Certified Protection Professional
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Certified Protection Professional is a professional designation offered by ASIS International, an international organization for security professionals. Successful attainment indicates board certification in security management and is recognized worldwide as the highest recognition accorded a security practitioner. Its members have demonstrated its competency in the areas of security solutions and best-business practices through an intensive qualification and testing program.
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[edit] Certified Protection Professional (CPP)
For years the world has recognized a need for competent professionals who can effectively manage complex security issues that threaten people and the assets of corporations, governments, and public and private institutions. As the emphasis on protecting people, property, and information increases, it has strengthened the demand for professional managers. To meet these needs, the ASIS International administers the Certified Protection Professional program.
Nearly 10,000 professionals have earned the designation of CPP. This group of professionals has demonstrated its competency in the areas of security solutions and best-business practices through an intensive qualification and testing program. As a result, these men and women have been awarded the coveted designation of CPP, and are recognized as proven leaders in their profession.
[edit] Exam Structure and Content
The CPP exam consists of 200 multiple-choice questions covering tasks, knowledge, and skills in eight broad subjects identified by CPPs as the major areas involved in security management. All exam questions come from the official reference books. No questions on the exam are taken from any other source.
DOMAIN 01 SECURITY PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES (22.8%)
• Plan, organize, direct and manage the organization’s security program to avoid and/or control losses and apply the processes necessary to provide a secure work environment.
• Develop, manage or conduct threat/vulnerability analyses to determine the probable frequency and severity of natural and man-made disasters and criminal activity on the organization’s profitability and/or ability to deliver products/services.
• Evaluate methods to improve security and loss prevention systems on a continuous basis through the use of auditing, review and assessment.
• Develop and manage external relations programs with public sector law enforcement or other external organizations to assist in the achievement of loss prevention objectives.
• Develop and present employee security awareness programs to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
DOMAIN 02 BUSINESS PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES (10.9%)
• Develop and manage budgets and financial controls to achieve fiscal responsibility.
• Develop, implement and manage policies, procedures, plans and directives to achieve organizational objectives.
• Develop procedures/techniques to measure and improve organizational productivity.
• Develop, implement and manage staffing, leadership, training and management programs in order to achieve organizational objectives.
DOMAIN 03 PERSONNEL SECURITY (9.9%)
• Develop, implement, and manage background investigations in coordination with other departments and agencies for the purpose of identifying individuals for hiring and/or promotion.
• Develop, implement, manage, and evaluate policies, procedures, programs and methods for personnel protection (excluding executive protection) to provide a secure work environment.
• Develop, implement, and manage executive protection programs to reduce security risks to executives and to ensure continued viability of the organization.
• Support the organizations efforts to reduce substance abuse in the workplace.
DOMAIN 04 PHYSICAL SECURITY (24.4%)
• Survey facilities in order to manage and/or evaluate the current status of the physical security, fire detection and emergency and/or restoration capabilities.
• Select, design, implement and manage security measures to reduce the risk of loss.
• Assess the effectiveness of the security measures by testing and monitoring.
DOMAIN 05 INFORMATION SECURITY (5.5%)
• Survey information facilities, processes and systems to evaluate current status of: physical security, procedural security, information systems security, employee awareness, and information destruction and recovery capabilities.
• Develop and implement policies and standards to ensure information is evaluated and protected against all forms of unauthorized/inadvertent access, use, disclosure, modification, destruction or denial.
• Develop and manage a program of integrated security controls and safeguards to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, non-repudiation, accountability, recoverability and audit ability of sensitive information and associated information technology resources and assets.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the information security program’s integrated security controls, to include related policies, procedures and plans, to ensure consistency with organization strategy, goals and objectives.
DOMAIN 06 EMERGENCY PRACTICES (8.5%)
• Mitigate potential consequences of emergency situations by identifying and prioritizing potential hazards and risks and developing plans to manage exposure to loss.
• Prepare and plan how the organization will respond in an emergency.
• Manage the activation of the emergency response plan to reduce loss.
• Recover from emergency situations through management of the restoration of vital services and facilities to minimum standards of operations and safety.
DOMAIN 07 INVESTIGATIONS (12.4%)
• Develop and manage investigative programs.
• Manage or conduct the collection and preservation of evidence to support post-investigation actions (employee discipline, criminal or civil proceedings, arbitration).
• Manage or conduct surveillance processes.
• Manage or conduct investigative interviews.
DOMAIN 08 LEGAL ASPECTS (5.3%)
• Develop and maintain security policies, procedures and practices which comply with relevant elements of criminal, civil, administrative and regulatory law to minimize adverse legal consequences.
• Provide coordination, assistance, and evidence such as documentation and testimony to support legal counsel in actual or potential criminal and/or civil proceedings.
• Provide advice and assistance to management and others in developing performance requirements and contractual terms for security vendors/suppliers and establish effective monitoring processes to ensure that organizational needs and contractual requirements are being met.
• Provide assistance to management, legal counsel and human resources in developing strategic and tactical plans for responding to labor disputes, including strikes.
• Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding investigations.
• Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding personnel security.
• Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding information security.
[edit] Why Get Certified?
The simple answer is that to remain as competitive as possible today, you must be certified. The bar has been raised in the security profession and employers, contractors, governments, and even clients are now taking additional steps to ensure that they are hiring or working with the most skilled and knowledgeable individuals in the business. Professional certifications from ASIS International offer them another screening tool -- one that has the backing and credibility of the preeminent professional society in the world for those who are responsible for security.
Every profession requires specialized skills. Not every employer knows that you have those skills. In short, certification is an investment in your career, your livelihood, your future.
If you want...
To demonstrate your advanced knowledge in security management
To gain instant professional credibility
To advance your career
To stand head and shoulders above the competition
To increase your earnings potential
Get certified. Apply today.
ASIS currently offers three certification programs:
Certified Protection Professional (CPP)
Since 1977
Preeminent designation awarded to individuals whose primary responsibilities are in security management and who have demonstrated advanced knowledge in security solutions and best business practices.
Professional Certified Investigator (PCI)
Introduced in 2002
Technical designation award to those individuals whose primary responsibilities are to conduct investigations and who have demonstrated in-depth operational knowledge and competence in this area.
Physical Security Professional (PSP)
Introduced in 2002
Technical designation awarded to those individuals whose primary responsibilities are to conduct physical security surveys, design integrated security systems, or install, operate or maintain those systems and who have demonstrated in-depth operational knowledge and competence in this area.
[edit] Exam Development/Administration
The Certified Protection Professional, Professional Certified Investigator, and Physical Security Professional examinations are designed to assess whether or not a practitioner possesses the knowledge established as the basic competency level required for the chosen designation. The examinations' development processes follow internationally accepted procedures for establishing the content validity of a test and the reliability of its scores.
Role Delineation (Job Analysis) The first step in development of an ASIS examination is the role delineation, or job analysis, which identifies the areas of responsibility (domains) and important work functions required for safe and effective performance in a security position, and the relative importance in the actual practice of a profession. ASIS currently performs role delineations approximately every five years.
Examination Specifications The importance of each domain, and of the relevant tasks, knowledge, and skills within it, determines the specifications of the examination. The relative order of importance of the domains determines the percentage of the total test items allocated to each. The examination is based on this blueprint.
Preparation of Examination Items Items (questions) for the examination are obtained from two major sources:
For the CPP and PCI, members of the Item Development Groups and Legal Aspest Committees. For the PSP, which does not have legal questions, only the Item Development Group. Individual CPPs may submit questions for the CPP exam for recertification credit, developed with the direction of an item-writing guide available from the Certification program office. After the items are drafted, they are reviewed at several different stages for content, accuracy, consistency of style, appropriate reading level, psychometric soundness, and freedom from cultural bias or unequal impact.
Examination Form Development Each new form of the examination is created according to established test specifications with the appropriate number of items for each domain from the bank of available test questions.
Establishment of Passing Score After a new role delineation study is conducted and new examination specifications are developed, a passing point study is performed by the PCB for the first new form according to widely accepted procedures, under the guidance of ASIS' testing service. From the results of the study, the PCB establishes the number of examination questions that must be answered correctly in order to meet the "minimum competency" certification standard.
Equating of Examination Forms Once the PCB establishes the passing score, all additional forms developed according to the most current role delineation are "equated" in order to make them of comparable difficulty to the original. "Equating" is a statistical process that is used to adjust for difficulty among forms that are constructed to be similar in difficulty level and content. The process enables the scores on any two forms to be equivalent.
Scaled Score In order to maintain test security, the PCB produces multiple forms of the CPP, PCI, and PSP examinations with different questions on each form. Individual scores are reported as "scaled scores". These "scaled scores" are derived from raw scores through mathematical conversion so that scores from different forms can be reported on a common scale and, therefore, represent the same level of competence. Scaled scores, used widely in the certification and licensing fields, ensure that all candidates are required to demonstrate the same level of ability to pass the test regardless of whether or not they took an easier or more difficult test form. Certified public accountants, human resource professionals, and building inspectors are only a few of the many professions receiving scaled examination scores.
Item Analysis Test items are evaluated after a statistically significant number of candidates has answered them in an examination environment. If they are intended to be scored as part of the examination, or are included as pretest items, their performance will be examined and any aberrant items will be called to the attention of, and reviewed by, the PCB Test Management Committee. The committee examines each item to detect any possible flaws or ambiguities. If changes need to be made in an operational question, the scoring process incorporates credit for two or more answer options in the final scoring and the item is revised before it is used again in another form.
Examination Scoring and Reporting After all analyses are complete, the examinations are scored. Candidates will receive notification of passing or failing the exam and score reports containing a breakdown, by domain, of the number of questions they answered correctly versus the total number of question in the domain.
[edit] Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must meet one of the following requirements to be accepted as a CPP candidate:
Education: An earned bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited institution of higher education and work Experience: Seven (7) years of security experience, including at least three (3) years in responsible charge of a security function
OR Work Experience: Nine (9) years of security experience, including at least three (3) years in responsible charge of a security function.
Eligibility requirements also include no prior conviction of any criminal offense that would reflect negatively on the security profession or on ASIS International and its certification programs.
