Protection Book Review: Just 2 Seconds
The book, Just 2 Seconds: Using Time and Space to Defeat Assassins by Gavin de Becker, Tom Taylor, and Jeff Marquart, “examines the previously inviolate rules of protection, then subjects them to rigorous analysis. Will leave protection professionals reevaluating everything they know or thought they knew,” according to Vincent O’Neill, former Special Agent with the US Secret Service.
Gavin de Becker is the founder of Gavin de Becker & Associates (GDBA), a threat assessment and security firm that provides private, corporate, and government protection services and training courses.
While the book is 712 pages long, 570 pages consist of an extensive compendium describing thousands of successful and failed attacks, kidnappings, accidents, medical emergencies, and non-lethal incidents involving at-risk people worldwide over a period of more than 50 years, in addition to eight appendices of protection-related guidelines. Its title refers to the extreme brevity of time during which the average violent attack begins and ends.
The first 142 pages are comprised of five chapters detailing the important protective lessons learned from those events—highlighting 11 precepts that enhance personal safety—and the five essential insights for protectors. These conclusions are practical and proven standards for one’s own self-defense and the protection of others, that can be applied in church security.
The five essential insights for protectors (and individual self-defenders) are Now, Time, Mind, Space, and See. Here are a few excerpts for each one:
5 ESSENTIALS OF PROTECTION
NOW
• One hundred percent of all attacks happen at exactly the same time: Now.
• Every thought about anything outside the Now is a burden that makes you mentally heavier, whereas focusing your perception on the ever-changing Now makes you light and more agile.
• [In your situational awareness,] don’t ignore people just because they appear sane or reasonable, nor focus only on those who appear deranged.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Live Life Left of Bang ]
TIME
• Attackers are profoundly handicapped by time, and protectors who are mentally present and in position to respond can prevail—almost always.
• Attackers want as much time as possible to transpire between their Moment of Commitment and your Moment of Recognition. Shorten the time by staying close to suspected threats.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]
MIND
• Prepare your mind to be present during the one and only time in which anyone can possibly pose a threat, Now.
• For protectors, thinking about nearly anything that occurred a moment before Now becomes as destructive to effectiveness as worrying about something that happed a decade ago.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Training: Decision Decks Help You Think Through a Crisis Before It Happens ]
SPACE
• Most attacks are launched within 25 feet of the target; focus most of your attention and resources on the close range, rather than watching only for snipers on distant rooftops.
• Standing in any envioronment, ask yourself: “How can I impede an attacker’s accuracy, reduce his options, limit his access, maintain vantage, and make it difficult for him to conceal his actions?”
• Maximize white space: the enforceable open area between protectee and the nearest members of the public.
[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of Situational Awareness ]
SEE
• Remember SEE: Suspects Exist Everywhere.
• Suspicion is merely curiosity with an added intuitive instruction: “Keep watching.”
• Most people you select as suspects [in your situational awareness] will not turn out to be attackers, but in the event of an actual attack, it’s better to be focused on someone three people away from the attacker than to be three months away, in mental time-travel.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]
MEASURE YOUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND REACTION TIME WITH THIS GDBA ONLINE SIMULATOR THAT ASSESSES YOUR REACTION SPEED TO AN ACTIVE KILLER.
After you click the START button on the screen, you will begin viewing a scene at a public appearance where you are protecting an at-risk public figure. If you see someone in the crowd with a gun, press the space bar or touch the screen as quickly as possible. Once you hear gunfire, important time has already passed. Your score decreases with every shot fired and every second that passes. Each gun carries six rounds of ammunition.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents (Part 1) ]
EFFECTIVE PROTECTION CHECKLIST
The training academy at Gavin de Becker & Associates teaches the acronym LADDER to describe the elements required for effective protection:
LADDER
Logistics — Ensure the ability to move without interference or delay.
Advance — Have knowledge of sites, routes, resources, emergency locations, schedules, etc.
Distance — Establish and maintain the maximum practical distance from protectee to public; the minimum practical distance from protector to protectee; and the minimum practical distance from protector to the closest members of the public.
Deterrence — Display protectors’ highest readiness and effectiveness at all times.
Evacuation — Establish and maintain exit routes unblocked at all times.
Response — Maintain readiness and the highest ability to respond to attack or hazard at all times.
BIO: Gavin de Becker is a three-time presidential appointee whose pioneering work has changed the way the government evaluates threats to its highest officials. His 500-person firm provides consultation, protective services, and logistical support to many of the world’s most prominent figures in media, politics, and society.
[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of Church Security ]
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