Our first CPP of the month is Dr. Hector R. Torres Perez, a man who has dedicated more than 28 years of his life to security in the quest to leverage technology for the benefit of his company. By: Duván Chaverra A.
Dear readers. Starting this issue of your SAFETY SALES magazine you will find a new section called "Certified Protection Professional of the Month," a certificate that is awarded to anyone who has passed the American Industrial Safety Association (ASIS) exam and whose responsibilities include managing safety programs.
There are currently around 8 thousand CPPs in the world, men and women who have managed to demonstrate competence in the different areas of safety and a performance of the best practices of the industry.
With our professional we will talk about the different topics that involve security, both physical and electronic, and how it comes to combine both sectors for business success.
Our first guest at the CPP of the Month is Héctor R. Torres Pérez, a Puerto Rican with more than 28 years of experience in the industry, enough to transfer the best of knowledge to all our readers, who currently serves as vice president and director of Asset Protection of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. He is a professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Phoenix, Puerto Rico Campus and also serves as chief of the joint chiefs of staff of the State Command of the Puerto Rico National Guard.
To begin with, we will talk about the multiple functions that a CPP must fulfill. Héctor Torres explains the importance of achieving a certification like this, highlighting the constant situations that arise day by day with different challenges.
"It plays an important role in the security industry by setting standards of professionalism. This certification is evidence of expertise and experience in the field of safety, in order to objectively distinguish those highly competent practitioners from practitioners with less experience. Global events at the beginning of the 21st Century have dramatically changed the security industry creating the need to seek out high-caliber professionals to deal with global and complex security situations. Today, because of its importance, many organizations require this certification for security manager positions."
After better understanding the purposes and how a CPP helps the industry, let's get into the topic of how a person who has this certification designs their safety execution plan.
"It all starts with a good analysis of the risks and vulnerabilities that these risks present to the organization. We start from a premise that to solve a problem, you must first define exactly what the problem is. Once the analysis is complete, the CPP establishes the security programs to eliminate, reduce, transfer or mitigate the identified risks. The analysis is a continuous process and is updated according to the needs of the organization over time," explained the guest.
The ideal combination
Héctor Torres has already clarified the panorama in terms of purposes and analysis that a CPP must do. Now it's time to delve into how a perfect combination of electronic security can be achieved with the program that our guest directs.
Initially, Torres highlights the importance that deserves for a company to make a good investment in technology for security, because it ensures that although the systems are expensive, over time they manage to multiply the value and scope of physical security measures and loss prevention of an organization.
"When physical security and loss prevention measures are combined with technology, a new and complete security methodology emerges that is used to protect all types of organizational assets," said the vice president and director of asset protection at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, adding that depending on the threats that arise, security plans must be executed.
"Different types of assets require different protection measures, due to the different types of threats. The optimal thing in security management is the combination of physical security measures, loss prevention measures with a technology that integrates them effectively."
And how to do to combine in the best way all the security measures? It should also be borne in mind that there are different types of threats, hence the importance of technology as a third component, since it not only facilitates security processes in an organization but also enhances security as a managerial function.
The method of combination and that will answer the question posed in the previous paragraph is posed as follows by our CPP of the month: "One of the most used strategies is the use of integrators to create the perfect combination of physical security measures, loss prevention and information technology. Integrators apply security solutions to protect an organization's assets. 80% of the integration work consists of the design and implementation of a physical architecture that supports a security program, and the remaining 20% consists of the application of computer technology. In this regard, integrators have a wealth of experience applying computer technology to security programs."
Protection = benefits
Héctor Torres explains within his story that one of the functions he has as a CPP is to go beyond just protecting the assets of an organization. For him, security management has as one of its objectives "to enhance the internal and external operations of an organization".
Two reasons argue our guest to justify the effort that corporate security must meet.
1. The first reason is that organizations competing in the global business world must be agile in their way of doing business and adapt quickly to market changes. The globalization of the markets of the 21st century has created a business world of great fluidity and constant changes, as well as the vision, strategy and approach of an organization change to adapt it to its business environment, so must its managerial functions.
2. The second reason is that corporate security as a managerial function is carried out through a series of pre-planned strategies and that through these the function can become a strategic asset for the organization. As a multidisciplinary managerial function, corporate security definitely has the potential to become a strategic asset for an organization that can proactively contribute beyond carrying out its functions of identifying vulnerabilities; reducing risks, protecting assets and preventing losses.
The objectives to be met
Héctor Torres talks about corporate security as a business management function, and from there he mentioned three functions: predictability, control and the creation of added value. Below he develops them more deeply:
1.La predictability is the identification of the risks and vulnerabilities of the corporation is its business environment.
2.Control is based on the measures taken by corporate security to protect the corporation from risks and vulnerabilities.
3.La creation of added value is achieved when the managerial function of the corporate security business improves organizational efficiency and profits, and develops a competitive advantage for the corporation. In other words, we no longer do security for the sake of security.
Our guest concludes by adding that a CPP has become a fundamental tool that helps the development of a company when it meets the objectives mentioned above: "A CPP is a professional who understands and applies these principles in order to create a program, just like a security unit, that contributes to the strategic goals and objectives of an organization to produce an effective organizational synergy."
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Our CPP of the month
Héctor Torres Pérez has more than 28 years of experience in federal and corporate security. He served as an Intelligence and Special Operations Officer in the United States Army. He is a graduate of the schools of Skydiving, Ranger, Special Forces, Military Intelligence and Diploma of the School of Command and General Staff. He was also a Federal Agent for the Department of the Army and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He has also held various positions as a security manager and has worked as a consultant to some corporations in Puerto Rico. He served as chair of the Security Committee of the Puerto Rico Banking Association, co-founder and director of the Puerto Rico Financial Crimes Task Force of the Puerto Rico Banking Association, vice president for Certification and Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Security Educators and Trainers (ASET), and as a member of the Banking and Financial Services Council of the American Industrial Security Society (ASIS).
He holds the professional certifications of "Certified Protection Professional" (CPP), "Certified Fraud Examiner" (CFE), "Certified Security Trainer" (CST), "Certified Personal Protection Specialist" (PPS), "Certified Counter Terrorism Planner" (CCP), "Certified International Bodyguard" (CIBG), "Certified International Bodyguard Instructor" (CIBGI), "Certified in Homeland Security – Level III" (CHS-III), "Certified Business Manager" (CBM) and is a Private Detective licensed by the Free State Associate of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Torres is an active member of the American Society for Industrial Security Security (ASIS); the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE); the Academy of Security Educators and Trainers (ASET); the Institute for Executive Protection (EPI); the International Association of Bodyguards (IBA); the American Institute and College of Forensic Examiners (ACFEI) and the Association of Banks of Puerto Rico.
He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Puerto Rico, a Master of Management with concentrations in Global Management and Human Resources from the University of Phoenix and a PhD in Organization, Management and Leadership from Capella University.
