reso was accidentally shot in the arm.

On November 30, 1989, an event took place that will forever change the way we think about personal security. The incident will become a learning tool for all involved in executive protection.

Just how important is it for a Protective Detail Leader or Security Manager to be able to recognize the indicators and warnings associated with various threats and understand the capabilities of potential attackers? The answers can be found by taking a closer look at two recent attacks.

In the past, getting out of the Kill Zone meant moving the vehicle 100 meters or less, but in a high-risk environment getting out of…