POST Monthly Report

December 2024

Keeping you up to date on POST projects

Executive Director’s Message
by Manuel Alvarez, Jr.

K-9 Guidelines — POST Executive Director, Manuel Alvarez, Jr.

The year 2024 was yet another year where we made progress in keeping with the changing times in policing. For instance, we initiated an active shooter pilot training course in the Regular Basic Course at seven academies and completed a major overhaul of the field training program. We hired two permanent staff members, both of which are former dispatch supervisors, to expand training opportunities for public safety dispatchers. Science Based Interview (SBI) training continued at a quick pace under the umbrella of the POST Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation, and at the same time we started the process of bringing all other interview and interrogation course presenters in conformity with the SBI model. The POST Commission approved a new Continuing Professional Training (CPT) reporting mandate starting with the 2025-26 CPT training cycle, and they approved a new mandate for recurring refresher training for instructors of firearms, driving, arrest and control, and use of force. We rolled out several online training courses and videos, including an all new “This is POST” video, and completed a joint hate crime video with the California Department of Civil Rights. We issued five guideline documents and are currently working on seven others. Our staff completed seven management studies for law enforcement agencies, including twelve additional studies now in progress. We also audited over 8,000 peace officer and public safety dispatcher background files.

Administratively, we made great strides in the hiring of additional staff. We started January 1, 2024, with 182 permanent full-time employees and 15 retired annuitants. However, as of December 1, 2024, we grew to 207 permanent full-time employees and 25 retired annuitants. We will continue in earnest next year to get closer and closer to our staffing model of 263 full-time positions. Our POST software engineers created several internal software applications to automate workflows and approvals for such things as POST Letters of Agreement, invoices, contracts, and certain misconduct certification actions, and at the same time were busy continually modifying the Electronic Data Interchange to reflect new licensing requirements for peace officers. Our physical office space continued to expand as a result of the increased mission responsibilities. Thus, we initiated two major construction projects. The first project will be completed by early January 2025 and will result in new space for staff assigned to the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division. The second project will be the construction of a permanent standalone hearing room, which we anticipate being completed by mid-2025.

Suffice it to say, 2024 was a busy year. We are grateful for those who have entrusted and empowered POST with the ever-growing important mission responsibilities.

Lastly, POST owes a debt of gratitude to the following staff who retired in 2024:

Julie Gorwood, Basic Training Bureau
Michael Barnes, Learning Technology Resources Bureau

Updated Perishable Skills Course - Police Response to People with Mental Illness, Intellectual Disabilities, and Substance Use Disorders

In September 2024, an eight-hour course on "Police Response to People with Mental Illness, Intellectual Disabilities, and Substance Use Disorders" was updated and is now available to download on the POST Crisis Intervention Behavioral Health Training webpage and the Publications and Guidelines webpage as well. This course fulfills the requirements outlined in Penal Code section 13515.27, which states that “the commission shall establish and keep updated a classroom-based continuing training that includes instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability and substance use disorder.”

The course content was created on the advice of subject matter experts from across the state and includes information on instructor selection and requirements, preparation, challenges, content, delivery methods, and learning activities. Agencies or training centers may utilize the expanded course outline and hourly distribution to deliver the course by certifying it through a POST Regional Consultant. Although this course is not mandatory, law enforcement personnel attending the course will meet the communications perishable skills requirement for CPT.

Questions about this course may be directed to William Baldwin, Law Enforcement Consultant with the Training Program Services Bureau, at (916) 277-4263.

Pilot Presentation of Learning Domain 44 – Active Shooter at San Joaquin Delta College Academy

Students participate in the pilot presentation of LD 44 – Active Shooter.
*Disclaimer: the weapons in this image are training weapons that are solely used for training purposes.*

On December 10,14, and 15, 2024, the San Joaquin Delta College Academy presented Learning Domain 44 – Active Shooter during the Module I course as part of a pilot presentation. The training involved the delivery of three Required Learning Activities in the proposed Training and Testing Specifications. The proposed Required Learning Activities require students to demonstrate movement as a solo peace officer response to an active shooter incident, multiple peace officer response to an active shooter incident, and a comprehensive response to an active shooter incident.

For questions regarding the proposed Basic Course Active Shooter training, please contact Brandon Kiely, Law Enforcement Consultant with the Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 809-3443.

POST Facilitates Recruit Training Officer Course

POST Law Enforcement Consultant John Johnson presents during the RTO Course for Basic Course Presenters.

On December 3-6, 2024, the Basic Training Bureau facilitated a 24-hour Recruit Training Officer (RTO) Course for Basic Course Presenters. Commission Regulation requires all full-time RTOs complete this course within one year of their appointment to their respective academies.

The RTO Course was facilitated in Garden Grove, California and included instruction on the roles and responsibilities of the RTOs; legislative mandates, Commission Regulations, and Commission Procedures; testing protocols and remedial training requirements; liability and ethics; communication, counseling, and evaluations; physical training requirements; and special training issues.

Questions regarding the course may be directed to Mario Moreno, Law Enforcement Consultant with the Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-4895.

Meet the New POST Employees

Trevor (TJ) Windmiller

Staff Services Analyst

Basic Training Bureau

TJ joins POST from a career in education, where he served as a high school and middle school science teacher and department chair specializing in curriculum development, communication, and technology integration. Prior to this, he gained valuable experience in operations management and sustainability through roles in the cycling retail and solar industries. He is assigned as a Staff Services Analyst in the Basic Training Bureau.

Yuritzia (Dani) Pineda Rosas

Office Technician (Typing)

Certification Bureau

Dani was previously employed as the receptionist and office assistant to Sacramento Party Jumps. Dani has also worked as an instructional assistant for the San Juan Unified School District, working with 1st-8th graders to improve their math skills. Dani is new to state employment and is excited to learn about POST, while fulfilling the role of Office Technician (Typing) for the Certification Bureau.

Gabriel Knapp

Staff Services Analyst

Administrative Services Bureau

Gabriel comes to us from the Department of General Services where he served as a painter, maintaining building aesthetics for the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol complex. Prior to that, he was a Custodian Supervisor at the same facility, supervising a staff of 36+ custodians and providing procurement services for the custodial, maintenance, and engineering programs. Gabriel is now a Staff Services Analyst (Procurement/Contracts) in the Administrative Services Bureau.

Recently Approved Rulemaking Files

The following is a list of recently approved rulemaking files proposed by the Commission on POST. The Office of Administrative Law reviews these rulemaking files to ensure compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act.

View all Commission on POST Regulatory Actions.

Amend Minimum Training Standards for Instructors
Commission Regulations 1001, 1070, and 1082
Noticed August 16, 2024
Approved November 06, 2024
Effective January 01, 2025
OAL Notice of Approval and Approved Text (pdf)

Additional information regarding the Commission Regulation changes can be obtained by contacting the Regulations Analyst at (916) 227-4894.

Legislative Update

Status of Current Legislation

The following is a list of bills POST monitored during the 2024 Legislative Session. These bills could have an impact on POST operations or be of significant interest to law enforcement partners. It is not a complete list. (Updated 9/30/2024)

View a detailed report on legislative matters pertaining to law enforcement and POST.

Bill # and Author	Title and Summary	Status of Bill
AB 852 (Jones-Sawyer)	Peace officers Current law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with specified entities, to develop a modern policing degree program and to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature by no later than June 1, 2023, outlining a plan to implement the program. Current law requires peace officers in this state to meet specified minimum standards, including age and education requirements. This bill would require a peace officer to attain a modern policing degree, as specified, or a bachelor’s or other advanced degree from an accredited college or university no later than January 1, 2029, or within 36 months of commencing their employment as a peace officer, as applicable.	Last Amend: 8/14/2024 Location: 9/1/2024-Held at Desk. - DEAD
AB 1725 (McCarty)	Law enforcement settlements and judgments: reporting. Would require municipalities, as defined, to annually post on their internet websites specified information relating to settlements and judgments of $50,000 or more resulting from allegations of improper police conduct, including, among other information, amounts paid, broken down by individual settlement and judgment, information on bonds used to finance use of force settlement and judgment payments, and settlements or judgments paid by insurance. The bill would also require municipalities to annually post additional information pertaining to settlements and judgments, as specified, irrespective of the amount paid. By increasing requirements for local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.	Last Amend: 6/5/2024 Location: 8/15/2024-S. DEAD
AB 1839 (Alanis)	Peace officers: education and hiring grants Would, subject to an appropriation, establish the Law Enforcement Officer Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission to provide grants of up to $6,000 per year to individuals enrolled in a modern policing degree program at a California community college who commit to work for 4 years as a peace officer at a law enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would require grant recipients to agree to repay the grant to the state if certain conditions for the grant are not met, except as specified. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the chancellor’s office to develop, in consultation with specified entities, materials to be distributed to counselors’ offices in schools serving grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The bill would require those materials to inform high school students about the existence of the modern policing degree program and the grant program described above, among other things. The bill would require the chancellor’s office to particularly target the materials for students of historically underserved and disadvantaged communities with barriers to higher education access.	Introduced: 1/6/2024 Status: 5/16/2024-A. DEAD
AB 2020 (Bonta)	Survivors of Human Trafficking Support Act Under current law, human trafficking is a crime and law enforcement officers who are assigned field and investigative duties are required to complete minimum training pertaining to the handling of human trafficking complaints. Current law generally provides support services for individuals who are survivors of human trafficking, including public social services and address confidentiality, as specified. Current law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to prescribe selection and training standards for peace officers. Current law requires the commission to develop training curriculum in specified areas and to develop model policies that may be used by local law enforcement agencies, including, model policies for investigations of missing persons, elder and dependent adult abuse, and hate crimes. This bill would require the commission to, by no later than June 1, 2026, develop guidelines for interacting with survivors of human trafficking. The bill would require each law enforcement agency to, by no later than December 1, 2026, adopt a written policy for interacting with survivors of human trafficking based on the guidelines developed by the commission.	Last Amend: 8/15/2024 Status: 9/26/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 615, Statutes of 2024
AB 2042 (Jackson)	Police canines: standards and training Current law requires all law enforcement agencies to maintain a use of force policy, as specified, and requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to implement courses of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers in the use of force. This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop guidelines, as specified, for the use of canines by law enforcement. The bill would authorize the commission to periodically update these guidelines. The bill would require law enforcement agencies with a canine unit, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a policy for the use of canines that, at a minimum, complies with the guidelines developed by the commission.	Last Amend: 7/3/2024 Status: 8/15/2024-S. DEAD
AB 2138 (Ramos)	Peace officers: tribal police pilot project Current law defines those persons who are peace officers in the state, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Current law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators and park rangers and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions. Current federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Current federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California. This bill would, from July 1, 2025, until July 1, 2028, establish a pilot program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training granting peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize the department to select 3 tribal entities to participate, would set certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution authorizing that exercise of authority and providing for public access to certain records.	Last Amend: 6/26/2024 Status: 9/28/2024-Vetoed by Governor.
AB 2541 (Bains)	Peace officer training: wandering Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), in consultation with specified subject matter experts and on or before January 1, 2026, to develop guidelines addressing wandering associated with Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and dementia, as specified.	Introduced: 8/7/2024 Status: 9/21/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 333, Statutes of 2024
AB 2621 (Gabriel)	Law Enforcement Training Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, in consultation with specified subject matter experts, to develop a course of instruction that trains law enforcement on, among other things, indicators of hate crimes and techniques, responses to hate crime waves against certain groups, including Arab and Islamic communities, and methods to handle incidents of hate crimes in a noncombative manner. This bill would require instruction to include identifying when a gun violence restraining order is appropriate to prevent a hate crime and the procedure for seeking a gun violence restraining order. The bill would additionally require instruction on responses to hate crime waves against specified groups, including the LGBTQ and Jewish communities.	Last Amend: 5/20/2024 Status: 9/24/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 532, Statutes of 2024
AB 2710 (Lackey)	Peace officers: active shooter incidents Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to convene a panel of law enforcement experts to report to the Legislature and the commission, by January 1, 2027, specified topics related to active shooter incidents, including successful trainings and response protocols that have been demonstrated in active shooter incidents and the use of school resource officers on campus for threat prevention, detection, and assessment. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031.	Last Amend: 4/8/2024 Status: 5/16/2024-A. DEAD
AB 2923 (Jones-Sawyer)	Peace officers: public complaints Current law requires each department or agency that employs peace officer to establish a procedure to investigate complaints by members of the public against the personnel of the department or agency. This bill would require a form used during the complaint process to include a provision inquiring whether the complaint includes an allegation of racial or identify profiling and a space to describe the allegation. The bill would define “complaint” for these purposes to mean a report, given either in writing or verbally, that brings to the attention of a department or agency an incident during which the complainant perceives that a department or agency employee engaged in misconduct, as specified.	Last Amend: 4/17/2024 Status: 4/25/2024-A. DEAD
AB 3021 (Kalra)	Criminal procedure: interrogations Current law prohibits the prosecuting attorney, attorney for the defendant, or investigator for either the prosecution or the defendant from interviewing, questioning, or speaking to a victim or witness whose name has been disclosed by the defendant pursuant to current law without first clearly identifying themself and identifying the full name of the agency by whom they are employed, and identifying whether they represent, or have been retained by, the prosecution or the defendant. Under current law, if an interview takes place in person, the party is also required to show the victim or witness a business card, official badge, or other form of official identification before commencing the interview or questioning. This bill would require a peace officer, as defined, a prosecuting attorney, or an investigator for the prosecution, prior to interviewing an immediate family member of a person who has been killed or seriously injured by a peace officer, to clearly identify themself, if the interview takes place in person, to show identification, and to clearly state specified information, including that the family member has the right to ask about the status of their family member prior to answering questions, has the right to remain silent, and before speaking with the interviewer, can consult with a trusted person and can have that person with them while they speak to the interviewer.	Introduced: 5/9/2024 Status: 8/31/2024-S. INACTIVE FILE - DEAD
AB 3038 (Essayli)	School safety: armed school resource officers Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers.This bill would require a school district or charter school to hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus, phased in by certain grade spans, as provided. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.	Last Amend: 4/1/2024 Status: 4/25/2024-A. DEAD
AB 3241 (Pacheco)	Law enforcement: police canines Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt uniform, minimum guidelines regarding the use of canines by law enforcement, including legal standards established by the bill, and, on or before July 1, 2026, to certify courses of training for all law enforcement canine handlers and those law enforcement supervisors directly overseeing canine programs, as specified. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, each law enforcement agency with a canine unit to maintain a policy for the use of canines by the agency that, at a minimum, complies with the guidelines adopted by POST, and would require law enforcement agencies to establish a training regimen that includes a course certified by the commission. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.	Introduced: 8/15/2024 Status: 8/31/2024-S. INACTIVE FILE - DEAD
SB 400 (Wahab)	Peace officers: confidentiality of records The California Public Records Act generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Current law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement. Under current law, the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers are confidential and not subject to public inspection. Current law provides certain exemptions to this confidentiality, including the reports, investigations, and findings of certain incidents involving the use of force by a peace officer. This bill would clarify that this confidentiality does not prohibit an agency that formerly employed a peace officer or custodial officer from disclosing the termination for cause of that officer, as specified.	Last Amend: 1/25/2024 Status: 2/29/2024-Signed by the Governor
SB 1020 Senator Bradford	Law enforcement agency regulations: shooting range targets Current law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain specified policies, including policies regulating the use of force and the use of certain defensive weapons. Current law requires each peace officer to complete all pre-service and in-service training mandated by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. This bill would require each law enforcement agency and police academy to prohibit the use, as specified, of ethnic shooting targets, as defined.	Last Amend: 3/19/2024 Status: 9/25/2024-Vetoed by the Governor.
SB 1026 (Smallwood-Cuevas)	School safety: law enforcement agencies: contracts Current law authorizes the governing board of a school district to contract with a private licensed security agency to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils and the security of the real and personal property of the school district when the personnel normally required to provide those services fail to do so because of an emergency or when such an emergency necessitates additional security services, as provided. This bill would require the governing board of a school district that establishes a security department or police department, and the governing board or body of a local educational agency, as defined, that enters into a contract on or after January 1, 2025, with a local police or sheriff’s department or private licensed security agency to provide school security services, to do certain things, including specify the parameters on the use of weapons, including, but not limited to, handcuffs, pepper spray, batons, and firearms, on a school campus. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.	Last Amend: 3/11/2024 Status: 4/25/2024-S. DEAD
SB 1122 (Seyarto)	Peace officers: educational requirements Current law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a modern policing degree program, with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and other stakeholders to serve as advisors, as specified, and to submit a report on recommendations to the Legislature outlining a plan to implement the program on or before June 1, 2023. Current law requires the report to include, among other things, recommendations to include both the modern policing degree program and a bachelor’s degree in the discipline of their choosing as minimum education requirements for employment as a peace officer. Current law requires the commission to adopt the recommended criteria within 2 years of when the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges submits its report to the Legislature. This bill would specify that a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree required for employment as a peace officer under these provisions may be obtained after completion of the Peace Officer Standards and Training program and within 36 months of employment as a peace officer.	Last Amend: 3/18/2024 Status: 6/13/2024-A. DESK - DEAD
SB 1264 (Grove)	Employment discrimination: cannabis use. Current law prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or a term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing a person because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace or an employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids. Current law exempts certain applicants and employees from those provisions, including applicants and employees hired for positions that require a federal government background investigation or security clearance, as specified. This bill would exempt from the provision prohibiting employers from discriminating against a person for use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace applicants and employees in sworn positions within law enforcement agencies who have certain functions, including functions related civil enforcement matters or coroner functions.	Last Amend: 6/17/2024 Status: 7/2/2024-A. DEAD
SB 1489 (McGuire)	Peace officers: Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board Current law creates the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division. Current law requires the board to report annually on the activities of the division, board, and commission relating to peace officer certification, including the number of applications for certification, the events reported, the number of investigations conducted, and the number of certificates surrendered or revoked. This bill would require the board to prepare the report no later than February 1 of each year.	Last Amend: 3/20/2024 Status: 8/15/2024-A. THIRD READING - DEAD
SB 1518 (Committee on Public Safety)	Public safety omnibus Current law requires law enforcement agencies to provide victims with specified information about victims’ rights and resources. This bill would fix an erroneous cross-reference in these provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.	Last Amend: 8/8/2024 Status: 9/22/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 495, Statutes of 2024

Bill # and Author

Title and Summary

Status of Bill

AB 852

(Jones-Sawyer)

Peace officers

Current law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with specified entities, to develop a modern policing degree program and to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature by no later than June 1, 2023, outlining a plan to implement the program. Current law requires peace officers in this state to meet specified minimum standards, including age and education requirements. This bill would require a peace officer to attain a modern policing degree, as specified, or a bachelor’s or other advanced degree from an accredited college or university no later than January 1, 2029, or within 36 months of commencing their employment as a peace officer, as applicable.

Last Amend: 8/14/2024

Location: 9/1/2024-Held at Desk. - DEAD

AB 1725

(McCarty)

Law enforcement settlements and judgments: reporting.

Would require municipalities, as defined, to annually post on their internet websites specified information relating to settlements and judgments of $50,000 or more resulting from allegations of improper police conduct, including, among other information, amounts paid, broken down by individual settlement and judgment, information on bonds used to finance use of force settlement and judgment payments, and settlements or judgments paid by insurance. The bill would also require municipalities to annually post additional information pertaining to settlements and judgments, as specified, irrespective of the amount paid. By increasing requirements for local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Last Amend: 6/5/2024

Location: 8/15/2024-S. DEAD

AB 1839

(Alanis)

Peace officers: education and hiring grants

Would, subject to an appropriation, establish the Law Enforcement Officer Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission to provide grants of up to $6,000 per year to individuals enrolled in a modern policing degree program at a California community college who commit to work for 4 years as a peace officer at a law enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would require grant recipients to agree to repay the grant to the state if certain conditions for the grant are not met, except as specified. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the chancellor’s office to develop, in consultation with specified entities, materials to be distributed to counselors’ offices in schools serving grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The bill would require those materials to inform high school students about the existence of the modern policing degree program and the grant program described above, among other things. The bill would require the chancellor’s office to particularly target the materials for students of historically underserved and disadvantaged communities with barriers to higher education access.

Introduced: 1/6/2024

Status: 5/16/2024-A. DEAD

AB 2020

(Bonta)

Survivors of Human Trafficking Support Act

Under current law, human trafficking is a crime and law enforcement officers who are assigned field and investigative duties are required to complete minimum training pertaining to the handling of human trafficking complaints. Current law generally provides support services for individuals who are survivors of human trafficking, including public social services and address confidentiality, as specified. Current law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to prescribe selection and training standards for peace officers. Current law requires the commission to develop training curriculum in specified areas and to develop model policies that may be used by local law enforcement agencies, including, model policies for investigations of missing persons, elder and dependent adult abuse, and hate crimes. This bill would require the commission to, by no later than June 1, 2026, develop guidelines for interacting with survivors of human trafficking. The bill would require each law enforcement agency to, by no later than December 1, 2026, adopt a written policy for interacting with survivors of human trafficking based on the guidelines developed by the commission.

Last Amend: 8/15/2024

Status: 9/26/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 615, Statutes of 2024

AB 2042

(Jackson)

Police canines: standards and training

Current law requires all law enforcement agencies to maintain a use of force policy, as specified, and requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to implement courses of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers in the use of force. This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop guidelines, as specified, for the use of canines by law enforcement. The bill would authorize the commission to periodically update these guidelines. The bill would require law enforcement agencies with a canine unit, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a policy for the use of canines that, at a minimum, complies with the guidelines developed by the commission.

Last Amend: 7/3/2024

Status: 8/15/2024-S. DEAD

AB 2138

(Ramos)

Peace officers: tribal police pilot project

Current law defines those persons who are peace officers in the state, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Current law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators and park rangers and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions. Current federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Current federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California. This bill would, from July 1, 2025, until July 1, 2028, establish a pilot program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training granting peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize the department to select 3 tribal entities to participate, would set certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution authorizing that exercise of authority and providing for public access to certain records.

Last Amend: 6/26/2024

Status: 9/28/2024-Vetoed by Governor.

AB 2541

(Bains)

Peace officer training: wandering

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), in consultation with specified subject matter experts and on or before January 1, 2026, to develop guidelines addressing wandering associated with Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and dementia, as specified.

Introduced: 8/7/2024

Status: 9/21/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 333, Statutes of 2024

AB 2621

(Gabriel)

Law Enforcement Training

Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, in consultation with specified subject matter experts, to develop a course of instruction that trains law enforcement on, among other things, indicators of hate crimes and techniques, responses to hate crime waves against certain groups, including Arab and Islamic communities, and methods to handle incidents of hate crimes in a noncombative manner. This bill would require instruction to include identifying when a gun violence restraining order is appropriate to prevent a hate crime and the procedure for seeking a gun violence restraining order. The bill would additionally require instruction on responses to hate crime waves against specified groups, including the LGBTQ and Jewish communities.

Last Amend: 5/20/2024

Status: 9/24/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 532, Statutes of 2024

AB 2710

(Lackey)

Peace officers: active shooter incidents

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to convene a panel of law enforcement experts to report to the Legislature and the commission, by January 1, 2027, specified topics related to active shooter incidents, including successful trainings and response protocols that have been demonstrated in active shooter incidents and the use of school resource officers on campus for threat prevention, detection, and assessment. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031.

Last Amend: 4/8/2024

Status: 5/16/2024-A. DEAD

AB 2923

(Jones-Sawyer)

Peace officers: public complaints

Current law requires each department or agency that employs peace officer to establish a procedure to investigate complaints by members of the public against the personnel of the department or agency. This bill would require a form used during the complaint process to include a provision inquiring whether the complaint includes an allegation of racial or identify profiling and a space to describe the allegation. The bill would define “complaint” for these purposes to mean a report, given either in writing or verbally, that brings to the attention of a department or agency an incident during which the complainant perceives that a department or agency employee engaged in misconduct, as specified.

Last Amend: 4/17/2024

Status: 4/25/2024-A. DEAD

AB 3021

(Kalra)

Criminal procedure: interrogations

Current law prohibits the prosecuting attorney, attorney for the defendant, or investigator for either the prosecution or the defendant from interviewing, questioning, or speaking to a victim or witness whose name has been disclosed by the defendant pursuant to current law without first clearly identifying themself and identifying the full name of the agency by whom they are employed, and identifying whether they represent, or have been retained by, the prosecution or the defendant. Under current law, if an interview takes place in person, the party is also required to show the victim or witness a business card, official badge, or other form of official identification before commencing the interview or questioning. This bill would require a peace officer, as defined, a prosecuting attorney, or an investigator for the prosecution, prior to interviewing an immediate family member of a person who has been killed or seriously injured by a peace officer, to clearly identify themself, if the interview takes place in person, to show identification, and to clearly state specified information, including that the family member has the right to ask about the status of their family member prior to answering questions, has the right to remain silent, and before speaking with the interviewer, can consult with a trusted person and can have that person with them while they speak to the interviewer.

Introduced: 5/9/2024

Status: 8/31/2024-S. INACTIVE FILE - DEAD

AB 3038

(Essayli)

School safety: armed school resource officers

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers.This bill would require a school district or charter school to hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus, phased in by certain grade spans, as provided. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Last Amend: 4/1/2024

Status: 4/25/2024-A. DEAD

AB 3241

(Pacheco)

Law enforcement: police canines

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt uniform, minimum guidelines regarding the use of canines by law enforcement, including legal standards established by the bill, and, on or before July 1, 2026, to certify courses of training for all law enforcement canine handlers and those law enforcement supervisors directly overseeing canine programs, as specified. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, each law enforcement agency with a canine unit to maintain a policy for the use of canines by the agency that, at a minimum, complies with the guidelines adopted by POST, and would require law enforcement agencies to establish a training regimen that includes a course certified by the commission. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Introduced: 8/15/2024

Status: 8/31/2024-S. INACTIVE FILE - DEAD

SB 400

(Wahab)

Peace officers: confidentiality of records

The California Public Records Act generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Current law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement. Under current law, the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers are confidential and not subject to public inspection. Current law provides certain exemptions to this confidentiality, including the reports, investigations, and findings of certain incidents involving the use of force by a peace officer. This bill would clarify that this confidentiality does not prohibit an agency that formerly employed a peace officer or custodial officer from disclosing the termination for cause of that officer, as specified.

Last Amend: 1/25/2024

Status: 2/29/2024-Signed by the Governor

SB 1020

Senator Bradford

Law enforcement agency regulations: shooting range targets

Current law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain specified policies, including policies regulating the use of force and the use of certain defensive weapons. Current law requires each peace officer to complete all pre-service and in-service training mandated by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. This bill would require each law enforcement agency and police academy to prohibit the use, as specified, of ethnic shooting targets, as defined.

Last Amend: 3/19/2024

Status: 9/25/2024-Vetoed by the Governor.

SB 1026

(Smallwood-Cuevas)

School safety: law enforcement agencies: contracts

Current law authorizes the governing board of a school district to contract with a private licensed security agency to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils and the security of the real and personal property of the school district when the personnel normally required to provide those services fail to do so because of an emergency or when such an emergency necessitates additional security services, as provided. This bill would require the governing board of a school district that establishes a security department or police department, and the governing board or body of a local educational agency, as defined, that enters into a contract on or after January 1, 2025, with a local police or sheriff’s department or private licensed security agency to provide school security services, to do certain things, including specify the parameters on the use of weapons, including, but not limited to, handcuffs, pepper spray, batons, and firearms, on a school campus. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Last Amend: 3/11/2024

Status: 4/25/2024-S. DEAD

SB 1122

(Seyarto)

Peace officers: educational requirements

Current law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a modern policing degree program, with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and other stakeholders to serve as advisors, as specified, and to submit a report on recommendations to the Legislature outlining a plan to implement the program on or before June 1, 2023. Current law requires the report to include, among other things, recommendations to include both the modern policing degree program and a bachelor’s degree in the discipline of their choosing as minimum education requirements for employment as a peace officer. Current law requires the commission to adopt the recommended criteria within 2 years of when the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges submits its report to the Legislature. This bill would specify that a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree required for employment as a peace officer under these provisions may be obtained after completion of the Peace Officer Standards and Training program and within 36 months of employment as a peace officer.

Last Amend: 3/18/2024

Status: 6/13/2024-A. DESK - DEAD

SB 1264

(Grove)

Employment discrimination: cannabis use.

Current law prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or a term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing a person because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace or an employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids. Current law exempts certain applicants and employees from those provisions, including applicants and employees hired for positions that require a federal government background investigation or security clearance, as specified. This bill would exempt from the provision prohibiting employers from discriminating against a person for use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace applicants and employees in sworn positions within law enforcement agencies who have certain functions, including functions related civil enforcement matters or coroner functions.

Last Amend: 6/17/2024

Status: 7/2/2024-A. DEAD

SB 1489

(McGuire)

Peace officers: Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board

Current law creates the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division. Current law requires the board to report annually on the activities of the division, board, and commission relating to peace officer certification, including the number of applications for certification, the events reported, the number of investigations conducted, and the number of certificates surrendered or revoked. This bill would require the board to prepare the report no later than February 1 of each year.

Last Amend: 3/20/2024

Status: 8/15/2024-A. THIRD READING - DEAD

SB 1518

(Committee on Public Safety)

Public safety omnibus

Current law requires law enforcement agencies to provide victims with specified information about victims’ rights and resources. This bill would fix an erroneous cross-reference in these provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Last Amend: 8/8/2024

Status: 9/22/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 495, Statutes of 2024

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POST Monthly Report

December 2024

Executive Director’s Message by Manuel Alvarez, Jr.

Updated Perishable Skills Course - Police Response to People with Mental Illness, Intellectual Disabilities, and Substance Use Disorders

Pilot Presentation of Learning Domain 44 – Active Shooter at San Joaquin Delta College Academy

POST Facilitates Recruit Training Officer Course

Meet the New POST Employees

Trevor (TJ) Windmiller

Staff Services Analyst

Basic Training Bureau

Yuritzia (Dani) Pineda Rosas

Office Technician (Typing)

Certification Bureau

Gabriel Knapp

Staff Services Analyst

Administrative Services Bureau

Recently Approved Rulemaking Files

Legislative Update

Status of Current Legislation

POST Monthly Report

Executive Director’s Message
by Manuel Alvarez, Jr.