Executive Protection Training Standards
Welcome to our Google Blogger account.
This blog will highlight executive protection training and services, featuring various writers who are instructors, subject matter experts, and members of the leadership team from the Independent Security Advisors training academy, aka EPTraining.us.
For this blog, we will try to stay on topic, current, and always open to debate.
This inaugural blog will focus on executive protection training standards and the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) process.
The topic has seen some interest over the last few years after being almost non-existent or taboo across the industry. We first addressed it on our blog Nov 2018. https://www.eptraining.us/establishing-a-national-standard-of-training-for-executive-protection-training-old-news-to-isa/blog/
But back then many "legacy" instructors and their schools felt that any form of centralized, industry-approved, or otherwise mandated training standards could lead to a government or an industry-wide authority telling them how and what to teach their students.
Some argued that a universal standard would make all schools and their training programs virtually identical, leaving cost as the primary factor in deciding where to attend. After all, if the course material is mandated and the lesson plans are all the same, why pay more for one school over another?
One training provider said, "The reviews of our students are all the standards we need." "If they say we did a good job, then we met the standard."
The counterargument, of course, is that graduates rarely criticize their education after investing thousands of dollars to attend. So, can you trust their reviews as a metric?
Today, with hundreds of schools claiming to provide certified or recognized executive protection training, many prospective students and the companies hiring these graduates insist on a measurable standard.
We have changed our opinion on the topic many times since 2018. Some of our points made in that first article we would not support today, and others more so.
However, for US states with regulations or laws regarding executive protection services, training, and licensing requirements, the discussion on standards is moot. There are state-mandated, regulated, and often audited training requirements. Most notably, Virginia and North Carolina stand out.
Program Design:
Virginia and North Carolina appointed a committee or commission to determine the topics and hours of training required to meet the state license standard. Virginia went even further by regulating how the course will be conducted, instructor certification, curriculum, lesson plan design, and course hours.
So our initial requirement was to ensure that our executive protection training program adhered to the state regulations.
Review the Virginia Administrative Code Title 6. Criminal Justice And Corrections Agency 20. Department Of Criminal Justice Services Chapter 173. Regulations Relating to Private Security Services Training Schools for more information on their training regulations and standards.
From ISD to Executive Protection Training Standards: Building the Curriculum
Known as the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) process, in 2011, Independent Security Advisor instructors and course managers performed an analysis to identify the core critical skills and specific executive protection-oriented learning objectives required for a graduate of an ISA training course to conduct protective service operations in today’s domestic operational environment.
Private Sector Executive Protection Training Standards
Throughout the year-long ISD process, we had to ensure that the executive protection training curriculum met the requirements for graduates to obtain a state license, credential, or permit, as well as the training and education that employers required. To achieve this, we spoke with corporate hiring managers, detail managers, and directors.
The private sector hiring managers and corporate security directors provided feedback on additional subjects we incorporated into the seven-day course, including threat assessments, risk mitigation, threat intelligence, and hostile surveillance.
These discussions were key to meeting hiring managers' requirements and addressing a glaring gap in training private sector and corporate protective service agents.
Law Enforcement Executive Protection Training Standards
A law enforcement training program must adhere to state standards and agency requirements, ensuring that officers, deputies, and troopers earn credit for official in-service training, continuing education, or certification from their respective agencies.
Therefore, the ISD process is straightforward: review the standards and requirements of each state or agency and build a course that meets or exceeds those standards and requirements.
In the end, our program was approved by the following regulatory agencies:
* Maryland Police & Corrections Training Commission
* Virginia Department of Criminal Justice
* South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy
* Georgia POST
* Accepted as part of an officer’s permanent record by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety
* Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission
Governing Boards and Agencies
As we mentioned, the ISA EP training program is primarily governed by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice and the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board’s mandatory executive protection training course requirements.
Much of the two curricula are similar, meaning these states dictate many topics to be covered in our training program, as they are required for state licenses and credentials.
However, the primary building blocks used to determine the training curriculum with clearly defined objectives and standards were initially the General Accounting Office report GAO/GGD/OSI-00-139, dated 07/11/2000, titled “Security Protection: Standardization Issues Regarding Protection of Executive Branch Officials’
This was balanced against the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ 11-day protective operations training course.
In the GAO report, agencies whose primary mission is protection stated that their training included instruction in firearms, threat assessments, emergency medical training, practical protection exercises, security advance, motorcade, airport, foreign travel procedures, defensive driving skills, defensive tactics, and legal authorities.
Therefore, we used the GAO report and federal law enforcement training as a template to meet or exceed state regulatory requirements and address the specific training shortfalls and recommendations highlighted in the GAO report and the FLETC program.
The Results
ISA not only surpassed the states with regulatory standards for the private sector and law enforcement, but we were able to enter into credit agreements with institutions of higher learning and received the first endorsement of an executive protection training program by the International Foundation for Protection Officers
Final Thoughts
Training standards mean you cannot simply select topics for a course without corresponding standards to validate them. The learning objectives for the course must be clearly defined and validated, and the instructor's credentials for teaching them must also be clearly outlined.
This entire process takes place within the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) framework and focuses on the essential competencies you wish your students to acquire. If those "essential competencies" are state-directed or mandated for a license, your course design must meet the standards established by the state.
Otherwise, schools are free to use whatever curricula they wish, just don't call your programs certified or accredited, because you're not.
And if we move towards an industry-wide approved standard of executive protection training, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Standards already exist at the federal, state, and agency levels.
For more information on Executive Protection Training Standards, please read the;
The Executive Protection Professionals Core Competencies Survey Report December 2020 prepared by: The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center
https://ppc.unl.edu/sites/default/files/resource-files/epp-survey-report_public_2020-2021.pdf
To learn more about the ISA curriculum, please visit https://www.eptraining.us/executive-protection-training-curriculum/
Note* at ISA we have written a number of articles and blogs about this topic. You can find them on our website at
https://www.eptraining.us/executive-protection-training-standards-2/blog/
https://www.eptraining.us/executive-protection-training-standards-v2/blog/
https://www.eptraining.us/executive-protection-training-standards-the-minimums/blog/
For additional information or to read our blogs and EP training program updates, please visit us on Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, or the Presidential Service Badge Foundation and First Forward websites.
https://www.reddit.com/r/eptrainingus/
https://www.facebook.com/DPspecialist/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/independent-security-advisors-llc1/?viewAsMember=true
https://www.instagram.com/independentsecurityadvisors/?__pwa=1
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/executiveprotectionspecialist
https://www.presidentialservicebadgefoundation.org/
And as always, this and other topics can be found on our website and mentioned in our company blog at https://www.eptraining.us/blog/
#executiveprotectiontrainingstandards, #executiveprotectiontraining
Note: This article may not represent Independent Security Advisors LLC's official opinion or position. However, it is fully authorized and approved for publication as an independent work by our instructors, subject matter experts, and leadership team members.
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