Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart
3. I am a frequent lecturer and consultant to industry groups, prosecutors, police departments and government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Supreme Court Police, the District Attorney's Association, and the National Victims Center. I was invited to teach a special two-day course on domestic violence for 800 members of the NYPD, and also taught a daylong advanced course at the FBI Academy.
4. I have been interviewed twice on 60 MINUTES, five times on 20/20, six times on Oprah Winfrey, five times on Larry King Live, five times on Good Morning America, six times on The Today Show, and have been interviewed and featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, among many others.
5. I have served as a consulting expert witness or testifying expert witness on many civil and criminal cases, including testifying for the prosecution in the case against Arthur Richard Jackson, the assailant of actress Theresa Saldana. I have consulted with the prosecution in the case against Robert Bardo, the murderer of actress Rebecca Schaeffer, testified in the case against Tina Marie Ledbetter, who sent 6,000 death threat letters to actor Michael J. Fox, testified in the federal case against Richard Pelfrey, stalker of singer Debbie Gibson, and consulted on the stalking aspects of both the criminal and civil cases against O.J. Simpson. I testified in the nation's first use of the stalker law in a case involving a public figure.
6. In 1980, I was appointed by President Reagan and his staff to be Director of Special Services Group, responsible for safety and logistics for public figure guests of the First Family.
7. In 1982, President Reagan appointed me to his Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Justice, during which time I, along with other members, conducted public hearings into crime and violence around the nation. We heard testimony from chiefs of police, sociologists, judges, security experts, victims, community leaders, and others who had something to contribute to the understanding of the topic. President Reagan re-appointed me to the Board in 1984.
8. From 1983 to 1988, I served as a Principal Advisor to the Department of Justice project entitled: Violence and Mental Disorder - The Choice of Public Figures as Victims. I worked on this project with other nationally recognized experts and researchers, including the former Director of the Secret Service and members of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit.
9. In 1985, my work in threat assessment was recognized through a special award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, presented to me by the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI.
10. After leading a national campaign to keep the assailant of actress Theresa Saldana in secure custody, I helped design legislation to deal with similar cases. I proposed and co-drafted California's Threat-trespass Statute, which was signed into law by the Governor in 1991. I testified before the California Senate Judiciary Committee and provided testimony regarding stalker laws in the U.S. Senate.
11. Along with the U.S. Marshals Service, I co-designed the MOSAIC-3 assessment method, used to screen threats to all Federal Judges.
12. I designed the MOSAIC threat assessment system currently used for screening threats to Justices of the United States Supreme Court.
13. I designed the MOSAIC assessment method used as part of screening threats to members of Congress.
14. I designed the MOSAIC system used for evaluating hazards to the Governor of California, and governors of New Mexico, Maine, Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Kansas, Wyoming, and Missouri.
15. I designed MOSAIC systems currently used for high-stakes predictions by the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., and the Federal Reserve Board.
16. I designed the system known as MAST (MOSAIC for Assessment of Student Threats) for Boston University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Indiana, Iowa State University, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, UC Davis, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU San Bernardino, CSU Bakersfield, CSU San Marcos, CSU Chico, CSU Fresno, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU Stanislaus, CSU Sonoma, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Hayward, CSU Sacramento, San Diego State University, Cal State Polytechnic University Pomona, CSPU San Luis Obispo, San Francisco State University, among others.
17. In 1991, I was appointed by Governor Wilson to two terms on his Advisory Board at the California Department of Mental Health.
18. I am currently a Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, as well as Senior Advisor to the Rand Corporation.
19. I have been qualified as an expert in the California Appeals Court and U.S. Federal Court on cases involving prevention of violence, the safety of public figures, and the predictability of violence.
20. My firm and I have conducted many independent security studies for at-risk public figures, and most often recommended that our clients utilize private aircraft rather than commercial air travel.
21. We recommend travel via private aircraft and through private airports for several reasons. First, the congested nature of commercial airports provides inappropriate pursuers an excellent opportunity to "lie in wait" and encounter our clients. Public figures are most vulnerable to unwanted approaches while in transit.
22. Federal Aviation Administration regulations that require commercial air travelers to travel under actual names and show identification have made commercial air travel even less private for public figures, and thus more hazardous. Many public figures are now being encountered by unwanted pursuers that have acquired their exact commercial flight information through paid informants at, or pretext calls to, the airlines. Private air travel affords the only effective means of keeping confidential the identity of passengers and all other flight information.
23. Next, there is the matter of the destination airport, where major media figures will encounter a forced public appearance. Again, there will be thousands of people who see the at-risk person and consequently know the at-risk person is now in Chicago, for example, and inappropriate pursuers or tabloid individuals may seek encounters with one of our clients based on this information.
24. Commercial air travel can also involve connecting flights, thus at least doubling the time that our clients would be exposed to intrusion, interruption, and hazard. There is also the matter of delays, postponements, and cancellations, all of which extends the time during which they would be exposed to intrusion, interruption, and hazard. In light of these challenges, commercial air travel is not the safest method for our clients.
25. Other significant life-safety advantages of private air travel include our clients' ability to strictly determine who pilots and maintains the aircraft, who travels on the aircraft with them, the content of cargo that enters the body of the aircraft, and the on-ground security of the aircraft. History has shown that nearly all intentional commercial air disasters and acts of violence have been caused by an inability to control one of these controllable factors. When flying commercially, passengers must rely on the airlines to properly screen, hire, train, and supervise the pilots and crew, as well as screen the cargo. By flying via a private jet, our clients are able to avoid such vulnerabilities by controlling the cargo of the plane and who is aboard the plane (authorized guests and employees).
26. In regards to terrorism, while there have been some cases of private planes being stolen from airports, hijacking of private planes is virtually nonexistent. (The few we found during our research were along the lines of a criminal fleeing law enforcement who forced his way onto the next plane taking off -- that sort of thing.) We are not aware of acts of terrorism where a private aircraft was hijacked by a perpetrator who knew the identity of the jet's owner or the person chartering the jet. Conversely, there have been many acts of terrorism directed against commercial airliners.
27. By using a private jet, our clients are also able to reduce the likelihood of accidental crashes by implementing safety regulations that exceed the minimum standards set forth for commercial planes, and control maintenance of the aircraft. Commercial airlines maintain the minimum standards set forth by the FAA whereas private operators can implement safety regulations that exceed the minimum standards. For example, commercial airlines must make financial decisions that can be detrimental to safety, including:
28. By flying via private aircraft, clients can make privacy and confidentiality a job requirement for the pilots and crew they employ. They can require that they sign confidentiality agreements and provide them with security training, including how not to be fooled by pretext inquiries.
29. By flying via private plane, clients are able to access an aircraft and crew at all times. This could be especially beneficial in the event of a medical, business, or family emergency.
30. It is very important that our clients' travel be free from interference and that the integrity of their schedules are maintained. Private air travel is the most reliable means for satisfying these requirements.
31. For most of our clients, it is not possible on a commercial flight to converse with associates without being overheard and perhaps thus revealing confidential information. Consequently, flying commercially impacts not only their safety, but their privacy as well. It also reduces the time they might otherwise be able to dedicate to work.
I believe that the recommendations set forth herein, including those related to private aircraft usage, are necessary under the circumstances.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct, and that I would testify under oath thereto.
Executed this ____ day of ________ 2007, at Los Angeles, California.
__________________________
Gavin de Becker
Appendix 15
About Gavin de Becker & Associates
Since 1977 Gavin de Becker rand Associates has been developing pioneering strategies for protecting public figures, government agencies, corporations, and others facing substantial safety and privacy challenges. Today, its 200 associates provide security and consultation services from offices in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Hawaii.
PSD
The
Protective Security Division
is the world's leading provider of high-end protection services for at-risk public figures and sites. The division also houses the
Secure Transportation Office,
which provides safe and confidential transportation using strategically armored and security-enhanced vehicles. For qualified groups of seven or more, this division provides specialized training in public figure protection (including exercises from the firm's Academy).
TAM
The
Threat Assessment & Management Division
evaluates and assesses threatening and otherwise inappropriate communications, and assists clients in managing situations of unwanted pursuit. This division provides consultation on the wide and ever-changing variety of safety and privacy challenges clients face.
The TAM Division houses the
Investigations Department,
which performs high-level, sub-rosa investigations related to safety and wellbeing. These include gathering information on unwanted pursuers, pre-employment background investigations, and due diligence assessments of people and businesses that might have an impact on clients' well-being.
Training
Twice a year, the firm hosts the
Advanced Threat Assessment Academy
at the UCLA Conference Center. Attendees travel from all over the world to participate in this widely-known program, with alumni including professionals from the FBI Behavioral Sciences unit, the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Supreme Court, the US Capitol Police, dozens of major police departments and prosecutors' offices, major universities, and more than 150 of the Fortune 500 companies.
MOSAIC
(r)
Gavin de Becker & Associates developed
MOSAIC,
a comprehensive method for assessing situations that might escalate to violence. The firm was selected to design MOSAIC systems for State Police agencies protecting ten governors, twenty-five university police departments, the United States Supreme Court Police, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Capitol Police, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency. MOSAIC systems are currently used by threat assessment practitioners for screening threats to public figures, assessing domestic violence situations, assessing threats by students, and assessing workplace violence hazards. The Division also develops new customized MOSAIC systems for specialized applications, such as the customized domestic violence training system commissioned by California for distribution to all of the State's 800 police departments.
TSD
The
Technical Security Division
performs comprehensive security surveys of properties and provides technological and procedural recommendations to reduce or eliminate security risks. This division provides technical specifications for builders and systems installers.
ISD
The
Information Security Division
conducts audits of information systems and provides solutions to prevent loss of sensitive and personal information transferred between computers, PDAs, and wireless networks.