Abodyguard (orclose protection officer/operative) is a type ofsecurity guard, governmentlaw enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects animportant person or group of people, such as high-ranking public officials, wealthy businesspeople, and celebrities, from harm. The personnel team that protects a VIP is often referred to as the VIP'ssecurity detail.

Bodyguard

Bodyguards with PresidentRonald Reagan moments before he wasshot and almost killed in late March 1981
Occupation
Names	Close protection officer, executive protection agent, personal protection specialist
Occupation type	Government employment orprivate employment
Activity sectors	Law enforcement,government,military,security
Description
Related jobs	Security guard,law enforcement officer,anti-terrorism specialist,intelligence officer

Most important public figures, such asheads of state,heads of government, andgovernors are protected by a team of bodyguards from a government agency, security forces, orpolice forces. Less-important public figures, or those with lower risk profiles, may be accompanied by a single bodyguard who doubles as adriver.Bodyguards have existed since ancient civilizations, with notable examples including the RomanPraetorian Guard,Persian Immortals, and theJanissaries of theOttoman Empire. These roles have evolved into modernexecutive protection professionals, equipped with advanced technologies and training.

The work of a bodyguard consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the backgrounds of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and escorting the client on their day-to-day activities.^[1] In the event of an emergency, a bodyguard's priority will always be to evacuate their client, rather than engage with threats.^[2]

• List of bodyguards
• List of protective service agencies
• Private investigator
• Private military company
• Secret service
• Security detail
• Security police—persons who guard government property.
• Royal guards
• Republican guard
• Witness protection
• Counterterrorism
• Tactics and skills
  • Counter-sniper tactics
  • Close-quarters combat
  • Threat assessment
  • Unarmed combat
• Security company
• Regulation of private security guards
  • fr:Conseil national des activités privées de sécurité (French regulator)
  • Security Industry Authority (UK regulator)
• Particular units or kinds
  • Housecarls (medieval Scandinavia andAnglo-Saxon England)
  • Antrustion, the bodyguards of the Merovingian kings
  • Praetorian Guard, the bodyguards of the Roman Emperors
  • Rynda, ceremonial bodyguard of early Russian tsars
  • Somatophylakes, the Macedonian bodyguard ofAlexander the Great
  • Spatharios, the bodyguard ofByzantine emperors
  • Yojimbo, the Japanese word forbodyguard
  • Pontifical Swiss Guard
  • United Kingdom
    • Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department of theMetropolitan Police
    • Sovereign's Bodyguard
  • United States
    • Bureau of Diplomatic Security of theUnited States Department of State
    • Secret Service
  • India
    • National Security Guards (NSG) of theMinistry of Home Affairs (India), responsible for protecting thePrime Minister
    • Special Protection Group (SPG), a specialized unit created after theIndira Gandhi assassination in 1984
    • President's Bodyguards, a mechanized regiment of the Indian Army that is the ceremonial bodyguard of thePresident of India