I'm not taking you to the train station
Ben Hosking
#OzEP | Decorated Police Tactical Group Veteran | Executive Protection Manager | Creative problem solver, writer and WheelsUp Podcast co-host
If you want off this ranch, there's only one way.
I spent a long time growing up in the bush in the Northern Territory, one of the most inhospitable parts of Australia - replete with Drop Bears, Hoop Snakes, Bunyip's and Yowies.
Most of my life, infact was spent in the bush as a kid and then even more so as a copper, what that has given me is a decent appreciation for getting around desolate, hot as hell places full of nothing but nasty critters and a lack of resources.
Now I never ended up taking anyone to the "Train Station" although I'm sure it's happened somewhere at some point. I'd dare say, especially in the Northern Territory.
When it comes to developing an estate security program though, there's no ability to start dropping people off at the Yellowstone train station - nor should you need to. Not for the ultra-high-net-worth households (UHNW) who are under constant scrutiny by the media anyway. Where I do have some runs on the board though is in helping establish these programs and I know from experience it necessitates a multi-layer approach for any luxury ranch and that comes connecting to the community around you as well.
You're neighbours can be your greatest resource.
The issues out bush differ plenty from those in urban surroundings because of the expanse of the land, the scarcity of immediate local resources, and the nature of hazards in rural and regional locations, even within secure and liberal democratic countries like Australia.
So when you're involved in establishing a new family office security program or upgrading one because of the purchase of a remote or rural ranch or station by your principal, having some real world experience living and working in these types of environments can be invaluable to draw from.
On one such deployment/program for me, it was my task to a hike along the neighbouring river line for the property which took the better part of day wandering alone through the scrub mapping potential risks, which required river crossings by foot just to see whether there was a perimeter that could be breached by a motivated or fixated individual.?This wasn't the average day in Executive Protection.
On another it was establishing various alternate routes of movement in and out of the station (our word for a ranch in Australia) for vehicles in the event the rain flooded out the surrounding creek and prevented us from getting out the normal way we'd get in.
Perhaps a helo might operate or work in a situation like this, but should the weather be so extreme and the time frames create the necessity, you have to have another option for the principal to consider. Which in this event included using the age old strategy of boulders in the boot to weigh down the vehicle so we could make the crossing if absolutely necessary.
For context, writing this review of estate security protocols comes from a place of experience, and these are some of the key considerations, albeit non-exhaustive that an estate or family office director ought to think about when establishing an effective program for such properties.
Please note, it gets dry from here.
First up Risk Assessment and Perimeter Security
Before getting into technology and response systems, do a thorough risk assessment. The security plan will be built on factors that you identify during this process. It is well worth it at the early stages prior to development or installation of hardware to have the site pen tested with a "red team" because what they find out will be invaluable, then move on to your standard considerations, such as:
Your Principal/s Personal Information:
Health and Lifestyle
The Property/s:
Property Details
Key Considerations:
Estate Layout: Understanding the property's boundaries, natural features (rivers, hills, forests), and access points (roads, paths) to determine crucial places to secure.
Perimeter Barriers: Beyond standard fences, carefully placed barriers might dissuade intruders. Although electric fences are more commonly used in animal management, they can also serve a security purpose.
Boundary Security Technologies:
Remotely launched drones for monitoring and response. Drones have transformed estate security, particularly for large rural properties where traditional physical surveillance is wasteful or impossible. They play a proactive and reactive role in a strong security program. If you're not considering a drone in a box or tethered solution or even going more advanced to a beyond visual line of sight arrangement with a chief pilot, you're short changing your program.
Use cases:
Drones with night vision and FLIR technology can be used to patrol the estate's perimeter. These drones, particularly when equipped for automated surveillance, can identify heat signatures (people or animals) that standard cameras may miss.
If a breach is discovered, drones can be sent remotely to check the area. They can give the security team with live footage, providing real-time intelligence that enables speedier decision-making and, if necessary, ground force deployment.
Drones can trace an intruder's movements in real time, which is especially valuable in rural locations where suspects can easily hide into forested or mountainous terrain. High-end drones can be outfitted with GPS tracking and return-to-base capabilities for continuous surveillance.
Maintenance: Once you've begun managing the property and are required to maintain the perimeter, inspections with drones becomes an invaluable asset for reducing manpower fatigue and increases your resource pool dramatically.
The Inverse Challenges Associated with Drones:
Sadly you also need to evaluate the prospect of adversarial drone-based threats. This highlights the necessity for Drone Defence technology to quickly identify and mitigate any unauthorised drone activities - FYI shooting them down is akin to shooting down a plane depending on the country and the legislation, but in Australia shooters beware.
Key technologies:
CCTV and Camera Systems:
Video surveillance for estates should incorporate a number of technologies in order to be effective both day and night and across various terrain. A diversified rural environment requires more than one sort of camera. Infrared (IR) Cameras suitable for nighttime surveillance, can detect movement and heat signatures in complete darkness. The disadvantage is their limited range, thus they should be placed at strategic locations such as entrances, around the main dwelling, or along paths. Having the electrician tell you where to put these though is akin to having the nanny do your taxes.
Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Cameras: Can be adaptable cameras that cover wide regions while zooming in on questionable activities. PTZ cameras are useful for monitoring large fields or ranch areas and can be manually controlled or programmed for automated patrols.
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Camera Placement Strategy:
Entry & exit points are key locations for installing high-resolution PTZ cameras because they allow for early identification of guests, vehicles, and potential intruders. Add in a smart overlay or AI based system to track, monitor and build a database of recognised entities and you're cooking with gas.
IR and infrared cameras should be used to monitor the estate's most valuable places, such as the main house, barns, storage facilities, and equipment sheds.
Ground sensor and radar systems:
Seismic sensors can detect footfall or vehicles passing through the estate at any time. Seismic sensors, when deployed along pathways or near the estate's perimeter, serve as an early warning system, allowing drones or ground crews to verify the threat. Throughout the world siesmic sensors are employed by .gov and .com security teams to provide a discreet warning for intruders.
Smart Alarm Systems:?
All cameras, sensors, and drones should be linked to a central alarm system that notifies the security staff in real time. This system can also be linked to mobile devices or monitoring centres for fast response.
Automated Gate Controls:?
By securing the estate's entrances with biometric or smart card technology, only authorised personnel can enter the property.
Physical security and response capabilities:
While technology plays an important part in security, physical response is a crucial component of any estate security program.
All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) or Motorbikes:
Your security teams must be able to respond rapidly across harsh and varied terrain. ATVs or specialised off-road vehicles allow for quick deployment to remote sections of the property, particularly in reaction to sensor alarms or drone intel. It's no good deploying a suzuki swift to the rance because your security team "should" only have to patrol the roads. If you've got great swathes of land, give them the right tools for the job, not some front wheel drive hair hairdresser car.
SUVs for Longer Patrols:
For routine patrols over broader areas, SUVs with GPS, communication tools, and surveillance technologies can provide continuous monitoring. It's worth considering the rating of the vehicles and going to the team you're deploying for preferences as well, often they've got the experience to be able to save you money on buying the wrong model in the first instance, don't let your ego be the enemy.
On-site Response Teams:
Depending on the size of the estate, consider setting up remote security outposts in strategic places. These will result in speedier response times and increased team visibility throughout the site.
K9 Security:?
Dogs trained for security can help the team deal with intruders much faster and more efficiently sometimes than all the tech in the world and they also have the added benefit of alerting other human workers. They are also an effective deterrent for intruders.
Communication Networks
Protecting physical property is simply one aspect of UHNW estate management. Estates frequently handle sensitive information and require safe channels of communication.
Encrypted communication:
Standard radios can be intercepted, thus adopting encrypted two-way radios ensures that the estate's security communications are safe.
Cybersecurity:
Network Security: With drones, cameras, and sensors all reliant on internet-based or wireless connectivity, securing the estate's network is critical. To protect against hackers or interception, utilise firewalls, VPNs, and encrypted networks.
Power Backup:?
All surveillance systems, communications, and security technologies require an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and backup generators in the event of a power loss.
Redundancy in Systems:?
Use a dual-system approach to ensure that if one camera or sensor system fails, another is available to take over monitoring and detection functions.
Cost-benefit analysis and return on investment
While technology and reaction capabilities can provide decent security, getting the balance right between cost and functionality is important - hence, reading this and probably as best of a suggestion as I can make is to get a professional to help you do all of this.
Upfront Costs:?
The initial installation of modern surveillance technology, drones, and ground sensor systems can be expensive. Try and prioritise the highest-risk areas and gradually introduce additional levels of safety. Akin to building a skeleton program at first and having an appetite to increase bit by bit to cover off on all of the contingencies as the problems come to light. This approach can avoid target fixation on a single problem, that others might never concern themselves with.
Ongoing costs include drone, vehicle, and camera maintenance, as well as response team employment. System testing should be done on a regular basis to avoid failures in crucial situations.
Do you outsource the team or in-house them, there are benefits to both models, having been on either side and seeing how it goes, I believe performance management is better through a contract workforce, however, culture appears to be stronger for in-house teams who get to take true ownership of the site.
Prevention Over Reaction:?
The return on investment for adequate estate security is not always obvious, but rather the reduction of events and preventing a breach of the principal's privacy and integrity is often worth every penny.
Estates with high-end security systems can also increase in value and appeal to UHNW purchasers who seek safety and privacy.
Interconnected and multilayered doesn't cease at the end of the estate's boundaries either. An estate can further improve its security and privacy by implementing a linked system across neighbouring ranches, farms, and businesses in a region and collating this information into a CRM or database. This results in a useful and collective intelligence network and administering this can be a supplementary role of your physical security team. This network, when augmented with advanced technologies such as AI filters and scrapers coupled with the user data inputs, transforms into a complex, real-time surveillance system that improves security out of sight.
Now having a dedicated team screening OSINT traffic and collecting publicly available information is an unreal force multiplier, but it's also expensive. Using technology can also detect potential threats or unusual activities in the region and using programs like samdesk can be crucial to supporting these efforts. AI can draw the dots between different user inputs and independently obtained data, identifying patterns and highlighting incidents that would otherwise go unnoticed.
For example, if one estate reports an suspicious vehicle sighting, programs like Samdesk can use this information, together with regional crime patterns as well as data from other sources and evaluate whether there is a risk.
Whether it's going to be a full time residence or working ranch or perhaps it's the holiday house in the hills, there's more than one way to create a proactive security framework that works for the principal and the security team.?
If you're seeking support with a program development or establishment feel free to reach out to the team at Panoptic Solutions - Australia & Asia Security & Risk Management who can assist with your needs.
Physical Security Consultant
5 个月As part of your assessment I recommend a review of the principal’s profile (their financial status, media attention, position in their field of endeavor and in their community of residence, past incidents/personal history).
Consultant at Garda Perkasa Satria at PT GPS Secur
5 个月Ben, great read, great strategies, great in-built SOP's as well. Reading through it to me remindsme of long well thought out RA's only to come back after a few weeks that "it's great but how much is it going to cost" comment comes about. So you go back and look for areas where it can be trimmed but you know it's going to be compromised and will create holes and weaknesses down the line. It gets to a stage for me where I stop and retract the whole document because it in my opinion doesn't do the job any longer. Government funded clients are more likely to go for the whole system whereas a private one will be questioning many lines and many do the dirty and try to use your information and leverage it elsewhere. In a competitive environment for me this has been a consistent theme, at the security conscious client level where budgets are not the priority component it becomes a pleasure to operate in but these seem few and far between. Not meant to sound like I've swallowed sour grapes here, sharing an alternative pov. Again, a great read Ben. Thanks.
Private Security Professional ??Executive and VIP Protection ??
5 个月Spent sometime at berry Springs back in the day helping out a local squash farmer and his security protocols … wild territory was an under statement also includes my interaction with the local bush fire brigade and their burning off strategies … I laugh now but mate what a time to be there
President of Ledlow Security Group Marine Corps Service-Disabled Veteran Company. Protective Services, Executive Support, Family Office Support, Law Firm Support, The Host of The Fearless Mindset Podcast Media
5 个月Ben Hosking great post great branding