Most important public figures such as heads of state or governors are protected by several bodyguards or by a team of bodyguards from an agency, security forces, or police forces (e.g., in the US, the United States Secret Service or the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service). In countries where the head of state is a military leader or dictator, the leader's bodyguards may also be part of an elite military unit. Less-important public figures, or those with lower risk profiles, may be accompanied by a single bodyguard who doubles as a driver. A number of high-profile celebrities and CEOs also use bodyguards.

Popular misconceptions

The role of bodyguards is often misunderstood by the public, because the typical layperson's only exposure to bodyguarding is usually in highly dramatized action film depictions of the profession. Action films and espionage movies depict burly bodyguards who respond to a potential threat by immediately withdrawing submachine guns and firing, or by doing high-speed driving. In addition to overemphasizing the offensive elements of bodyguarding, these depictions fail to show the "shades of grey" that bodyguards are exposed to. In films, threats are unambiguous: ski-mask wearing gunmen fire at the client from a black Suburban truck.

In real life, threats may be harder to assess. If a crowd of unarmed protesters pushes towards the client, and blocks the access to the client's car and to the building the client is being escorted to, this poses a threat, because the client is caught outside of the two "safe zones" (car and building). Moreover, in the chaos of the shouting protesters, it is hard for the bodyguards to see who is in the crowd and if they have weapons. As well, the client is exposed to the risk of other attacks, such as sniper fire or an explosive such as a grenade attack. However, the bodyguards have no legal right to use force unless a protester attacks a bodyguard or attempts to attack the client; the protesters are in a public place. The bodyguards will call the police, but they may not arrive for ten to twenty minutes.

The team leader will have to find a way to get through the crowd and get the client to the vehicle, or into the building. Non-violent, legal tactics may include using the car-mounted megaphone to order the crowd to disperse, slowly moving the car forward towards the client (thus dispersing the crowd), or gently pushing through the crowd while speaking authoritatively to the protesters. If the bodyguards were to use pepper spray on the protesters or strike them with an expandable baton, the bodyguards could be charged with assault.

In contrast to the exciting lifestyle depicted on the film screen, the role of a real-life bodyguard is much more mundane: it consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the background of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and attentively escorting the client on their day-to-day activities. In real-life bodyguarding, any time that a bodyguard has to unholster a weapon or drive at high speed to escape an attacker, this means that their pre-planning and risk avoidance measures have been unsuccessful.