Full-Time Executive Protection: Hiring In-House vs. Retaining a Licensed Firm

There is a point at which booking protection by the day stops making sense. The principal's profile has grown. The family's schedule has become complex. A board, an insurer, or a general counsel has said that coverage should be continuous. The question changes from "who do we call when we need someone" to "who is responsible for this every day."

At that point a household, a family office, or a company has two options. Hire a full-time protective agent or security driver directly onto the payroll. Or retain a licensed firm to provide a dedicated team under an ongoing agreement.

Both can work. They carry very different costs, legal exposure, and failure points, and most buyers only learn the differences after committing to one. This guide lays them out for the people who usually run the decision: chiefs of staff, family office executives, estate managers, corporate security directors, and executive assistants.

Who Reaches This Decision

In Westchester County, Fairfield County, and New York City, the move to full-time coverage usually follows one of these patterns.

• A rising public profile. A founder after a liquidity event. An executive promoted to a named officer role. A public figure whose audience has grown faster than their privacy.
• A corporate mandate. A board-approved security program that requires protective coverage for the CEO, often including the commute and personal travel. Many public companies disclose this as a required benefit precisely because the board, and not the executive, has asked for it.
• A persistent concern. A fixated individual, a long-running dispute, or a pattern of unwanted contact that is not going away.
• A complex family. Several children, several schools, two working parents who travel, household staff, and more than one residence. The protective need is real but the daily reality is logistics.
• A household that has outgrown its driver. A long-serving family chauffeur is retiring, and the family realizes the role should now include protective training.

In each case the need is daily, the relationship is long term, and trust is the deciding factor.

Option One: The In-House Hire

Hiring directly has real advantages, and it is the right choice for some principals.

What it offers

• Continuity. One person who learns the principal's preferences, the family's rhythms, and the household's staff.
• Loyalty and familiarity. Children in particular respond to a consistent face.
• Control. The agent works only for you, on your schedule, under your direction.

What it actually costs

The salary is the visible number. The full cost of an in-house protective employee includes:

• Salary, overtime, and bonus. Protective schedules run long, and overtime accumulates quickly.
• Payroll taxes, workers' compensation, health coverage, and retirement contributions.
• A suitable vehicle, commercial insurance on it, fuel, maintenance, and replacement.
• Licensing, registration, annual in-service training, and continuing protective and medical training.
• Liability insurance covering the employee's actions.
• Recruiting costs and background investigation.
• Relief coverage for vacations, sick days, training days, and family emergencies.

Once these are added, the true annual cost of a single in-house agent typically lands well above the salary that was negotiated, and the household has still bought only one person.

The coverage problem

This is the issue that surprises employers most. One person cannot provide full-time protection.

A single employee works roughly 230 to 240 days a year after weekends, holidays, vacation, and sick time, and cannot safely work sixteen-hour days in succession. A principal who needs coverage from a 6:00 AM departure to a 10:00 PM return, six or seven days a week, needs more than one person. Families often discover this in the first month, when their new agent asks for a day off and there is no one to call.

The usual patch is a second hire, which doubles the cost, or a day-rate agency on the employee's days off, which introduces strangers on exactly the days the family has the least oversight.

The legal exposure

When you employ a protective agent directly, you are the employer of record for everything that person does on duty.

• Licensing. In New York, security work for hire is regulated by the Department of State. A proprietary, in-house arrangement has its own registration requirements, and an agent carrying a firearm needs a New York pistol license and armed guard credentials. Connecticut has a parallel system. Families with homes in Greenwich and offices in Manhattan are operating in both.
• Use of force. If an employee injures someone while protecting you, the claim names you.
• Vehicle liability. An employee driving your family in your vehicle is covered by your policies, and an accident is your claim.
• Employment law. Wage and hour rules, overtime, termination, and the privacy issues that come with an employee who knows everything about your family.

None of this is unmanageable. It does require counsel, an insurance review, and ongoing administration that most households are not set up to perform.

The single point of failure

An in-house agent who resigns, is injured, or has to be terminated leaves the principal with no coverage that afternoon. The person leaving also carries detailed knowledge of the family's routines, residences, and vulnerabilities. A retained firm spreads that knowledge across a small vetted team under contractual confidentiality, and one departure does not end the program.

Option Two: The Retained Licensed Firm

In a retained arrangement, a licensed firm provides a dedicated team under an ongoing agreement. The principal sees the same small group of faces. The firm carries the licensing, the insurance, the vehicles, the training, the scheduling, and the backup.

What it offers

• Continuous coverage. Vacations, illness, and long days are the firm's problem to staff, from a bench the principal has already met.
• Transferred liability. The firm is the employer. Its license, its insurance, and its policies govern the agents' conduct.
• Vehicles included. Maintained, insured, replaced, and substituted when one is in the shop.
• Scalability. One agent on an ordinary Tuesday. Three agents and two vehicles for the annual meeting or the family wedding. No new vendor, no new vetting.
• Supervision. Someone senior reviews the work. An in-house agent is usually supervised by an assistant or a house manager with no protective background.
• A clean exit. If the fit is wrong, the firm changes the agent. If the need ends, the agreement ends. There is no termination to manage.

What to watch for

• Rotating strangers. Some firms sell a dedicated team and deliver whoever is available. Insist on named primary and backup agents, and the right to approve changes.
• Subcontracted vehicles. Most security firms do not hold transportation authority and rent cars and drivers from a limousine company. That puts a second company, and an unbriefed driver, in the most exposed part of the principal's day.
• Subcontracted agents. Large national firms often broker local work to small vendors. Ask who employs the people who will actually show up.
• Long lock-ins. A fair agreement has a reasonable term and a reasonable exit.

Side by Side

In-house hireRetained licensed firmFaces the principal seesOneA small named teamCoverage on days off, sick days, vacationNone, or a day-rate strangerIncluded, from a known backupEmployer of recordYouThe firmLicensing and training complianceYour responsibilityThe firm's responsibilityLiability for agent's actionsPrimarily yoursPrimarily the firm's, under its insuranceVehicleYou buy, insure, maintainIncludedScale up for events and travelNew vendor each timeSame firm, same standardSupervisionUsually non-expertProfessionalIf the agent leavesCoverage stopsBackup steps inCost profileSalary plus substantial hidden costsOne predictable feeBest forPrincipals who value one constant presence above allPrincipals who need coverage without gaps

Why Transportation Decides More Than People Expect

Look at how a protected principal actually spends a week. The hours at the office are inside a secured building. The hours at home are inside a private residence. The exposure is in between: the driveway, the school line, the curb outside the restaurant, the FBO, the garage entrance.

A full-time protective program is therefore, in large part, a transportation program. The daily work is driving, staging, arrivals, and departures, performed by people trained to do those things protectively.

This is where the structure of the provider matters. A security firm that rents its vehicles cannot guarantee the same driver twice. A limousine company cannot legally provide protective services. Households that try to solve this themselves end up managing a security vendor, a car service, and a personal driver, each with a partial view of the principal's schedule.

Stealth Protection holds both the transportation license and the executive protection license. The agent and the security driver are employees of the same company, trained to one standard, dispatched from one desk. For a retained client that means a dedicated team, dedicated vehicles, and one point of contact for the chief of staff or estate manager. No subcontracting and no handoffs.

The roles themselves are explained in our guide to the security driver and the chauffeur, and the services are described on our executive protection and secure transportation pages.

What a Retained Engagement With Stealth Protection Looks Like

Every retained program is scoped privately, because no two principals have the same week. The structure is consistent.

1. A confidential assessment. We meet with the decision maker and the daily point of contact. We review the principal's schedule, residences, offices, travel patterns, family needs, and any specific concerns. Names can be withheld until an agreement is in place.

2. A written program. Coverage hours, staffing, vehicles, armed or unarmed posture, reporting, and communication. The program states what is included and how additional coverage for events or travel is handled.

3. A named team. A primary agent or security driver, and named backups, all introduced to the principal before the first day. The principal approves the team. Changes are made with notice and consent.

4. Dedicated vehicles. The standard assignment is a Cadillac Escalade ESV. Families who prefer a lower profile often choose a Chevrolet Suburban. Larger movements draw on the wider fleet, including executive Sprinters.

5. Daily operation. The team works from the principal's calendar, coordinated with the assistant or estate manager. Routes and timing are varied. Locations are advanced. The vehicle is never unattended.

6. Surge capacity. Board meetings, galas, weddings, and visiting family are covered by the same company through our event transportation and protective teams. Airport movements at Westchester County Airport, Teterboro, and the commercial airports run through our airport service.

7. Reporting and review. A brief daily summary to the point of contact. A periodic review with the decision maker to adjust the program as the principal's life changes.

How to Start Without Committing to a Year

A decision this size should be tested first. We recommend a staged approach.

• A trial period. Two to four weeks of coverage on the principal's real schedule, with the proposed primary agent and at least one day with the backup.
• A review at the end. The principal, the assistant, and the decision maker each give feedback. We adjust the team, the hours, or the posture.
• A written program only after that. By the time an agreement is signed, the principal already knows the people and the routine.

This protects both sides. The principal is never locked into a team that has not proven itself, and the program is built on what the week actually looks like.

A Third Path: Retained Firm Alongside Existing Staff

Some principals already have a trusted driver or a corporate security department. A retained firm can complement them.

• Backfill. Covering the in-house agent's days off, vacations, and training with a known team instead of a day-rate stranger.
• Local ground support for a corporate team. A company's security staff handles strategy and travels with the executive. A licensed local firm provides vehicles, security drivers, and New York and Connecticut credentialed agents on the ground.
• Family coverage. The company protects the executive. The family's daily movements are covered under a separate household agreement.
• Transition. A retained team provides coverage while a household recruits an in-house hire, and remains as the backup once that person starts.

Our corporate transportation accounts are often the starting point for these arrangements.

Questions to Ask Before You Commit to Either Path

If you are hiring in-house

• Who covers the agent's days off, and have we met them?
• Has counsel reviewed licensing requirements in every state where the agent will work?
• Does our insurance specifically cover protective employees and their use of force?
• Who supervises the agent's work and evaluates it?
• What is the plan on the day this person leaves?

If you are retaining a firm

• Do you hold a security agency license, a transportation license, or both?
• Who employs the agents and drivers, and who owns the vehicles?
• Who are the named primary and backup team members, and can we approve changes?
• What are your insurance limits, and will you name us on a certificate?
• Who at your company will know the principal's identity and schedule?
• What does the agreement say about term, exit, and confidentiality?
• Can you scale for events and travel without outside vendors?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a retained team more expensive than a full-time employee?Compared with salary alone, often yes. Compared with the full cost of an employee, a vehicle, insurance, training, and relief coverage, it is frequently comparable or lower, and it includes backup that a single hire cannot provide. We provide private quotes after an assessment.

Will we see the same people every day?Yes. A retained program is built around a named primary and a small number of named backups. Consistency is the point.

Can the team cover our children and household as well as the principal?Yes. Family programs commonly include school and activity runs, travel days, and coverage for a spouse.

Do you provide armed agents for retained clients?When the assessment supports it. Armed agents hold the required state credentials. Many retained programs are unarmed.

Can you work alongside our existing driver or corporate security team?Yes. Backfill and ground support arrangements are common.

What area do you cover?We are based in Port Chester and serve Westchester County, Fairfield County, and New York City daily, with travel coverage arranged as needed. More about the company is on the About page.

How do we begin?With a private conversation. No names are required on the first call.

Request a Confidential Assessment

If you are responsible for a principal who needs protection every day, we will walk you through both paths and tell you plainly which one suits your situation. Call (914) 653-6228 at any hour or send a confidential inquiry. To see how we work before committing to anything, book a single day of service and add a protective agent to the reservation.

One team. Both licenses. One point of contact.