On 3 May, 25 candidates sat the four-hour examination and are now eagerly awaiting their results, which are due to be released in the coming weeks. If successful, the candidates will join an elite group of over 6,000 senior security professionals worldwide who hold this most prestigious security management designation.
UK CPP certificants have earned the admiration of Baroness Henig, chairman of the SIA, who – speaking at a dinner held earlier this year to celebrate last year’s successful candidates – recognised ASIS Chapter 208 as a driving force for improving and professionalising the private security sector in the UK. Singling out the new certificants specifically, she described them as “beacons shining out in the landscape of private security, lighting the way forward.”
There are now over 100 CPP Board-certified security management professionals in the UK, and this number is set to rise significantly as demand for the certification begins to double year-on-year.
Much of the CPP syllabus is taken from the Protection of Assets Manual, a four-volume, mammoth reference guide to managing security in a corporate setting. The guide is a collaborative effort of security managers from all over the world, and reflects some of the best and most contemporary practices in corporate security management. Domains covered in the syllabus include all aspects of physical security, information security, pre-employment screening and investigations, security management principles, business management and leadership principles, personnel security, guard force management, law (UK criminal and employment law for UK candidates) and crisis/emergency management.
Primarily rooted in US security management Best Practice, the content nevertheless has relevance to security management all over the world according to ASIS Chapter Certification Representative David Cresswell (who has recently returned from Bangladesh where he has been working with local security managers employed by multinational companies in that country to help them pass the examination)
CPP: an international benchmark
Internationally, the CPP has become the benchmark by which the competency of the senior security professional is judged. By virtue of the need to recertify through Continuing Professional Development, it’s recognised that the CPP designation is proof of an individual’s ability and dedication to improving their knowledge and professional skills. Experience is also demonstrated, since a security professional must have at least seven year’s experience before being eligible to sit the examination.
The next examination will be held on 1 November, with enrolment for the Review Programme taking place in June. While it’s certainly possible to sit the examination without taking the Review Programme, experience has shown that a candidate’s chances of passing the examination first time increase dramatically if he or she follows a guided course of instruction. In addition to serving the needs of UK candidates, the UK Review Programme – conducted jointly by ARC Training International Ltd and MFD International – also attracts participants from other countries, due to the reputation that it has earned through producing some of the best examination success rates anywhere in the world.
Upon enrolment on the Review Programme, candidates purchase the reading list and become acquainted with the content with the help of a series of monthly distance learning tasks. In total the examination requires about 200 hours of preparation for a typical experienced security professional, so candidates must be prepared to allocate at least five hours a week to private study during this preparatory period.
On 27 October, one week before the examination, candidates are brought together for a week’s intensive classroom study, where trainers Barry Walker CPP and Phillip Wood MBE CPP PSP go through the materials in great detail, providing insights into which parts of which books to focus on, in preparation for the 225-question multiple choice answer paper. No trainer is allowed to see any examination paper, past or present, but all are experienced in knowing the type of questions to be anticipated.
The CPP is constantly reviewed to ensure that it’s aligned with current corporate security management Best Practice. Chapter Certification Representative David Cresswell is one of a number of international “associates” of the ASIS International Professional Certification Board who’s actively involved in the latest review of the syllabus.
PSP (Physical Security Professional)
In parallel with the CPP, preparations are being made for this year’s November 1st ASIS International PSP (Physical Security Professional) certification examination, for which the distance learning element of the PSP Review Programme also begins in June. This examination focuses specifically on how to select and specify technical physical security systems, and is an excellent programme for those who might have to select and oversee the installation of systems such as CCTV, access control and intrusion detection, and who are responsible for the systems’ on-going maintenance.
The entry requirements for PSP are slightly less demanding than CPP, and the questions (between 120-140) are less in number, but they are more complicated in detail, as would be expected from a more technical examination.
Each year ten or more UK candidates sit this certification and last year, for the first time, all UK candidates passed. The programme is led by Peter Horsburgh CPP PSP who, following the launch of the certification in the USA in 2002, wrote the initial UK Chapter Review Programme in 2003.
Full details of both certifications can be found in the Applicant Handbook, which can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.asisonline.org/certification/handbook.pdf
Examination fees are US$200 for ASIS members for either certification. Fees for non-members are CPP (US$350) and PSP (US$250).
Review Programme fees are (CPP) GB pound 1225 (+vat) and (PSP) GB pound 1395 (+vat). The fees include one-week’s full board accommodation for the intensive classroom phase of the study programme.
For further details on either certification contact David Cresswell at [email protected], or to register directly for either the CPP or PSP Review Programme contact [email protected]
Further information can be found as follows:
http://www.arc-tc.com/pages/asis_cpp_psp.asp
http://www.asisonline.org/certification/index.xml
http://www.asis.org.uk/certificateexaminations.html
