Editors’ Note

Prior to assuming his current post, Dr. Viollis was President and CEO of Corporate Risk Consulting, Senior Man­aging Director for Citigate Global Intelligence & Security, and Vice President at Kroll where he served on their post September 11th Threat Assessment Team. Before this, he developed a diverse base of expertise in various areas of the criminal justice system ranging from his position as a supervisor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Court Unit and Security Specialist/Supervisor under the United States Space Command to Commanding Officer of a Florida State Police Academy. Dr. Viollis has been involved in thousands of investigations and specializes in workplace violence behavioral analysis of which he is currently recognized as one of the foremost experts in the world. He is also the author and lead editor for Jane’s Publishing’s book Workplace Security and most recently co-authored Silent Safety…Best Practices for Protecting the Affluent with business partner Doug Kane. Dr. Viollis currently serves as a columnist for Worth magazine on security issues. He received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College, an M.P.A. from the University of Central Florida, and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy with a major in Business Administration from Madison University.

Company Brief

Risk Control Strategies (www.riskcontrolstrategies.com; RCS) is a leading Threat Management, Investigative, and Security Consulting firm specializing in serving the affluent community, corporations, and governmental agencies. RCS fuses proven expertise through the effectual utilization of a team of renowned former federal and state law enforcement professionals representing each industry related discipline. This in concert with its pre-eminent technological inventory and service delivery provides its clients with true world-leading deliverables. RCS is a privately held corporation headquartered in New York with offices in California, Florida, Texas, and Nevada.

What did you see in the market that made you feel there was a need for Risk Control Strategies and what was your vision?

9/11 had significantly changed our societal mores, especially pertaining to risk and security. However, given our culture of ‘hitting the snooze button’ post tragedy, Doug (Kane) and I felt it was foreseeable that the criminal mantra would focus its attention on the affluent community given its blatant vulnerabilities and attractive revenue potential. As more security companies jumped on the corporate security bandwagon utilizing a base of subcontractors, we focused on building a completely self-contained firm with full-time talent so as to create a valid and reliable portfolio of comprehensive investigative and security services. As the economic conditions continued to decline and the trust bubble burst in the wake of Wall Street and Madoff, our business model was corroborated by a critical mass revenue stream arising from the enhanced need for due diligence as well as the significant uptick in home invasions, extortion, cyber intrusions and threat-related crimes.

Is it challenging to differentiate in this space?

Our industry is blessed with a good amount of talent. However, it rarely sits under one roof but rather within individual silos, which oftentimes is problematic for the end user. For example, for those that do real high-end investigative due diligence, there may be 30 or 40 companies in the country. For those called upon to sweep your boardroom, aircraft, yacht or home before you move in, there may be 10 in the country. If you’re building a $30-million home and you’re seeking an advanced security system, there may be five or six companies that handle that. Our point of differentiation is the full-time professionals we employ enfolded by company-owned technology, which sets the best practice bar for the industry.

Is the focus global?

Yes, it has to be to serve our clientele. We have just over 250 human assets outside the U.S. who are on our bench so when we need anything from intelligence to protection, it’s available instantly.

Would you elaborate on the breadth of services you provide?

Our service offering is housed within our Practice Areas, which consist of Global Investigations & Intelligence, Litigation Support, Cyber Security, Electronic Countermeasure, Estate Security, Corporate Security, and Workplace Violence. A sampling of the response matters we attend to with the greatest frequency are stalking, identity or data theft, workplace violence, extortion, residential crime (i.e. home invasion, burglary, theft), corporate espionage, and personal threat mitigation issues such as kidnapping, missing persons, and threats to executives, celebrities or family members.

Are there still services you provide for the corporate market?

Most certainly. Our corporate security services focuses primarily on Litigation Support, workplace violence pre-incident (i.e. surveillance, behavioral risk analysis, at-risk termination facilitation) and response (incident containment and corporate recovery), comprehensive vulnerability assessments for commercial office buildings, and business continuity plan development.

Additionally, our Electronic Countermeasure Practice is routinely called upon to sweep offices, boardrooms, aircraft, and other venues utilizing thermo-molecular imaging equipment to detect the presence of audio/video eavesdropping equipment.

Do people truly understand the significance and reality of security issues?

For the most part, no. For example, the affluent make a sexy business model for a criminal because they’re low hanging fruit; criminals know a $20-million house typically has a basic alarm system with minimal monitoring and that the owners speak freely in front of their house staff, which is an open invitation for extortion.

On the corporate side, we as a country have yet to embrace the fact that we are in the embryonic stage of a Holy War meaning future terrorist attacks on U.S. soil are inevitable. What makes the required solutions complex is not the dynamic of the deliverable but the reluctance of the individual to accept the reality of the risk.

Can you guarantee full security for customers?

We can guarantee a goal line to goal line deliverable that marries industry leading intellect, technology, and intelligence to the specific risk of the client, regardless of venue.

Providing peace of mind to clients and the ability to navigate through their lives with a non-excessive amount of security without compromise to privacy is our goal. The best security is what you don’t see.•