About Pilgrim
Pilgrim Security is a risk consultancy firm, located in Bogotá, Colombia. It was founded in 2004 by a group of security risk professionals, seeking to offer an alternative in security for multinationals - a "One-stop shop".
Pilgrim´s clients include four large oil companies, two American NGOs, and eight of the ten most important law firms in Colombia and security companies on an international scale.
Capacities
Risk management for all types of project (rural/urban), including the handling of security for management personnel.
Risk information. This is a fundamentally critical task to understand the context in which client operations are conducted.
Outsourcing of security experts.
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Business intelligence and investigations
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Polygraph testing
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Protection of executives and events
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Pilgrim Operations Centre (COP)
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Information centre
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Consultancy on risk management
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Specialised personnel in risk management
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Reliability studies
Licences
Pilgrim Security is duly licensed by the security supervisory agency, the Private Guards and Security Superintendency. Apart from the ordinary licence for guards and security services, Pilgrim has a special licence that authorises the company to engage in investigations, consultancy, polygraph testing and information services. Few companies in Colombia have this type of licence. This licence is not the same as the ordinary Surveillance and Security Licence: Pilgrim is not engaged in that kind of service.
Clients
Pilgrim clients are Colombian and foreign multinationals, from a wide range of sectors of the economy, such as oil/mining, local and international law firms, insurance sector (insurance and reinsurance companies and brokers), global companies, USAID operators, pharmaceuticals, and others. This allows us to have a broad and complete spectrum of the various kinds of threat and risk to which clients are exposed and so, to offer tailor-made solutions to each of them. Our service portfolio includes the provision of advisory services in implementing physical security programs, risk analysis and appraisal, project appraisal, trademark investigations, reputational studies for individuals and legal entities, reliability studies in personnel selection processes and polygraph services.
Business Areas
Business intelligence and investigations
The need to open up new markets and obtain partners and get to know them, offers major opportunities. There are of course, potential risks if intelligence is not applied, or if the essential assessment of risk management is not made. The prevention of risk offers many competitive advantages for your business; if actions are taken with the idea of going more deeply into a given issue, this opens up the scope of awareness when going into any type of negotiation.
An intelligent investigation is the search for previous knowledge and the prevention of latent risks in the market today, for which reason we focus on the following areas of action:
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Reputational reports (Due Diligence)
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Financial fraud
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Abuse of intellectual property and improper use of trademarks
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Litigation consultants
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Location of assets
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General investigations
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Financial investigations
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Fraud
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Confirmation and checks on the real existence of a company or person
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Prevention of asset-laundering risks
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Forensic services (fingerprinting, graphology, voice analysis, etc)
Pilgrim Security covers the Americas to provide clients with a privileged service, with excellent contacts and sources covering the entire region.
Protection of Executives and Events
Pilgrim Security has the capacity and experience to provide protection services for executives, with the highest levels of quality and professionalism. The security risks for executives and organisations may be significantly reduced through technical and strategic planning of work. With risk prevention, there can be a number of different forms of mitigation: advanced equipment, personnel with high-level training, and good communications (including the authorities).
Our experience includes the implementation of services for multinationals, executives and foreign visitors, not only in Colombia, but also elsewhere in Latin America, particularly in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Peru, amongst others.
The client can take advantage of security services from the moment of arrival, using the following services:
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Meet & Greet service
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Security personnel (security-trained drivers, armed escorts, high-profile English-speaking security consultants)
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Vehicles, (conventional, saloon cars, 4x4 and armoured)
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Outrider escort.
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Emergency response service.
Our experience includes the design and documentation of protection programs for events:
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Sports
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Corporate
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Conferences/seminars.
Pilgrim Operations Centre (COP)
Pilgrim Security has an Operations Centre, designed to act as a strategic ally in corporate physical and strategic security programs, as follows:
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Analysis of security situations in access roads to client operating areas.
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Control and monitoring with the identification and follow-up of vehicles used, routes selected, amongst others, for employees or contractors of companies, anywhere in Colombia.
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Early warning on potential threat factors and risks in access roads to projects or regions.
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Interlocutors and communications channels between field personnel (monitoring for each movement) and headquarters.
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Resources and support when an emergency arises, such as loss of communications, accidents, with the generation of a support network (coordination with the authorities), information and coordination to manage personnel in the field.
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Crisis management.
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We provide control and attention to security incidents for business vehicle fleets anywhere in Colombia, using satellite location technology on digital maps, and actual information taken by our route analysis team with GPS equipment and communications software, giving a real-time report on location, speed and other important aspects of each service.
The Operations Centre has Operations Coordinators and Security Operators who work round the clock, 365 days a year. They check, feed and monitor software for the management of trips and risk analysis to control the movements of personnel and vehicles.
Communications are handled over local fixed lines in Bogota, with mobile phones, with satellite communication and an other communication system available. There is also satellite tracking equipment for vehicles and individuals.
Information Centre
A correct reading of the security situation is one of the most important elements in risk management for security. For this reason, Pilgrim Security has a specialised Information Centre to handle resources and to provide an authoritative analysis in matters of national interest which are directly related to security in Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America. The Information Centre monitors the media daily and consolidates and analyses statistics at national and regional level, in order to generate documented information on the following areas:
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Early warning of events which may generate some vulnerability or risk to companies or individuals (marches, roadblocks, demonstrations, road closures, etc.), with a detailed analysis and follow-up of the course of events.
Consultancy in risk management
In an environment with such varied and particular threats as those generated by the groups which generate violence - terrorist groups, criminal gangs, drug-trafficking organisations, organised crime and common crime; companies must have a source of strategic advice on the identification, analysis, appraisal and treatment of risks to which the company is exposed by reason of its operations, or its geographical location, or its profile as an organisation, or some other particular feature.
Pilgrim Security, as a consultancy firm, has great experience in the evaluation in risk appraisal, taking account of the wide range of productive sectors of the economy, such as oil, insurance, mining, pharmaceuticals, air transport, power generation and industry, amongst others.
Our consultants have a wide range of technical baggage and expertise in:
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Conducting Threat / Risk Assessments; (geographical regions, oil blocks, etc.)
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Premises security studies (plants, refiners, buildings, museums, oilfields, mines, etc.)
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Terrorism risk studies
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Estimates of economic loss by terrorism events (PML)
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Risk analysis and appraisal
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VIP security studies (residential security study, route security study, profile of personal risks)
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Security audit (electronic security, private guard services, IT security, etc.)
Personnel specialised in risk management
As part of the advisory services in risk management, Pilgrim Security has highly-qualified and experienced personnel available, with the capacity to adapt the expectations and corporate identity of each company.
These personnel are internally classified as follows:
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Security manager/consultants
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Field security coordinators
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Security coordinators
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Field security supervisors
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Security centre operators
Our personnel have the support of the entire Pilgrim Security organisation, which has the capability to support client needs in implementing plans and procedures which are part of their physical security program (PSP).
Security procedures manual
Crisis management support
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Formation of the Crisis Committee
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Training of the Crisis Committee.
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Preparation of crisis management manuals/ procedures.
Security awareness programs
Polygraph testing
Polygraphy is a science which makes evaluations which spot variations in four different physiological reactions of the human being to detect deceit; it is based on a scientific method and standardised and validated procedures.
When a person tells a lie, their body consumes more energy, requires more oxygen; they becomes stressed, sweat, and their lood pressure increases. These variations are imperceptible to an interviewer or a interrogator; but the polygraph, a medical-scientific instrument which records changes in these physiological reactions in a standardised interview environment, can identify them.
It should be noted that the reliability of the system in itself is very high, but the human factor is what really determines the correct opinion in an appraisal. Pilgrim Security therefore has professional polygraph operators, who are not only trained in the area but are also psychologists. Further, Pilgrim Security constantly trains and updates the group of polygraph operators, since their discipline is making advances every day.
Areas of application
Selection
Allows:
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The hiring of suitable personnel in terms of security.
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A check on the truth of information supplied by the candidates.
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Taking a correct decision when selecting an officer who meets corporate, ethical guidelines.
Routine or follow-up
Allows:
Investigation
Allows:
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Fair and firm decisions to be taken in the face of an event - usually a crime - inside the company.
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Identification of authors, participants or collaborators in dishonest acts occurring in the company.
Vetting Process
In order to reinforce the selection process for potential employees, Pilgrim Security supports the selection process with reliability studies. This is a process which allows an authoritative decision to be taken, using prior knowledge and information about the individual.
The studies involve:
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A home visit. An analysis of the area around the home, in order to determine risks which could affect the company in terms of security.
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Reference checks. Corroboration of the truthfulness of information supplied by candidates, with regard to academic studies, employment record, and personal relationships.
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Background check. Consultation of a range of databases for the disciplinary and legal background of the candidates.