Security guards were taken by surprise yesterday at Germany’s biggest poker tournament at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin.

The European Poker Tour began on Tuesday with celebrities such as Boris Becker in attendance, although he was out of the running for the £1 million prize money by Thursday. Despite heavy security, four masked gunman entered the building at around 2.15pm armed with machetes, hand grenades and machine guns while two more kept watch outide.

Panic swept through the event as staff and attendees realised the raid was more than a PR stunt and were sent running for cover. Minor injuries occured in the rush to escape the building but no serious injuries were reported. One security guard was able to wrestle one raider to the ground, knocking his weapon from his hand in the process, but was overcome when two of the masked men came to his aid.

It is expected that the gang made off with up to £700,000 of the prize money after forcing employees at gun point to had over the cash. Running from the hotel, the gunmen pulled off their balaclavas and made their getaway in a black Mercedes. Clips of the raid have been posted on YouTube as the tournament was a live televised event.

It is expected that the tournament will resume tomorrow with the added security of armed police to prevent any further raids.

Covert Surveillance has arrived in Chicago

The first official covert surveillance cameras have been launched in Chicago and are set to replace many of the Blue Light cameras that have been installed in the crime ridden areas of the city.

The existing cameras are highly visible and easily spotted, this puts criminals on their guard but also allows easy targeting for damage and vandalism. The new covert surveillance cameras are tiny, small enough to fit into a matchbox says Police Superintendent Jody Weis.

Covert cameras have long been used to ensnare corrupt politicians and government officials in the city, currently the police force is down 2,000 officers due to budget cuts and it is hoped that covert cameras will enable some of that gap to be bridged. The cameras will be so discreet that drug dealers and gangs will be filmed without realising where currently they can easily spot the blue light cameras.

There has been some opposition to the covert surveillance from some quarters and allegations that rogue officers could abuse them have been levelled at the police department.

Kidnapping in Nigeria – Close Protection Requirements Imperative

News just breaking that 5 people have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta – the oil producing region for Nigeria, it is unknown at present whether the five people were under security supervision and close protection at the time.

The five are all journalists and South African news reports are quoting 3 of them as being Sports Journalists from the satellite SuperSport channel. The three journalists were kidnapped along with 2 Nigerians and it is possible they were en-route to the airport at the time.

the Niger Delta is attracting increasing attention from former rebels, it is recognised now that the presidential amnesty which pardoned many criminals and former rebels will fuel a rise in this type of activity. It is strongly recommeded that all foreigners should utilise close protection teams when travelling to and from the oil producing complexes from other locations especially airports.

The increase in this type of activity is driven by the need for the former rebels to supplement their former activities with other sources of income.

The Niger Delta is now a very high risk area for foreigners and advice on close protection is a must for all travellers in that region.

It looks as though the use of body scanners at airport security is imminent and has met with mixed reactions from the public.

Some people are happy to be scanned by the electronic monitoring device, happy in the knowledge that this might just deter or even catch potential terrorists and others are up in arms that it breaches our right to privacy. But what is so wrong with the scanned images?

Well, they show a lot of detail about the body being scanned! In fact, they literally show a picture of the passenger completely naked. Of course, these images are seen only by screened and trained security personnel, they are not saved or stored or used for any other purposes but the Equality and Human Rights Commission say this method breaches the Human Rights Act in regard to privacy. They are also concerned that staff could be pressured to use the images for gain ie, selling pictures of naked celebrities or children via the internet.

Ministers pushing through the use of these scanners say that life and liberty are paramount – above the potential embarassment of the passenger and that codes of practice will be put in place to try and avoid abuse of the system.

In addition to the body scanners, the Government are also considering using passenger profiling as part of their new airport safety measures. While the Human Rights Commission accept that the Government has a duty to protect air travellers they still require a detailed report on how profiling or scanners will help. The concern is that vulnerable people such as the disabled, young children and transgendered people will be negatively affected by these new measures.

It has also been pointed out by Dylan Sharpe, the campaign director of Big Brother Watch, that neither of these methods are foolproof. Unfortunately, when it comes to terrorism, these people are very determined and it would be close to impossible to find one single method that offered complete protection. All we can ask is that due diligence is always used but it is feared by safety groups that this will become second place to relying on machinery that could fail.

the first body scanners are expected to be operational at Heathrow Airport by the end of February. It seems wrong that we live in such times that we have to be virtually stripped naked to ensure we do not pose a risk to our fellow passengers but many people would sooner do that than give up their right to travel.

Mid January saw the raising of the UK terror alert level from substantial to severe due to intelligence sources receiving a non-specific warning that the UK is facing an imminent threat from Al Qaeda.

Surveillance by UK security services led anti-terror police to raid two homes in Birmingham at the end of January where they arrested a thirty year old man and seized terrorist material. Computer equipment was also seized during this and a coinciding raid two miles away in the Kings Heath area.

Although the raids were not specifically linked to the increased threat level, it shows that tracking the terrorists activity through serveillance is counter-productive to the terrorists actions. Supporters of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations are situated throughtout the UK and use their means to distribute terrorist publications that may incite others towards these acts. Remove the support network and you lower the threat.

The recent raids were carried out after a lengthy and ongoing investigation with the minimum of fuss. Investigators are then given 48 hours to question suspects and must then either charge, release or apply for a warrant for further detention. There is no bail allowed in these cases under UK terrorism laws.

This is the highest level of threat the UK has felt since July 2009 and security services around the world are on guard. This is partly due to the failed plane bombing over Detroit on Christmas Day by an al Qaeda recruit who had been studying in London before his terrorist training in Yemen. Inteliigence sources had also picked up on irregular activity over the internet which is a key indicator of imminent attacks.

This type of surveillance is used by security services throughout the world every minute of the day in the fight against terrorism and pays off in more ways than we are made aware of.

Two young Neo-Nazi males have been arrested on suspicion of being responsible for the February 2nd bomb attacks on a train in St Petersburg.

Russian security services have released the news that two males ages 19 and 20 who belong to a radical right wing group have been arrested for their part in the explosion. Investigations led intelligence to the group who posted messages on the internet claiming responsibility. The explosion occured just as the train was leaving the Baltic Railway Station in St Petersburg. The train driver was seriously injured but fortunately no-one was killed.

It is also believed that the same group – and possibly the same two men – are responsible for the murder of a Ghanian man on 25th December 2009. Racism has become an escalating problem in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and has recently culminated in the cold blodded killing of this 25yr old man in St Petersburg where the perpetrators inflicted over 20 knife wounds to his head, neck, chest, kidneys, stomach and limbs.

Close Protection News – San Salvador – Mara 18 – Christian Poveda

Progress is slowly being made in the investigation into the killing of Christian Poveda – The French filmmaker who was murdered in San Slavador in June 2009. The latest arrests further highlight the need for adequate close protection and security when high profile individuals insert themselves into notorious locations.

Christian Poveda was shot four times in the face in a hit orchestrated by the notorious Mara 18 gang, Christian Poveda had returned for more filming after making a documentary about the violent street gang. The original documentary was called “La Vida loca” featured the everyday lives of the Mara 18 gang and had just been screened at a number of festivals.

The latest arrests brings the count to 28 so far in the investigation, Salvador’s national police had indentified the latest individuals as being responsible for keeping watch whilst the murder was executed. It is thought that Christian was not using adequate close protection on this trip and it may well of cost him his life.

Christian Poveda was murdered on September 2nd 2009 10 miles North East of San Salvadore in the village of Tonacatapeque, he was 52. Christian Poveda was no stranger to El Salvador and first arrived there in the early Eighties to cover the civil war. He was extremely experienced in self preservation but sadly was vulnerable on this visit, close protection is a vital measure when visiting high risk areas.

Further news to be published as it is released by the national Police.

The late Twentieth century saw an upturn in the amount of bodyguards, or close protection personnel, that were looking after influential, political or wealthy clients. They consisted mainly of current or former policemen or military personnel. Nowadays, we have these in addition to specialist agencies that train people to carry out close protection services of all kinds.

The position of the bodyguard has been much glamourised through film and television but it is not a position to be taken up lightly. Those that live in the public eye are often subject to, at one end of the scale, stalkers and assassination attempts to the other end of the scale where theft of possessions or personal information as well as harassment from photographers can be detrimental to the persons everyday being. Close protection personnel are there to minimise the risks as much as possible and at times, the tasks involved can be mundane – yet never trivial.

Government officials, royalty, celebrities and high profile public figures are the most frequent users of close protection services in varying degrees dependent on their risk level. Sometimes a bodyguard will double up as a driver, though for maximum security another guard is preferable to prevent ever having to leave the vehicle unattended and open to the plantation of explosives or electronic surveillance devices.

Close protection personnel are responsible for planning the security for their clients day to day activities whether that be official or personal business. They will need to check cars to be used for explosives or listening devices, they will need to plan and physically test out the intended route between destinations to ensure there are no obvious hold-ups such as road works that would leave the client vulnerable. They will check out the venues the client is to visit, check the backgrounds of the staff they will come into contact with and check rooms for safety eg. listening devices.

If a bodyguard is on a protection mission where the client is in danger of assassination attempts, the risk level is greatly increased and close attention is paid to checking for bombs and snipers. In these incidents, the protection services will often carry firearms for the protection of their client. In a less risky environment, weapons will consist of pepper spray or Tasers, otherwise the bodyguard may be unarmed.

All the staff that are working for the protection of a client will be in liaison at all times to ensure their clients day runs as smoothly and safely as possible. Morning meetings are held with action plans set for the day’s activities and all members play an important role. Minor celebrities will usually only have one bodyguard and this is often sufficient – as much as a deterrent as anything else.

Close protection services are responsible for checking the clients residence, vehicles and places that they will visit as well as people they come into contact with for anything that could pose a threat to the client. It is vital that they remain alert at all times, flanking the client whilst they are not in the protective surroundings of a secure building or vehicle.

Training will often consist of specific military bodyguard training such as the SAS, but can also come in the form of specialist training through an agency. They will be proficient in unarmed combat, firearm tactics, tactical driving and first aid and they need to be physically fit with excellent sight and hearing.