A protective security unit typically provides policing, security, intelligence and bodyguard services for sovereigns and politicians. It can be contrasted with a security service, which provide protective security intelligence such as the British Security Service; and a

guards regiment Guards units (russian: Гвардия, translit=Gvardiya) were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after ...

for the defence of the Sovereign and the metropolis. Examples of these include the Household Division. There are also distinct non-combat

personal bodyguards A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

which serve as ceremonial guards and personal attendants (such as the Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard, the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a per ...

, and the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers of the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

, as well as the Corps of Serjeants at Arms, the

Gold Stick The Gold Stick and the Silver Stick are bodyguard positions in the British Royal Household, personal attendants to the Sovereign on ceremonial occasions. Gold Stick Although now only in evidence on ceremonial and state occasions, the offi ...

and Silver Stick, and the

High Constables and Guard of Honour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse The High Constables of Holyroodhouse are a small corps of ceremonial bodyguards at the Sovereign's official residence in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Created in the early sixteenth century to protect the Monarch in residence at Holyrood, as ...

). Well-known examples include the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department of the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Metropolitan Police, the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security charged with co ...

, and the Diplomatic Security Service of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. Typically they provide security and any ceremonial effect is not ''per se'' an objective. In

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the Garda Síochána (Irish Police) Special Detective Unit (SDU) and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) provide armed protection and transport for the Irish President, Michael D. Higgins and the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

(Prime Minister)

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

. The unit also provides protection for senior government officials, diplomatic staff and visiting dignitaries to Ireland. In Northern Ireland the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Close Protection Unit (CPU) provides protection to visiting dignitaries on visits to Northern Ireland as well as to the Secretary of State, members of the Royal Family and Government ministers.

References

Bodyguards {{Law-enforcement-stub

See also

References