IPMI’s PECP credential equips frontline staff with skills, confidence, and industry recognition.
By Jay Landers
Last November, the International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) announced the launch of its new Parking Enforcement & Compliance Professional (PECP) micro-credential. Since then, the PECP has quickly emerged as a key professional development tool for frontline parking enforcement and compliance personnel across North America.
Open to industry professionals with at least one year of experience, the PECP offers a new pathway for individuals seeking to expand their skills, gain industry recognition, and advance their careers. “This micro-credential is ideal for frontline and enforcement personnel, and specifically tailored to the needs of your staff,” according to the IPMI website.
What the PECP involves
To earn the PECP, participants complete nine hours of coursework covering topics ranging from successful enforcement practices and technology trends to conflict management, customer service, and transportation options. The credential also requires two courses from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), covering the National Response Framework and active shooter prevention.
These wide-ranging topics reflect the growing complexity of parking enforcement roles and the importance of preparing professionals for situations far beyond simply issuing citations.
Real-world benefits for parking professionals
For Michael Davenport, a compliance coordinator for the Dallas Department of Aviation at Dallas Love Field Airport, the PECP provides a new level of recognition for enforcement and compliance staff. “It holds so much weight,” Davenport said. “I have been recognized by a lot of my peers by obtaining this credential.”
He credits the PECP with helping him sharpen his skills in performing inspections and improving compliance at the airport’s facilities. “It has definitely made me a better compliance professional,” Davenport said. Now when he conducts inspections of his airport’s garages and other facilities, Davenport benefits from what he called a “third eye” that helps him ensure that the airport’s contractors are complying with the airport’s various requirements.
Davenport strongly encourages others to pursue the credential. “It definitely can take your career to a new level,” he said. “You can't go wrong with it.”
Jonathan Calle, an enforcement supervisor for the Allentown Parking Authority in Allentown, Pennsylvania, found that the PECP reflected the real-world demands of his role. The credential “pretty much covered everything that I do in my daily tasks in this position,” Calle said. The course’s emphasis on technology particularly resonated with him. “The whole technology part of that course is what stood out for me,” he added.
Gabriel Hoxie, a parking enforcement officer at North Carolina State University, brought eight years of industry experience to the table, but he still found the PECP both challenging and rewarding. “I really enjoyed the modules and the pacing and then going on to the FEMA certifications,” Hoxie said. “It was hard. It was a lot of information, but it was really, really good,” Hoxie said.
He also sees the PECP as a foundation for further professional growth. “This will be a stepping stone for me,” Hoxie said, before taking the IPMI’s Parking, Transportation, and Mobility Professional (PTMP) credential, which the association instituted this past March, replacing its long-standing Certified Administrator of Public Parking (CAPP) credential.
Trystan Henry, a vice president of business development at the touchless parking solutions provider Park Engage, echoed those sentiments, noting that while he brought substantial experience to the course, the PECP offered something new — official recognition of his skills and exposure to technical content rarely covered in traditional training.
“I had a lot of past experience in parking and enforcement, but nothing to really designate that type of experience,” said Henry, who until this past March was the manager of parking and transportation at the University of Southern Maine.
In particular, the module covering data, data privacy, and security stood out to Henry. It had a “lot of very in-depth technical knowledge that I just really wasn't aware of,” Henry explained. “It really went into that whole background and then why there are safeguards and practices in place.”
Henry wholeheartedly recommends the credential. “You're going to learn something new no matter how long” you’ve been in parking, he said.
Passport’s commitment to enforcement professionals
Supporting the PECP from the start has been parking technology provider Passport, the exclusive sponsor of the credential. For Adam Kriegel, Passport’s vice president of business development and partnerships, the collaboration reflects both pride and purpose. “I'm proud of how Passport stepped up to put our logo, to put our name on this,” Kriegel said. “I'm also proud of IPMI for doing it.”
Beyond sponsorship, Kriegel views the introduction of the PECP as a sign of larger industry changes. “I think this signals IPMI and the industry also seeing this significant trend in the move towards compliance-driven activities and compliance-focused technology,” Kriegel said. “This shows a really significant shift in where they want to bring the education moving forward.”
Brittany Yokley, Passport’s product manager on compliance, personally completed the PECP, a decision driven by her desire to better understand the people her company’s software serves.
“Part of the reason why I myself signed up for this credential was because I spend my time thinking about this group of enforcement officers and the software that we're building for them every day,” Yokley said. “I thought it was super important to really understand who we're building for, what is the industry-leading training that they're being given, and how can we incorporate that into the development of the work that we're providing the software for them.”
Yokley also appreciated the PECP’s broad scope. “It's not just about how can you most effectively write a ticket for somebody that didn't pay,” she said. “It's customer service. It's natural disaster response in your area. It's keeping people safe, including yourself, providing that sort of resource and ambassador-type role for the city in which you work and live and really being a part of the community,” she said. “That was a big takeaway for me.”
A credential for everyone in the industry
The PECP isn’t just for those working directly in enforcement. Armaan Dhillon, who began his parking career as an enforcement officer and is now an account manager for Impark overseeing about 35 properties in the Calgary, Alberta, area, noted that the credential “absolutely” offers essential insights for any parking professional.
“It's a one-of-a-kind credential,” Dhillon said. “It's very important for any professional in the industry, even if not connected directly with enforcement.”
He sees the PECP as a way to foster customer-friendly, compliance-focused facilities. “It's very beneficial for us to know how the operations work on the field and on the ground and what are the key elements that our enforcement officers — the people on the ground, the faces of our organizations — what are the elements that they can learn, what are the skills that they can grow in so that they can succeed in giving the best customer service possible in the field,” Dhillon said.
Dhillon predicts a bright future for the PECP, calling it a must-have for those seeking to advance in the parking industry. “This will be a golden standard,” he said. “This will help the parking enforcement officers who are on the field to get more skills and more knowledge on how they can be more customer-centric and how they can help the customer get the best parking experience possible,” he said.
“This designation,” Dhillon said, “is a stepping stone into the industry and into getting knowledge about the industry.”
JAY LANDERS is the editor-in-chief of Parking Today. He can be reached at jay@parkingtoday.com.
