A long career in the army was the basis of his success in changing professions and moving to the field of private security, confesses the CPP of the month Eduardo Rueda Lemos. In addition, his passion for education has allowed him to become a trainer of professionals in this field.
by Alejandra García Vélez
A small town on the Colombian Pacific coast called Barbacoas saw the birth on July 4 of Eduardo Rueda Lemos, the one chosen in this edition of SECURITY SALES to tell us about the challenges that CPPs face every day and their importance within the industry.
Barbecues not only marked its place of origin, but is also a primordial component of its essence. This is what Rueda makes known by highlighting that he is proud of his indigenous, Spanish and black slave blood from Mali.
And just as its origin is plural and multicultural, its life has also traveled through different cities with different customs and cultures. His basic and secondary studies were carried out in the city of Pasto; then, at the age of 19, he decided to enter the General José María Córdova Military Cadet School in the city of Bogotá.
There he obtained the title of Officer of the National Army with the rank of Second Lieutenant, and remained in the institution until 1990, at that time he voluntarily requested retirement after completing and approving the course of promotion to the rank of Captain.
From the army to security
A year after retiring from the army, the CPP of the month decided to travel to the city of Medellín, where with the experience gained during his years of service in the area of public security he was given the opportunity to venture into private security.
His first job was as head of security of the company Invatex, from there he went to the operational direction of Lico Antioquia, and has been head of operations in different surveillance and private security companies; for seven years he has worked as a security analyst for Suramericana S.A. and Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana.
In addition, education is for Rueda the fundamental pillar of every professional; that is why he feels happy and proud to be able to work as a university professor for three years. In addition, he recalls that his studies in Senior Management, Risk and Insurance Management, Integral Management, certification as an International CPP, as well as the Master's Degree in Public Security that he is currently studying, have been key to achieving success and professional development.
The value of the CPP
What are we going to protect? Of what or who? Against what? and How? These are the main questions that the CPP should ask itself before any intervention. "The CPP must identify scenarios and threats, while doing a thorough analysis of risk assessment and assessment. Once this information is obtained, it proposes actions to anticipate its materialization," says Rueda.
As for the most frequent problems for personal safety that may arise in the workplace and that the CPP must solve, Rueda affirms that the most common are situations related to failures in the hiring process of personnel and that consequently present difficulties in the fulfillment and development of their functions.
On the other hand, Rueda has a greater experience as a CPP in the academic part, especially in the preparation of colleagues who want to present their exam. Therefore, his advice for those looking to train in this area is invaluable.
In that sense, one of the suggestions made by this security professional about the additional knowledge that a CPP must have to support their work performance highlight the need to complement the training with training in areas such as financial management, business management, interpersonal skills, planning, technology and design of work processes, behavioral theory and learning and theory of organizational behavior.
It also highlights the importance of international certification "the certification allows those who obtain it, to demonstrate expertise in the design, instrumentation and management of the different models and requirements of corporate security, within the framework of the demands of profitability and return on investment that advanced organizations currently demand," he explained.
He added that "to be a CPP it is not enough to simply pass an exam. The CPP is a professional who is dedicated to studying permanently, who investigates, who stays updated, who progresses and who maintains a standard of ethics and responsibility that make him worthy of the CPP Certification, in short, a man who builds and reinvents himself every day".
Day-to-day teachings
There are two components of security that today must coexist and complement each other to have a much higher effectiveness rate, is the case of electronic security and public safety programs that CPPs direct.
Faced with this issue, Rueda believes that "security systems, especially electronic ones, are increasingly entering the daily lives of the inhabitants. Official bodies and public establishments are aware of this situation and increasingly increase these systems, with the precaution that they are not too aggressive, or dangerously invasive, always aimed at achieving their end, citizen security and the well-being of the community. "
In addition, Rueda explains that the growing threat of crime and terrorism, as well as the need to ensure public safety and control traffic violations, has led to an increase in the demand for electronic security systems such as urban video surveillance and high-quality digital cities. Therefore, all these systems must be flexible, expandable and adaptable to the changes that may occur in the future, in addition to being easily adjusted to adapt to the environment of urban centers, always in continuous evolution.
Similarly, in the workplace it is impossible to achieve the objectives of safety within the organization without the participation of all employees committed to their self-care, "it is nothing more than behaviors and attitudes, which are put into practice through prevention methods and techniques," says Rueda.
Finally, for the guest of this edition, the objectives that a CPP must achieve are to intervene in the security risks to which they are exposed, the people, the processes and the infrastructure, through the application of management models, to modify the existing risk-generating conditions, within a perspective of reducing them; managing to generate trust in people, implement a culture of self-care and ensure compliance with the objectives of the organization.
"Education, training and updating are the only way that can allow us from security, transcend in the fulfillment of corporate objectives in private enterprise and guarantee effectiveness in the execution of public security policies," he concluded.
