Protecting Today’s Most Critical People and Places

A complete background investigation is the very heart of the pre-employment selection process. When hiring public safety personnel who require the highest level of trust, it’s imperative that a thorough, unbiased investigation be conducted—to reduce future personnel problems and potential negative exposure.

At CAI, we’ve developed an industry-leading background process based on decades of law enforcement experience. For over 20 years, we have conducted thousands of backgrounds for law enforcement, fire service, first responder civilian employees, and local municipalities.

Each of our POST-trained investigators have had public safety careers as well as experience conducting backgrounds while in uniform. Our investigators are intimately acquainted with the needs of public service agencies, as well as the unique hiring challenges facing those agencies that need to recruit the most qualified personnel to serve their communities. To ensure that we remain compliant with the most current regulations and deliver the most accurate background, our investigators participate in continual training.

At CAI, our background investigations not only meet POST requirements but are tailored to the specific needs of each individual agency. This is accomplished through pre-investigation meetings with each agency to identify both desirable and unacceptable applicant attributes. The investigation is conducted with these standards in mind.

For over two decades, Cooke & Associates Inc. has been a trusted public safety partner to law enforcement agencies throughout the Western United States. Partnerships with Cooke & Associates, Inc. minimize the impact of overtime on department budgets while allowing agencies to maintain required staffing levels on the street, both increasing public safety and increasing effectiveness.

The hospitalization of suspects poses a significant challenge to law enforcement agencies. Many departments face the difficulty of balancing 24/7 monitoring of an injured suspect, minimizing the impact of this overtime on the department budget, all while trying to maintain the requisite staffing levels on the street. With staffing levels dwindling, the reallocation of officers to stand guard in a hospital redirects the officers’ street time, decreases public safety and adds financial strain to already limited department budgets.

Our staff of experienced, law enforcement professionals will help departments monitor hospitalized suspects, reduce associated overtime costs, and create the opportunity for a more efficient allocation of resources. This reallocation of resources will allow for the deployment of officers back to the street where their expertise is needed to protect the community.

In today’s ever-changing environment, the size and complexity of disasters and critical incident command posts, fire camps, and crime scenes have grown substantially. In the last five years, the average ICP has increased in size to several hundred acres, with multiple locations, thousands of pieces of equipment and personnel, and support staff exceeding 3,000 people. Within these “small cities” are valuable pieces of equipment and sensitive financial and employee information. Often, an ICP/Base Camp will utilize a public venue or shared space with public access. As a result, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and equipment at these sites poses a significant challenge to public safety agencies.

CAI supports nationwide locations such as:

• Fire Camps, ICPs and Heliports
• Natural Disasters
• Crime Scenes
• Critical Incidents

We work with:

• Hired Equipment Managers
• Arson, Robbery & Homicide Investigators
• Local State and Federal Disaster Relief Agencies

For over two decades, CAI has been a leader in critical site protection for local, state, and federal agencies as well as multinational corporations. Unlike the typical observe-and-report security guards, our highly skilled Protective Services Officers are trained to be a tactical proactive deterrent with the ultimate goal of defeating an adversary seeking to comprise a critical site.

CAI Protective Services Officers safeguard employees, facilities, assets, and technology for locations such as:

• Defense Manufacturing Sites
• Critical Infrastructure
• Solar Farms
• Aerospace Companies
• Gas and Oil Fields
• High-Value Construction Sites

Through strategic partnerships with municipalities, Cooke & Associates, Inc. provides local law enforcement and emergency response forces with essential support services and direct response teams. Our history of collaboration with public safety agencies has made our team well versed in today’s complex risks and allows them to augment law enforcement, secure business, shopping and residential districts, provide monitoring services, and act as a crime deterrent.

Our highly trained staff comprised of active or retired law enforcement, fire, and military professionals, offers a unique partnership and unmatched experience. Our extensive experience bridges the gap between private sector security and public agencies, and in addition to core functions such as patrol, access control, and securing personnel, our seasoned professionals are adept in addressing more complex risks such as protests, securing point of origin scenes, workplace violence and active shooter incidents.

Over the past three decades, Harry has served foreign presidents, political figures, internationally recognized corporations and their brands, sports figures, celebrities, and other prominent and at-risk members of the community. He has worked in the corporate security, investigations, and executive protection arena serving in various roles such as Global Security Director for an international Life Sciences company, and Regional Security Manager for The Americas, Europe, and the Middle East for a globally recognized financial organization. In addition, he has served as a liaison between Fortune 500 corporations and various government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration, and OSHA.

Throughout his career, Harry has received highly specialized training from both government and private agencies. He is a graduate of Wharton University’s Security Executive Program, both the Department of Justice and R.L. Oatman & Associates’ Dignitary Protection programs, as well as formal law enforcement training from various Federal, state, and local agencies. Harry has been a guest speaker for various organizations and interview by various global media outlets. Harry is an internationally recognized Certified Business Continuity Professional.

Retired Chief Brian Brady is Cooke & Associates, Inc.’s Executive Director in charge of Public Safety Backgrounds where he leads the background department to provide public safety partners with the most detailed, P.O.S.T. compliant backgrounds. He is an accomplished law enforcement and security professional with over 30 years of experience serving the law enforcement communities of both California and New Mexico. In 1982, he joined the Novato Police Department as Captain of both the Operations and Services and Administration Divisions. Brian was then appointed Chief of Police, where he was responsible for leading a department of 100+ employees and delivering police services to over 55,000 residents.

Committed to the principles of community policing, Brian assisted in the development of the city’s first Police Advisory and Review Board and the Multi-Cultural Oversight Committee. In 2004, U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey recognized Chief Brady’s work at the Capitol in Washington; “Brian Brady’s inclusive vision for police work promotes the best in our communities.”

Robert Durr is Cooke & Associates, Inc.’s Manager of Operations where he coordinates and manages all aspects of CAI’s Protective Services and Public Safety Support.  Prior to joining CAI, Robert spent over 3 decades in law enforcement with the Santa Clara County Sherriff’s Office eventually retiring at the rank of Captain. He obtained an Associate of Arts Degree from West Valley College and completed his Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) training at Evergreen College. In his professional capacity, he has undergone extensive training in a variety of areas and has extensive practical work experience with local, state, and Federal agencies.

Robert is fluent in Arabic and his diverse skillset includes such areas as intelligence operations, surveillance, counterterrorism, dignitary protection, and tactical/defensive driving. Robert is highly motivated, driven and takes a hands-on approach when developing and streamlining strategic operations. He prides himself on adaptability, creative problem solving, attention to detail, communication, analytical skills, and successful outcomes. Robert is an active member of several professional organizations which allows him to remain attuned with current and future developments in the field. He excels in leadership positions and brings passion, knowledge, and a depth of experience often unmatched in the industry.

Mark Ligouri is Cooke & Associates, Inc.’s Director of Operations where he coordinates and manages all protective assignments. Mark is a seasoned law enforcement professional who holds over 29 years of experience with one of California’s largest police departments and has 35 years of professional security industry experience. During his tenure in law enforcement, he’s worked as an investigator, training officer, and large-scale event coordinator.

Additionally, he served 15 years as a Regional Security Manager where he worked with high-profile executives and many internationally recognized brands in Silicon Valley. Mark has managed protection details for three former U.S. Presidents and several United Nations’ events. Mark’s vast experience working in every aspect of law enforcement and protection has helped him develop a deep understanding of the security industry and how it can be applied in corporate and public environments without being intrusive and overbearing.

Lucca Mateo is CAI’s Manager of International Operations where he is responsible for the coordination and management of all international protective assignments. A native of Italy, Lucca spent 20 years with Italy’s Arma dei Carabinieri reaching the rank of Lieutenant. During his law enforcement career, he was a member of the anti-terrorism team, intelligence unit and provided protective services for various high ranking government officials and visiting dignitaries.

After retiring in 2016, Lucca entered the private sector where he managed security operations and staff for an international business executive and his family. In this role he was responsible for managing residential properties in Europe, the Middle East and South America, a staff of protection agents and support staff which included estate staff and drivers.

Lucca’s extensive experience in both public and private sector work and his vast knowledge of intelligence gathering and risk mitigation have made him extremely successful in the international protection arena. In 2015 Lucca was recognized by the Vatican for his work at various Vatican assemblies and the preparation and delivery of protective services for large scale events.

He is a graduate of Sapienza Università di Roma with Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business.

Ann Begun is CAI’s Background Administrator, Office Manager, and the glue that keeps our operations on track. Ann received her Juris Doctor Degree from UC Berkeley School of Law and has an extensive legal background spanning over 30 years. Because of Ann’s strong attention to detail and meticulous organizational skills, many firms have relied on her to work with government agencies, manage regulatory-compliant document control systems, oversee process and control procedures for various types of operations and support regulatory audits as a Subject Matter Expert.

Since 2019, Ann has been the driving force behind our Public Safety Background Program allowing us to be the best in the industry. Combining her California POST Background Investigator Certification and her day-to-day interactions with applicants and public safety agencies, Ann’s expertise in backgrounds has allowed us to monitor trends and continually evolve our program to be an industry leader.