Nicola Willison
Principal, London
Unrivalled expertise in Confidential Crisis Response
In the event of a kidnap, extortion or threat incident, you need to do all you can to protect your people. Control Risks is here to support your organisation through even the most challenging of crises.
For more than five decades, Control Risks has led the confidential crisis response market in resolving cases of kidnap for ransom, extortion, threat and arbitrary detention. We have supported clients in more than 5,200 cases in over 150 countries, amassing over 62,000 case-days of combined experience. Control Risks is retained exclusively by Hiscox at Lloyd’s of London to provide priority acute crisis response to clients insured under special contingency (K&R) policies: hiscox.com.
During a kidnap, extortion or threat incident, every decision matters. Our specialist consultants deploy wherever you need them, bringing the judgement, discretion and expertise to protect your people and resolve the crisis.
How we respond
- Assess the specific circumstances of the crisis and provide guidance on its immediate and continuous management.
- Develop and advise on effective strategies for negotiation or resolution of the crisis at hand.
- Support on appropriate liaison with law enforcement and other key stakeholders.
- Recommend measures to ensure that your family or organisation limits future exposure.
Behavioural threat assessment
Drawing on extensive experience, we help organisations respond to targeted threats of violence and other concerning communications or behaviours. Should your staff or operations be affected, our specialist Behavioural Threat Assessment team is ready to support.
The team comprises former-FBI certified behavioural profilers alongside our Forensic Psychiatrist and Forensic Psychologist, with globally recognised expertise in behavioural analysis, threat assessments, radicalisation and violence prevention. The team will:
- Analyse concerning communications and behaviours and interview affected parties.
- Review open and closed-source intelligence about the person(s) of interest, gathered by our digital threat intelligence and investigations specialists, to better understand the individual and identify critical factors relevant to our assessment.
- Assess the level of concern for an act of violence against your organisation and/or people, providing recommendations for short-term, and where necessary, longer-term management of the threat.
Control Risks is also able to provide these services to clients without special contingency insurance.
Extortive crime analysis experts
Control Risks maintains the only team of expert analysts in the sector dedicated to tracking kidnap-for-ransom, extortive crime and arbitrary detention trends globally.
Our Special Risks Analysis (SRA) team provides critical operational analysis to support consultants deployed on active kidnap, detention, threat and extortion cases. From the moment we are notified of an active case through to its conclusion, the team provides actionable, ground-level information to help guide the negotiation or resolution of the incident.
The team’s analysis is backed by our proprietary commercial database of kidnap and extortive crime incidents – the largest of its kind with over 92,000 records – which tracks key indicators, such as kidnap durations, average demands and typical perpetrators. Our specialist SRA analysts also support organisations with preventive kidnap and extortion analysis through bespoke consulting, addressing clients’ unique risk exposures.
Kidnap, threat and extortion planning and prevention
We work with your organisation to ensure that you have the appropriate structures in place, with clear, concise procedures to help assess and manage an incident should one occur. Control Risks will work with you to draft new, or review existing plans, ensuring they address your key challenges and represent industry best practice. These include:
- Measures to reduce the likelihood of an abduction.
- The elements and structure of a kidnap, including an awareness of the pressures that can develop.
- Effective coping skills and strategies that will help to reduce the psychological impact of a kidnap.
- The design, development and implementation of threat-of-violence prevention programmes.
Training
We conduct training workshops designed to provide an understanding of the critical issues and decisions associated with resolving kidnap, extortion or threat cases:
- Overall incident management.
- Theory, strategy and practical application of coercive negotiation techniques.
- Strategies for proactively identifying and managing concerning situations in a manner designed to prevent escalation.
- How to build an effective Behavioural Threat Assessment and Management Team and programme for your organisation.
- Managing and caring for affected families and other victim stakeholders.
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Training calendar
Control Risks offers training when and where you require it, but we also have a calendar of courses that are open to clients around the world.
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