Sandi J. Davies, Christopher A. Hertig,  and Brion P. Gilbride

Sandi began her career in contract security in 1980 with a primary focus on personnel administration. She became deeply involved in training and was instrumental in developing security officer training programs for a major national guard company. Her interest in security training grew, and in 1988 she joined the newly formed International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO) as an administrative assistant. In 1991, she was named executive director of the IFPO and has been a driving force in Foundation program development worldwide and administration ever since. Sandi is a long-time member of ASIS International, having served in various executive positions at the chapter level. Sandi is also a member and former chair of the ASIS International Security Services Council and a member of the Women in Security Council.

Chris began his career in 1975 as a part-time student aide in the Security Department during his junior year in college. He has worked as a security officer and supervisor in various settings. He also did some investigative work and was a park police officer. In 1980, he became a Nuclear Security Training Administrator, where he developed instructional materials and taught security personnel. In late 1982, he met a young woman named Carla who inspired him to continue his graduate education and write for publication. He subsequently began writing and has published hundreds of articles, reviews, chapters, and books.

In 1984, he married Carla, completed his master’s degree, and joined the Behavioral Sciences Department at York College of Pennsylvania. Chris has been active on the ASIS International Academic Programs Council. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the IFPO and has worked with the National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security. He has held instructor credentials in a number of subjects and is both a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Certified Protection Officer Instructor (CPOI).

Brion began his career in 1996 as a part-time campus security officer. He worked as a security officer and first-line supervisor in campus security and industrial security, earning his Certified Protection Officer (CPO) and Certified in Security Supervision and Management (CSSM) credentials. Brion began his law enforcement career in 2001 as an Inspector with the US Customs Service (now US Customs & Border Protection). He served as a Customs and Border Protection Officer in the land, air, and sea environments prior to promotion to Supervisory Customs & Border Protection Officer in 2007. From there, he transitioned into program management in 2009 at the regional level and in 2011 at the national (headquarters) level, specializing in insider threat analysis and deep-dive analytics. In 2013, Brion was awarded the CBP Commissioner’s Unit Citation for his analytic work. He completed his undergraduate education at York College of Pennsylvania in 1999 and his graduate education at American Public University in 2008. In 2012, he joined ASIS International and earned his Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation. Brion served as a member of the ASIS Supply Chain and Transportation Security Council from 2013–2014 and prepared their monthly Council Newsletter. He has written articles for Security Management magazine as well as chapters in IFPO’s Professional Protection Officer and Security Supervision and Management texts.

Demand for the Security Supervision and Management Program, which was developed in 1990 by the International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO), has continued to grow. As new components were added to the program, a more current, relevant course text had to be developed. Commensurate with this demand was the need for college and university courses in security, asset protection, homeland security, and emergency management. The need to provide additional web support for the book was also apparent.

The IFPO embarked on the task of completing a new text to fulfill these needs and engaged a team of professionals to contribute to this effort. The result was the forming of an alliance between the IFPO/Butterworth-Heinemann and some of the industry’s leading security supervisors, authors, educators, researchers, and consultants, who collectively contributed to the production of this text.

The book for security leaders is here. It serves participants in the Security Supervision and Management Program as well as students in other Foundation programs (visit ifpo.org). It also provides graduate and upper level undergraduate professors with an extremely useful companion text. Security Supervision: Theory and Practice of Asset Protection provides a broad foundation of knowledge, making it an ideal course text as well as a valued reference for protection practitioners and students alike.

To facilitate the academic and professional development of security professionals who aspire to enhance their leadership skills.

To deliver a functional supervisory/management instructional program developed to heighten each candidate’s ability to master the techniques of security personnel management.

To provide a meaningful accreditation that will lend professional recognition to those candidates who exhibit the knowledge and skills required to be Certified in Security Supervision and Management (CSSM).

The International Foundation for Protection Officers was founded in 1988. A dedicated group of well-known senior members of the international security community set out to develop a nonprofit organization that would address the professional training and certification needs of security officers and first-line supervisors.

Through the commitment and vision of these industry leaders, the IFPO was formed. The Foundation’s first and foremost undertaking was to develop the Certified Protection Officer (CPO) Program. Since the inception of the program, thousands of officers have earned their CPO accreditation, now the recognized designation for professional officers employed by proprietary and contract security forces worldwide.

As the IFPO grew, so did the need for Foundation leadership in addressing the professional development requirements of members of the security industry. Security officers earned seniority and often assumed leadership roles within their respective security organizations. The IFPO recognized that there had to be a learning progression, a better defined professional development/career path. The Board of Directors and Foundation administrators subsequently developed the Security Supervisor Program and Certified Security Supervisor (CSS) designation. In 2004, the IFPO Board of Directors elected to rename the program and it evolved into the Security Supervision and Management Program and Certified in Security Supervision and Management (CSSM). This title change better reflects the content and emphasis of the program materials.

In addition to complete review of the program curriculum contained in this book additional learning support for students and instructors is available at ifpo.org.

To complete the Security Supervision and Management Program, each candidate must successfully achieve a score of no less than 70% on the final examination. Once the applicant has successfully completed this process, he or she would be awarded a certificate of completion for the Security Supervision and Management Program.

The candidate may then may elect to proceed with the Certified in Security Supervision and Management (CSSM) Program if he or she qualifies. Candidates enrolling into this program must have 18 months of full-time security experience with a minimum of 6 months at the supervisory or managerial level. Part-time experience may be used to fulfill this requirement at a 2:1 ratio. Experience submitted must be where the primary job duties are asset protection.

The CSSM program candidates are required to select and analyze a series of workplace scenarios that describe on-the-job conditions which are frequently encountered by the working security supervisor and/or manager. Each situation demands immediate leadership action. Candidates must describe in detail the appropriate actions recommended to bring the matter to a successful conclusion. The corrective measures employed by the supervisor or manager must be supported from the contents of the course text.

Candidates seeking the CSSM accreditation must submit an affidavit in the prescribed form, declaring that the written portion of the program is authored entirely by the applicant seeking accreditation.

The CSSM certification committee will review the scenarios and application along with the candidate’s complete file to determine eligibility for the certification.

The Foundation has developed an important relationship with Butterworth–Heinemann (BH), who have responded positively to the need to recognize the working security professional as well as those studying asset protection in colleges and universities. Without the continued support of BH, it would be difficult for the IFPO to exercise its mandate of providing professional development opportunities to the rapidly...