New York Post

SILENT BUT DEADLY

By KAREN ROBINOWITZ

January 12, 2003 -- Having a bodyguard or two - or even 10 - isn't enough anymore. Just ask Ben Affleck, who is reportedly so petrified that someone will kidnap or harm his precious "Jenny From the Block" that he bought her million dollar-plus protection - former FBI and CIA specialists.

These agents - who have protected heads of state and top dignitaries - are said to carry a .45-caliber handgun, binoculars, night vision scopes and walkie-talkies. They chauffeur clients in vehicles with bulletproof windows and puncture-proof tires.

(Lopez's publicist did not return calls, but maybe the line isn't secure.)

Last year, Gwyneth Paltrow was so unnerved by a stalker that she has since turned to low-key Secret Service-types to protect her. When the Oscar-winner recently arrived in England to shoot her new movie, "Ted and Sylvia," there was such a media frenzy that the producers hired six cars and a 10-person security detail to escort her.

And David Beckham, England's beloved soccer hero and arguably the country's biggest star, just hired more than five former SAS (British secret service) after a kidnapping threat was made against his wife Victoria (a.k.a. Posh Spice) and their two small children. He also purchased bulletproof vests for his family. Clearly, stars no longer feel safe surrounded by a few musclemen; now, it's all about employing a super-bad-ass security detail comprised of former intelligence and government operatives, law-enforcement officials and paramilitary men.

"We are faster and smarter than most guards," says an Israeli-army-trained bodyguard who now works in Hollywood. "We're more than just muscles to our clients. They sleep soundly because of us."

While hiring such highly trained experts may seem more narcissistic than necessary - really, does a man who once guarded the life of, say, the president of the United States really feel that a pop idol or movie star needs the same caliber of protection? - experts say that some celebs really require such highly trained detail.

"Not all of these threats [against stars] are in the papers," says Aaron Cohen, owner of a private firm called Israeli Military Specialists. "We don't do security for people who only want flash. Just those who need it."

And Cohen says that the most visible celebrities are threatened, stalked, and in danger much more than the general public realizes.

IMS is a bi-coastal protection company (with offices in New York and L.A.) with a staff of over 25 ex-Israeli soldiers, all of whom served in counter-terrorism commando unit. Their specialties: breaking terrorist strongholds, freeing hostages, stopping suicide bombers and other classified operations.

As a kid growing up in Beverly Hills, Cohen knew families who were the victims of kidnapping threats and stalkers. After serving in the Israeli army's counter-terrorist unit, he brought the skills he learned in Israel - like krav maga, the official martial arts-like defense program of the Israeli army, as well as "sophisticated surveillance techniques" - to the private sector.

"I [realized that I] could bring this back to L.A., where there is a heightened need for celebrity security," he says. But expertise like Cohen's is not cheap: IMS charges a $5,000 initial retainer fee, and up to $85 per hour per guard, which adds up to $85,000 for 10 days of around-the-clock protection. "You get what you pay for in this business," says a former Secret Service agent, who asks to remain anonymous. "Some knucklehead off the street may not charge a lot, but he certainly won't be an asset to one's safety."

Indeed. Agents check out event scenes long before the client ever walks down the red carpet. "We know every point of ingress [entrance] and egress [exit], every person who plans to attend, who the press people are, plus how to deal with compound fractures and cardiac arrests and handle gun-related incidents.

"We know how to take violent offenders into custody. And, as clichי as it sounds, we'll gladly take a bullet for our client," says a professional who wants his name - and former law enforcement position - left out.

Cohen's IMS also offers security plans specifically set up for each client, in addition to GPS systems in cars that track clients 24/7, as well as estate protection.

Cohen believes his business has increased recently due to several factors: "The paparazzi are willing to do anything - even violate privacy - to snap a shot of a star," he says.

"There are delusional fans who suffer from erotomania, a disorder where the person feels a certain celebrity is the object of his or her affection, and often results in violence. And there are fundamental, radically motivated extremists who are disgusted by the Western world and blame the 'Zionists who run Hollywood' for corrupting the entertainment medium."

Add that to the culture's general obsession with celebrity - 24-hour entertainment channels, reality TV, tabloids and glossies reporting and photographing stars' every move, and the fear of terrorist attacks at high-profile events like the Oscars - and it's no wonder simple bodyguards just aren't cutting it anymore. Though the point of having such expert, high-level protection is to be quiet about it, Russell Crowe made a point of going public when he hired ex-CIA and FBI agents after receiving kidnap threats. He brought his detail to the Oscars in 2001, and called his guards a "necessary evil."

Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan and Barbra Streisand all reportedly employ the same level of security (Cruise's house is even said to be rigged with cameras by the trash bins.)

"We're trained to blend into the woodwork and leave no margin for error," explains Lou Palumbo. A former NYPD officer, Polumbo started Elite Group Ltd., which is in charge of security for the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, and high visibility executives and celebs. (Right now the company is guarding one Oscar winner and one British pop artist who he won't identify). He charges up to $100 per hour per guard, not including expenses.

Some stars, however, want protection just to stroke their own egos. They see bodyguards as a mere status symbol. During New Year's Eve parties at the swanky Shore Club Hotel in Miami, a New York publicist says she noticed "more bodyguards than celebrities."

*NSYNC's J.C. Chasez was in the house with "Tiny," a hulking giant who handled Steven Tyler's security for 10 years. Lenny Kravitz and his beast were inseparable.

Venus Williams' bodyguard spends more time canoodling with her than assessing threats; Lizzie Grubman, meanwhile, has been sighted with a bodyguard who looks more like a boyfriend.

"The problem is, most of these people have no idea who they're hiring," says Palumbo. "There are so many bodyguards who are out-of- work actors, models, hotel employees [more than anything]. They know nothing about the business of protection."

In fact, burly thugs do anything but keep their clients incognito - and safe. "They may be intimidating, but they're not always smart, nor do they really know how to handle threat assessment," says IMS' Cohen. Witness Puff Daddy, who is always escorted by over 10 "grimy Harlem guys from the street, some of whom are ex-cons," says a source close to the hip-hopper. His team has been known to start more fights than stop them.

Then there is Britney Spears' gorilla, aptly named Big Rob, who probably couldn't run two blocks without having a coronary. Justin Timberlake has Mike - who looks a lot like Big Rob. "I've seen Justin at Suite 16 with his bodyguard, and the bodyguard does nothing more than fetch Justin drinks," says one publicist who asked not to be named.

And on the first season of "The Osbournes," one episode revolved around the arrest of one of their private security guards, who had allegedly been caught stealing from a neighbor's home.

Granted, at the time the episode was shot, the Osbournes had a far lower profile than they do now. Cohen, of course, has a few suggestions. "The number of obsessed fans has probably increased," he says. "They [the Osbournes] should move to a discreet location out of Beverly Hills, have 24-hour computerized security, mail-checking and professionals on the premises," he says.

But should they hire Cohen or any of his colleagues - and they may already have - the general public will never know it. As one pro says, "A smart guard isn't in the papers - only his client is."