A bodyguard (or close protection officer/ operative) is someone who protects someone else from danger: usually murder, theft, attack, kidnapping, assault, loss of private information, etc. The word “bodyguard” comes from the fact that most professionally used bodyguard and close protection officers are male. However, in many countries, females are also now being hired as bodyguards – sometimes as part of the security forces in the army. These bodyguards protect their employers, their families, and their property by apprehending criminals and reporting them to the authorities. As a law enforcement official, a bodyguard will be given a commission for his or her services; this commission is generally very large and can reach into the millions of dollars.
Bodyguards have a variety of other uses in both private and public life. For example, bodyguards may be employed by businesses to provide personal protection against trespassers or “vandals.” A well-trained bodyguard can apprehend an individual who has trespassed onto a company’s property. In other cases, the bodyguard may have been trained to respond to a specific threat: such as an individual breaking into a bank or a business establishment. Regardless of the type of job a bodyguard performs, he or she is responsible for making sure that citizens and public structures are protected against physical harm or threats of physical harm.
Bodyguards also play an important role when it comes to protecting the prime minister of a country or the president of a state. It is actually very common for the president or prime minister of a country to travel around the world on official duties. In these cases, the bodyguard assigned to protect the prime minister or the president is responsible for making sure that the leader and/or the country itself are safe and secure at all times. In addition to simply making sure that the prime minister or the president is safe during their travel, a bodyguard is also responsible for ensuring that all other passengers on a government airplane are as well. This includes passengers flying to the country, passengers transferring from the country, and any other emergency situation that could affect the safety of passengers on the airplane.
Private investigators also use bodyguards to escort their clients. Again, the responsibility of a bodyguard is very low risk. The escorts are only there to make certain that the client is safe and to ensure the client’s safety in the long run. They do not have to worry about arrest for any wrongdoing. If an attorney has a bodyguard escorting his or her client, it does not mean the attorney is trying to get a hit on the client or is somehow trying to get more out of the deal than the client is willing to give up.
In other instances, bodyguards escorting a VIP might be responsible for securing the client at his or her hotel. If the client lives out of town for part of the year and needs to have the client secured at the hotel, the bodyguard can make sure the client is safe and sound while staying at the hotel. The same would go if the client is traveling for business and the bodyguard is the person who will be protecting the client from any potential danger. Private investigators often use bodyguards for this type of security detail when they have to secure a location for a meeting between a couple of private investigators. The same would go for a celebrity who was being escorted around town by bodyguards for personal security.
While it is true that bodyguards are not allowed to rough up public figures or interfere with their free will, they still must follow the law and treat all passengers as they would any other passenger. The law requires that they take reasonable steps to protect the passenger. This means they cannot grab a purse or shove someone in front of you if the person does not follow the law. Unfortunately, the unfortunate side effect of this protection is that many times wealthy people choose to leave their security personnel with things they are not supposed to have taken possession of when they are on public transportation.