Certis is one of the five commercial auxiliary police forces authorized to provide armed security officers to government organizations as well as private companies or individuals in Singapore.

From 1 June 2005, the statutory board was dissolved and Cisco Security Pte Ltd was formed upon its corporatisation as a fully owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings,[1] and inaugurated on 5 July 2005.

They were deployed in major events such as the Singapore 2006 IMF Meetings, the New Year Countdown at Marina Bay in 2007 and 2008, the Chingay Parade and the Thaipusam processions.

CISCO came into being in 1972 in the wake of a police employment scheme review by a committee led by Professor Lee Soo Ann a year earlier.

It recommended that the Singapore Police Force's Guard and Escort Unit, itself formed in 1958,[4] be hived off as a statutory board of the Government of Singapore, in a bid to relieve manpower constraints on the SPF by empowering the new statutory board with the ability to conduct its own recruitment schemes tailored specifically for armed security services.

[8] In 1991, the board's new chief executive, Chan Boon Kiong initiated wide-ranging changes to turn the company round into a commercial entity with an annual turnover of S$200 million, with diversification into various aspects of security.

It also began to expand abroad, having first established a joint venture with Zhong-Bao Security Industry Company in China in July 1995 with a 60% stake.

[10] CISCO officially opened its new Headquarters building at Jalan Affifi off Upper Paya Lebar Road on 20 June 1986, which then boasted some of the most modern facilities including the first computerised indoor shooting range in Singapore.

[11] On 2 March 1994, work commenced to extend the CISCO Headquarters building to incorporate facilities to process and store high-value items and a computer disaster recovery centre.

[13] On 8 June 1999, the first purpose-built CISCO Recall Centre was officially opened, which included a 43-metre high document storage facility, the tallest single-storey building in Singapore.

[9] CISCO entered into a joint-venture with the National Library Board on 21 June 1999 to establish a digital signature certification authority service.

[16] CISCO manned the Area Licensing Scheme gantries in 1975[17] until the introduction of Electronic Road Pricing in September 1998, where 105 officers were redeployed.

The new company took over all businesses the statutory board had engaged in, and is now liberated to enter or exit from contracts based on its own commercial interests.

Under governmental direction, the uniform was modified to inject distinguishing features between them and that of those worn by officers of the SPF to foster a more level playing field with other Auxiliary Police Forces in Singapore.

While the new uniform was implemented across the company, some officers tasked to perform specific roles were exempt from the change, in particular those involving provision of security for sensitive locations or personnel, such as the Istana, the Supreme Court building and the private residences of VVIPs.

[37] “Security+” enables JTC to efficiently manage security and surveillance over its multiple properties, as well as reduce the response time to incidents.