CLIENT'S CHALLENGE

For several weeks, two gangs had been terrorizing affluent neighborhoods in California. The men would enter the home in masks, assault the residents and ransack the home seeking cash, jewelry, art, weapons and other assets of value. In one case, they had several elderly victims lying on the floor for five hours. Evidence was minimal and law enforcement agencies had not yet made any arrests.

Among the many services Matador plans, manages and executes for clients is establishing a security presence in and around their home and immediate neighborhood. One one occasion, a member of the Matador team observed several young men in a vehicle driving slowly through an private neighborhood where a Matador client lived. Twice, one of the men stepped out of the vehicle to take pictures of a private residence.

MATADOR’S SOLUTION

Many of Matador’s personnel have retired from careers in the U.S. military as well as federal, state and local law enforcement. They’re exceptionally well trained in disciplines that range from use of force, de-escalation and intelligence collection to countersurveillance. On this particular day, the Matador member on duty manouvered his vehicle in a manner that allowed him to photograph the license plate of the suspects’ car without attracting undue attention or otherwise alert them that their actions and behaviors were under professional observation.

Another critical component of Matador’s protection methodology is a policy of establishing and regularly maintaining strong working relationships with local law enforcement. This practice helps ensure crisp, efficient communications in a crisis. In most cases, actually, law enforcement personnel are pleased to find out that security personnel under private contracts “speak the same language” and, in effect, support local police purposes by enhancing the security presence in the neighborhood.

In this case, when Matador shared its observations and identification of the suspects’ license plate with the local police, the department took immediate action.

IMPACT ON THE CLIENT

The police department used the license plate number to identify the owner of the vehicle which led to a series of interviews with the owner and others. Several of them had criminal records. The police did not have any evidence to support an arrest. But in the aftermath of the interviews, the rash of local burglaries ceased.