For this edition, the magazine VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD has as a guest in the CPP section of the Month the Chilean Alfredo Iturriaga, who is founder and current executive vice president of RacoWind Consultores Ltda. by Santiago Jaramillo H
For Alfredo Iturriaga, being immersed in the world of security is something almost inherent in his life itself, since he has been linked to it for almost 40 years. First as a member of the Military Forces of his country, an institution in which he reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the time of his voluntary retirement in 1990, and from that year until today as a frontline participant in the private security sector.
Since 1988 he has held the Certification in Professional Protection (CPP), which has been renewed uninterruptedly until this year.
Iturriaga's first experience in the private sector was as Corporate Security Manager of the CCT Group of Companies, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco in Chile, a position he held until 1999.
After 10 years in that position at BAT Chile, he decided to form his own corporate strategic security consulting company called RacoWind Consultores Ltda. with which he works to this day.
And precisely being at the head of this company, from 2000 to 2008, he assumed as a senior consultant of Souza Cruz - Brazil, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco - Latin America, in Strategic Security and Competitive Intelligence.
He is currently a safety consultant for the ALMA – Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array project, a project of ESO Europe – AUI of the USA and NAOJ of Japan, which is due to start its activities in 2012 in the Pampa Chajnantor at 5,000 meters of altitude in northern Chile.
He also works for the chain of Tiendas Ripley S.A., Cellstar Chile and as a teacher at the Army Intelligence School of his country.
On the other hand, Iturriaga recognizes that one of his guides in his insertion in this industry was "the Global Security Manager of BAT Plc. of England, Mr. Fred Harding, a retired colonel of MI.5, who guided my first steps in private security and from whom to this day I remember his wise advice", points out our CPP of the Month and also adds that "my mentor in ASIS International and the approaches to the CPP, it was Mr. Paul Barker, then Director of Loss Prevention at British Petroleum, today Global Head of Safety at Texaco."
CPP, distinction of professionalism
Being certified as a CPP more than a label is a true seal of professionalism in the work, as evidenced by the Chilean Alfredo Iturriaga when indicating that "in a globalized world, any professional in any area, must have a complete knowledge of their profession and the CPP gives the security professional this characteristic and what is more important, makes him speak an international language of security that allows him to insert himself completely into globalization, achieving efficiency and effectiveness well above the market average."
Regarding the qualities of people who are CPP, Iturriaga summarizes them in: "Professional 100%, with a great sense of responsibility, in addition to being creative, sensitive and assertive. Simply put, a leader with high ethical standards, with an important sense of support for society and his peers."
On the other hand, and when asked about what are the most frequent problems for personal safety that may arise in the workplace and that the CPP must solve, our guest said that "threats to people will always be the most relevant, since this has been and will continue to be the most important asset of a company. In our Latin American environment, kidnapping is a problem that must be faced as a threat, the consumption and trafficking of narcotics, and last but not least, the relationship of the employee with the environment (catastrophes of nature and occupational health)."
Already dealing with the issue of what are the analyzes that a CPP should carry out in a place in terms of security, Iturriaga, who during the years 2005 and 2006 served as Senior Regional Vice President of Group No. 14 "Latin America" of the American Society for Industrial Security, ASIS International, pointed out that "the main analysis that a CPP must carry out, Permanently it is risk analysis, with its four components: threat, vulnerability, probability and impact. The more profound and permanent this analysis is, the better it can fulfill its task of preventing damage to people and property under its responsibility," he says.
Future and expansion of the industry
Alfredo Iturriaga relates that he sees the security industry with very good prospects, because every day there are more states that are handing over security responsibilities to private ones, which is not presented to a greater extent, according to our guest, due to the little professionalization that still occurs, precisely for this reason is that the three international certifications (CPP, CPI, PSP) granted by ASIS, are becoming more and more valid and, of course, an environment conducive to growth is denoted.
Precisely in this sense, the representative of the Chilean industry says that "a few weeks ago I was invited to give talks at the American University of Asunción del Paraguay, a small country with a security industry not very developed; However, I met with security entrepreneurs who are training professionals who have been motivated to go down the path of certifications and this is how we are about to form the ASIS Chapter of Asunción and consecutively start the professional preparation of about 40 professionals who are studying private security diplomas at this university and also in another that develops the Catholic University of Paraguay, truly an example for many countries."
In the same way, our guest, who was appointed for the period 2009 – 2010 as a member of the Professional Certification Board – PCB ASIS International, warns that despite the boom that this industry is going through, the education, training and updating of all personnel who work in the field of security is essential.
"Without a doubt, certification is the path that every security professional must follow, whether in the specific areas of research and physical security, or in security management. That said, as a starting point, the security professional must be permanently studying, both those new disciplines in technology and administration, and sharing the experiences and lessons learned that their colleagues have developed from their local environment, as well as from other latitudes and realities, "he says.
Regarding the challenges that a CPP must face every day, Iturriaga concludes that the most important thing is to keep alive the values of certification and ASIS International to continue being a contribution to society. In the same way, he warns that it cannot be forgotten at any time to be in permanent training and training to maintain the certification of the CPP, which is renewed every three years.
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