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Wading through murky Brazilian swamps to make deals with terrorists holding a U.S. CEO hostage. Sifting through stacks of receipts to spot an embezzler pilfering thousands of dollars. Coaxing a disgruntled employee to defuse a pipe bomb strapped to his chest.
It's part of the job for J.D. Gifford, 51, and Ned Timmons, 47, owners of Legal & Security Strategies Consulting Inc., a Sylvan Lake company that specializes in workplace-violence prevention, executive protection and crisis management. LSS markets itself to high-end corporate clientele. It does not compete for traditional, uniformed security work.
"We provide corporations with a corporate FBI," Timmons said. That means handpicking former cops, FBI and CIA agents and former law-enforcement personnnel from other countries.
What began in 1991 has mushroomed to include more than 300 clients and 1995 sales of $4 million, up from $1.5 million in 1994.
LSS has offices -- visible and covert -- in the United States, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Colombia and Venezuela. The company also has associates in Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
LSS often performs risky undercover operations -- Gifford has no business card and neither men could be photographed for Crain's -- but Gifford and Timmons said they are discussing their work publicly for the first time because of growing demands for sophisticated business security.
Fueling LSS sales last year was a contract to provide executive security for Detroit Newspapers executives during the ongoing strike at...