Consider the Case of one Red Five security Client, a high net-worth international businessman, who went on a Caribbean vacation with his family and invited several of his affluent contemporaries and their families to join them. After several days spent enjoying the tropical sojourn, one of the guests turned to his host and asked: “forgive me, but how can you possibly feel safe taking a trip like this with such a large entourage and not have a security team standing by?” the host smiled and replied: “ah, but i do have an extensive security team and they have been in place every second of this trip. You just haven’t seen them.”
It’s a story Kris Coleman likes to tell. as CEO of Red Five security, based in the Washington, d .C. area with an office in orange County, California, Coleman helms an experienced and expert team that includes former CIA, FBI and secret service agents who provide bespoke security services to a highly select portfolio of international clients.
“We offer bespoke security services to a client list that includes high net-worth families, fortune 50 companies, royalty, international celebrities and professional athletes, among others,” says Coleman, whose background includes decorated careers with the CIA and FBI. “Privacy and security are one and the same for our clients, and we approach each assignment with that as our paramount objective.”
In many instances, Red Five steps in to help its clients plan their trips by assessing threat levels in various destinations or advising them about ethnic and cultural matters that must be consideRed. this can include everything from conducting thorough investigations of potential political turmoil or making sure that adequate medical expertise is on hand should health hazards arise. More and more, it also means ensuring that a client’s cyber communications won’t be hacked or otherwise compromised while travelling.
The scope of Red Five’s services extends well beyond offering discreet security for travelling CEOs or families on holiday. on the home front, the firm takes a comprehensive approach to providing custom and innovative safeguards for the private estates of its clients.
“We are not one of those commoditized security firms where you’ll see our stickers in the windows,” says Coleman. “We don’t make money from selling alarms and security cameras.”
Instead, says Coleman, the Red Five team collaborates with owners, architects, designers and builders to make sure security “fits hand in glove with the overall aesthetic vision of our client’s estate without making it look like a fortress.”
“While peace of mind is paramount with our clients,” says Coleman, “we focus on a low profile footprint that provides the secure environment they expect.” Red Five helps them with a variety of difficult challenges—from safe room design and installation to advanced security systems.
Red Five’s expertise also extends to providing detailed intelligence analysis for businesses and corporations looking to make major capital investments in foreign destinations. in one instance, says Coleman, a client planning to develop a new product asked Red Five to gather a vast array of background information before the company made its investment.
“They gave us a list of 26 key areas of concern that were critical for them to determine if such a huge capital investment would be viable and worthwhile,” says Coleman. “our team’s expertise lies in gathering open source intelligence and analyzing that information to provide our clients with all the information they need to make their decisions.”
Red Five’s smart and all-inclusive approach to security has proven an effective business model—more than 90 percent of its new contracts are firsthand referrals from previous clients. “We are often the go-to company for all of our clients’ security needs,” notes Coleman. says Coleman: “in an industry with some of the hardest-to-meet demands imaginable, we consider this endorsement from our clients to be the ultimate compliment.”
