Not-So-Risky Business Bodyguards Primed For Action But Lilac City Has Shortage Of Bad Guys

Being a bodyguard in Spokane isn’t glamorous or gory work. There’s a lot of hanging out and peeking around corners until your neck aches. Guns stay in holsters, and adrenal glands don’t do much heavy lifting.

Business, though, has never been better.

Just ask Mark Corbin, “armed escort.”

Corbin protects people who are living in fear for one reason or another. One was a woman who had been brutalized by an ex-boyfriend who vowed that, next time, he’d kill her. Another was a nervous diamond courier who wanted someone to ride shotgun.

They find him through word of mouth, since he doesn’t advertise and doesn’t disclose his real name (Corbin is the one he works under).

The wiry, gum-chomping Corbin, 27, has been a bodyguard for three years, supplementing his regular income delivering court papers.

Personal protection services have become a littleknown growth industry. There now are an estimated 20 bodyguards for hire in the Inland Northwest, and some of them are working full time.

Corbin figures he’ll be following suit within a year.

“I hear there’s some millionaires moving into the area,” he says, grinning. “Hopefully, I can get some of their business.”

Part of the increasing demand for bodyguards and private security consultants has to do with public paranoia about crime. The rest is grounded on reasonable fears of “fatal attraction” stalkers, domestic terrorism and kidnap-for-ransom plots.

When actor Johnny Depp was in Spokane making “Benny and Joon,” he lived in a South Hill home. While he slept upstairs, locally hired bodyguards kept vigil below.

“We insulated John,” says one of them, Ken Fadeley.

There are five ex-cops on the payroll of Fadeley’s company, Security Consultants International.

A private detective who once infiltrated the Aryan Nations, Fadeley now spends most of his time providing armed escorts to CEOs, visiting dignitaries and movie stars. Abortion doctors have called, asking for security tips.

Unlike uniformed security guards or bouncers, Fadeley’s crew boasts special training in tactics and weapons. They charge $50 an hour and wear tailored suits that are wired for sound. They try to blend in with the well-heeled clientele.

“You don’t notice us very much, and that’s why what we do works so well,” Fadeley says. “We don’t wear jackets with our names on them. We don’t walk around with Uzis.”

Most professional bodyguards are so low-profile, they don’t draw a second glance from people passing them on the street, says Bob Smith, who runs a firearms training school in Post Falls.

“Some of these guys don’t look anything like the TV version of a bodyguard,” says Smith, who helped train Corbin.

“They don’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. They look like someone going out to dinner.”

It’s a business. Most reputable bodyguards provide references on demand, carry proof of liability insurance and are state-licensed as either security consultants or private investigators.

As a rule, they aren’t a triggerhappy bunch.

None of Fadeley’s bodyguards has drawn a gun on anyone.

Corbin has done so only once - when he was escorting a wealthy client around town.

They were in an alley behind a North Side car dealership when the client’s worst fears materialized. The man who had threatened to kill him suddenly appeared and began closing in.

Corbin drew his 9mm handgun from the holster on his right hip.

The story doesn’t get any sexier. The man complied with orders to lie down. He still was lying there, handcuffed, when the police arrived.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody,” Corbin says. “I’m not a gun nut. To me, they’re just tools.”

Fadeley couldn’t agree more. The job’s biggest thrill, he says, comes from keeping people safe.

“There’s a certain amount of excitement that goes along with the job,” he says. “You’re protecting a person of obvious stature. It gives you a real sense of pride when the person gets on the plane and leaves, and somebody else will pick up where you left off. We know we did our job.”

Corbin learned to protect himself before he decided to protect others.

Since he’s only 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs only 140 pounds, he studied martial arts as a kid to ward off bullies. His dad taught him how to use a gun during frequent hunting trips.

Since then, he’s gone to private schools specializing in defensive tactics and high-tech security measures.

He fell into the bodyguard business by accident when a battered woman he knew asked for his help. He guarded her for a few days, then taught her how to use a gun and make her home safer.

“It just went from there. I like meeting people and helping them out,” he says. “I really like that.”