Eagle Care programme spreads its wings

With the nation’s crime situation now totally out of control, citizens are calling on those elected to office to effectively deal with the problem and restore some level of peace and security in T&T. On August 21, the government responded to those calls by implementing a limited state of emergency for 15 days and a 9 pm to 5 am curfew in six regional corporations throughout the country identified as “hot spots.” Will it make a significant impact? The government seems to think so. The rest of the population, however, isn’t so sure—at least not as yet.

But according to Samuel Stafford, Head of Executive Bodyguard Services Ltd (EBSL), the government cannot shoulder all the blame. When it comes to dealing with crime, he believes it’s everybody’s business. In a bid to step up his fight against the criminal element, Stafford, yesterday launched the Eagle Care membership programme in San Fernando, which he is confident will put a “spoke in the wheel” of criminals. “For this programme, we have placed agents, equipped with specially-designed motorcycles in each zone of our members to enable us to respond within ten minutes of any incident. We want to show the bandits that as a body, we can be strong against them,” he explained.

“We’re trying to get all the communities together so we can have one voice. We’ll be taking the programme everywhere, from Matelot to Icacos.” Stafford, who in 1996, became the first non-Japanese to win a Gold Medal (Black Belt Kumite Division) at the 34th annual Seisninxa World Karate Championship, Japan, said he was calling on citizens to embrace the programme as it requires all hands on deck to take T&T back from the firm grip of the criminal element.

Back to the basics
Noting that his aim was to get over 500,000 people to join the programme “in a short time-frame,” Stafford said it’s also important for the nation to get back to the basics in order to tackle crime. “As long as citizens keep minding their own business we will get nowhere. In the old days, the entire community looked out for each other. Every single citizen had a part to play,” he lamented.

How can one get involved in the Eagle Care Programme? Well, first you’ll have to pay a yearly fee of $500 to become a member. Thereafter, Stafford said one of his agents will make a house visit to do “an evaluation.” “Our members will also get a security insurance which will allow them to enjoy ‘a certain level of comfort.’ It’s all about getting the criminals off the streets,” he said.

Perfect track record
When it comes to the business of security, Stafford doesn’t mix matters. That could probably explain the noted success of his 12-year-old security firm. The 38-year-old black belt said EBSL continues to be lead by example and has a perfect track record to prove it. “We have recaptured every reported stolen vehicle by our members within one hour. My technical department designed our own GPS platform with the latest technology and we’re proud to say it was built right here in T&T. When we came into the industry, we came with something different.” Stafford added that his agents receive the highest level of training which places them heads and shoulders above the rest.

“I took the martial arts training and redefined it into the modern day security agent. Over the years, a lot of companies have tried to imitate us but the training aspect is difficult for them to sustain,” he boasted. “Within the last 18 months, two men attempted to steal a firearm from our agents and we strongly believe that it’s because of the high level of firearm retention training they received, caused them to be able to retain the firearm and in one case, shoot the criminal in his leg.”

Stafford, whose clients are mainly corporate companies and citizens in the “upper-middle and upper class,” stated that he has made the programme affordable to the “working class person” as “crime affects everyone.” He added, “The total number of criminals is not more than 15,000. We law abiding citizens are in the majority, so why do we allow them to control our destiny and movements? We need to get the ball rolling.”

For more information visit www.ebsltt.com