Celebrities are shelling out millions to protect their safety and privacy

Celebrities are willing to pay big money to protect themselves from the paparazzi. Photo: Getty Images

Celebrities in the US spend millions of dollars to help protect their privacy from the paparazzi, using the skills of their security teams to avoid unwanted attention.

Security teams often include veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, former UFC fighters and former NFL players.< /p>

They are trained in «representative protection» and driving avoidance, as well as using cars with tinted windows and decoy cars.

Teams organize the use of underground car parks and choose alternative routes when there are repeated trips.

The security team refers to celebrities as «directors» and their tactics include booking multiple rooms at different hotels.

Very rarely did they use the director's look-alikes to fool the paparazzi.

The guards are licensed to carry firearms and trained in first aid, and some even undergo a psychological assessment, and they advise clients not to post their upcoming whereabouts on social media.

In 'fear for their lives'< p>According to Kent Moyer, chief executive of the Los Angeles-based World Protection Group, which offers «the gold standard of private security protection for the wealthy,» more celebrities are seeking protection in the face of rising crime and a series of high-profile break-ins.

Some famous people, he says, «have their lives insured.»

The company is doing 3D mapping of homes and even using drones to assess security vulnerabilities for customers paying up to $1 million dollars a year.

Celebrities are perhaps most vulnerable when they travel by road between their destinations, as happened to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Tuesday night.

The first line of defense is bodyguards, and there has long been an unofficial rivalry between some celebrities for the right to hire the biggest ones.

However, security experts warn against hiring untrained bodybuilders or muscular friends as bodyguards, as they are more likely to push paparazzi or break their cameras, which can lead to a costly lawsuit.

Trained security personnel go through the so-called «Bodyguard 101» where they learn crowd control and safe driving to escape the scene quickly.

Desperation leads to aggression

A former celebrity photographer in the US told the Telegraph that celebrity chasing is on The roads are fueled by the growing financial desperation of some paparazzi.

«Many of them basically spend a lot of time driving Uber and Lyft,» he said. “They have a camera in their trunk, and when they get a chance to make money, they take out the camera.

“Because it's a rare opportunity, maybe that's why they're more aggressive and dangerous.

«If they don't get an image, they won't get paid, so there's always a need for the next set of images.

«There will always be those who are more aggressive in their actions than others, and this is where the danger lies,” he added.

The photographer suggested that in order to avoid danger, celebrities should stop and take pictures.

«If people [celebrities] play ball and their taking pictures, it's not that hunger, it's the persistence of the paparazzi,» he said.