CPI Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CPI exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CPI Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CPI Topics to Study (21)
✍️ Sample CPI Questions & Answers
1. What is 'sweethearting' in retail loss prevention?
Sweethearting occurs when employees fail to scan items, apply unauthorized discounts, or give away free merchandise to friends, family, or acquaintances at the register.
2. Which risk treatment option involves purchasing insurance or outsourcing to reduce financial exposure?
Risk transference shifts the financial consequence of a risk to a third party, such as an insurer or contracted service provider.
3. What is the 'bow-tie' analysis method used for in security risk assessments?
Bow-tie analysis maps prevention barriers (left) and recovery controls (right) around a central critical event, providing a comprehensive risk visualization.
4. A CPI is asked to assess the 'criticality' of assets during a risk assessment. What does criticality measure?
Criticality reflects how essential an asset is to operations and how severely its loss would impact the organization's ability to function.
5. A CPI is assessing a school facility. A parent group recently posted social media threats against the principal. How should this be classified in the threat assessment?
Social media threats must be treated as potentially credible, documented in the threat assessment, referred to law enforcement, and used to trigger enhanced security measures.
6. Which type of lock is most commonly recommended for high-security access control in commercial inspections?
High-security deadbolts with anti-pick pins provide significantly greater resistance to forced and covert entry than standard locks.