Security Institute and Perpetuity Training raising the bar

Ken Livingstone MSc, is Managing Director of Perpetuity Training Ltd, part of the Linx International Group. He is also a Fellow and Board Member of the Security Institute (SyI) and an advisor to a number of Universities in the UK.

In this article Ken provides an overview on the importance of the availability of a Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Security Management for security professionals and what Perpetuity Training is doing in partnership with organisations such as the Security Institute, to raise standards within the security profession.

Q: Looking at the Perpetuity Training prospectus, there appears to be a large number of accredited courses already available to security professionals who wish to enhance their skill sets. Why have you felt it necessary to introduce this particular course?

A: Simply put, together with the Security Institute, we are endeavouring to raise the bar. The security sector, in terms of who works within it, has undergone a significant transformation over recent years. Long gone is the situation where someone could sit on the board of an organisation in the role of Security Director or hold a senior security management position just because they had spent a number of years, or held a senior rank within the armed forces or police service.

Experience is of course still important, indeed essential, but today’s security professional understands the need to acquire accredited career enhancing qualifications that will not only provide them with knowledge and skills which will help them become more effective in their current and future roles, but will also signify their competence to do so. Indeed, the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Security Management has been developed as a result of direct feedback that the Security Institute has gleaned from its members which highlighted the demand for a Level 7 qualification.

Q: What does the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Security Management offer over and above other courses?

A: It is set at Masters level and the fact that it is accredited as a Level 7 Advanced Diploma signifies that it is designed to benefit those wishing to take their professional development to the highest levels within both the security profession and the Security Institute.

Q: Many of the people who might be at the stage of their careers where this training programme and the resulting Diploma will be of value to them, are likely to lead very busy lives. Is there not the danger that they will be deterred from participating because of a perception that it will be very time consuming to do so?

A: A good question. The Diploma is designed to be completed in nine months. However, with the busy security professional in mind, we are delivering the training programme by distance learning. Students can therefore schedule their studies around their work and family commitments, wherever they are in the world.

Q: What are these assignments?

A: There are three assignments and they are essentially how students will be assessed. The last of the assignments will be on a security management topic chosen by the student. This is an opportunity for the student to produce a high level body of work which could be of direct relevance to their job and could subsequently therefore be of considerable value to their employers.

Q. So has the course been specifically designed to allow students the flexibility to study a topic that is of interest to them?

A. Exactly. The course is based around researching security and crime issues. The first of the three modules seeks to give students new skills in relation to thinking about crime. It covers critical thinking and looks at the way in which we consider security problems and the potential solutions. There is always a danger in security management that we rush to implement marketplace solutions, rather than looking to design out the problem.

The next two modules cover a research proposal followed by of a piece of research chosen by the student. It gives them the opportunity to apply the skills they will learn on the course by solving a problem relevant to their own role or working environment.

Q: What is Perpetuity Training’s relationship with the Security Institute?

A: Perpetuity Training has been the Security Institute’s sole Development Partner for Education since 2007 and through mutual respect we are always looking at ways to work together to raise the level of professionalism and recognition of the security sector. Whilst admittedly there is a commercial imperative, we both share a passion for supporting security professionals in their endeavours to effectively manage the risk of terrorism and criminal activity in all its various forms, in order to create a safer and more secure world.

For more information on the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Security Management, telephone +44 (0) 116 277 3313 or email [email protected].

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