Official visit of Prof. George Popper – IBSSA President to the United States of America
On the 19th January 2012, upon invitation of Mr. Karl DelaGuerra, Regional Representative of IBSSA for North and South Carolina, Prof. George Popper - the President of IBSSA travelled to Charlotte (North Carolina / USA), where – in the historic palace of the city, at the Duke Mansion hall – the Appointment ceremony of the first IBSSA Overseas “super team” took place in very solemn circumstances. The thorough specialised training of this team on how to protect VIP's lasted for a year and the closing event was organised by Mr. Lynn Hoosier, President and CEO of Metro Special Police and Security Services, Inc. company – the Official Training Centre of IBSSA in North Carolina, USA.
The city and several law enforcement organizations were represented at high level during the event. The keynote speaker of the ceremony, Prof. George Popper praised the exceptional preparedness and commitment of the unit and emphasized the importance of such specialists – having many accomplishments in the security profession.
With the now registered 13 members of the team – which was called the Metro's “International Protection Unit” – almost every specialty of the security profession is represented: international fraud investigator, Internet crime expert, private investigator possessing globally unique surveillance techniques, numerous successful former covered DEA agents, former FBI agents, SWAT instructors and well-known close combat trainers.
The unit members also include some similarly qualified agents with significant professional experience from 12 counties of the United States and several highly trained and skilled experts of the IBSSA, or agents of several European countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Malta, etc).
The founder and commander of this prestigious unit, Mr. Karl DelaGuerra – IBSSA Master Teacher, member of the U.S. State Department Overseas Security Advisory Council – himself was also for many years the official law enforcement employee of the USA in various fields, who is currently a recognised training expert in the world and who today deals with the training of SWAT instructors as well.
During the event the President of IBSSA announced that Mr. Karl DelaGuerra – current Regional Representative of IBSSA for North and South Carolina – will be promoted and appointed to Country Representative of IBSSA for the United States of America.
Prof. George Popper – President of IBSSA also informed those present that after long preparation the final decision was made: the first official Bodyguard World Championships will take place in the USA in April 2014. The first Bodyguard World Championships (BWC) will include team and individual challenges. The team competition will be a demonstration, in which teams of three will present a few minutes spectacular show of VIP Protection, which will be evaluated by the jury of world-renowned experts and celebrities. The individual competitors are going to carry out extremely difficult professional tasks and serious obstacles to overcome.
Currently, two cities, Las Vegas and Charlotte compete for the right to organise the BWC. During the visit the leadership of Charlotte city at the highest level declared its wish and confirmed that they would like to get the rights to hold the competition and offered the “Bank of America” Arena in the city as venue of the significant event.
During the different programs in Charlotte, IBSSA has built up a relationship also for its associated member, the International Auxiliary Police Association (IAPA) and proposed that the Metro Special Police and Security Services, Inc. company – which has security patrol and city guarding services too – should join the IAPA and undertake the North Carolina representation of the association.
6th February 2012
IBSSA HQ