ICI Program Guidelines

The Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation (ICI) was established in accordance with Penal Code section 13519.9 to provide an advanced training program for criminal investigators of California’s law enforcement agencies. As such, the ICI Program provides core instruction in matters common to all investigative activities, advanced instruction through foundation specialty courses, and a variety of elective courses pertaining to criminal investigations.

A POST ICI Certificate of Achievement can be obtained in each Foundation Specialty area through completion of the following program requirements:

  1. ICI Core Course – The two-week basic investigation course is required for all ICI Certificates. There are no exceptions or equivalencies for this course.
     
  2. An ICI Foundation Specialty Course from the approved list found here: ICI Foundation Specialty Course
    1. There are no exceptions or equivalencies for these courses.
       
  3. A minimum of 72 hours of qualifying investigative electives. You can find an updated list of qualifying electives here: ICI Electives
  1. At least 48 hours of the qualifying investigative electives must directly relate to the ICI Foundation Specialty Course.
  2. No more than 24 hours may be attributed to universal electives, as grouped in the approved list.
  3. All courses listed on the application must have been completed within 10 years of the application submission date. (The 10-year rule does not apply to the ICI Core Course, which only needs to be taken once.)
  4. ICI Foundation Specialty Courses may not be used as investigative electives and all courses on the application may only be used once for all ICI Certificates with the exception of the ICI Core Course.

The approved list of investigative electives is not all inclusive; however, any additional course that may be considered for this purpose must be POST-certified, instructor-led, investigative in nature, and relate directly to an ICI Foundation Specialty Course or universally to all of them.

If you would like a course to be reviewed for eligibility as an investigative elective, please provide the course name and course control number to ICI@post.ca.gov prior to submitting your ICI application. The course will be reviewed to determine whether it meets the applicable requirements. If approved, the course will be added to the available list of electives in the application drop-down menu.

If you need assistance or have any ICI Program questions, please contact the ICI Program Manager by email at ICI@post.ca.gov. For more information, please visit the POST ICI webpage.

ICI Certificate Application Instructions

*Please Note: The application process has moved to an electronic submission as of October 2026.

To complete your application for an ICI Certificate of Achievement, use the following link: ICI Certificate Application

Be prepared to complete the following information:

Applicant Information:

  • Applicant’s Name as it should appear on the ICI Certificate
  • Applicant’s Agency email address
  • Applicant’s Telephone Number
  • Applicant’s Rank as it should appear on the ICI Certificate
  • Applicants’ POST ID Number. Your POST ID Number can be found here: Obtain Your POST ID
  • Applicant’s Law Agency Name
  • Agency Training Manager name
  • Agency Training Manager email address
  • Agency Training Manager title

Previous ICI Certificate(s):

Check the appropriate box if you have ever been issued an ICI Certificate of Achievement. If the previous certificates were issued under a different name than this application, please list the name used.

Application:

  • Name of ICI Foundation Specialty requested for this new application (Homicide, Sexual Assault, etc.)
  • Complete course name, course control number, hours, and date completed for each submitted course.
  • Check the box to certify compliance with program requirements.

Upon application approval, POST will issue a Certificate of Achievement in the appropriate ICI Foundation Specialty area electronically via email.