POST Monthly Report

January 2026

Keeping you up to date on POST projects

Updated Self-Paced Training – PSP: Strategic Communications – Now Available on the POST Learning Portal

The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) is pleased to announce the release of an updated self-paced training course, PSP: Strategic Communications, which is now available on the POST Learning Portal.

The course continues to meet the Perishable Skills Program (PSP) IV – Strategic Communications mandate under Commission Regulation 1005, offers four hours of Continuing Professional Training credit (CPT) upon successful completion, and takes less than two hours to complete. This updated course delivers refreshed content, new situational scenarios, and insights from a panel of experienced officers. Participants practice strategic communication through interactive activities and video-based simulations, making decisions and receiving constructive feedback to enhance their communication skills.

(Note: If the PSP mandate has already been satisfied during this 2025/26 CPT cycle, there is no requirement to take this course this cycle.)

For more information, please visit the POST Learning Portal. Any questions regarding the course may be directed to Rayanne Rogers, Instructional Design/Project Manager with the Learning Technology Resources Bureau, at (916) 227-3912.

Public Safety Dispatchers’ Basic Course Modular Format Workshop

On January 13-15, 2026, the Basic Training Bureau (BTB) hosted a workshop where subject matter experts (SMEs) reviewed instructional design strategies that would support the modular delivery of the Public Safety Dispatchers’ Basic Course.

The workshop focused on the design and organization of instructional modules, including the sequencing of course content and learning objectives. The SMEs discussed how the addition of a standardized modular format provides flexibility for course participants, agencies, and presenters through varied scheduling and delivery methods.

The modular format of the Public Safety Dispatchers’ Basic Course is anticipated to be available in mid-2027.

For questions regarding the workshop, please contact Michelle Daubner, Supervisor I (Specialist), at (916) 227-4827.

Management Study at UC Santa Cruz

POST staff and UC Santa Cruz Police Department leadership during management study site visit — Left to right: Captain Steve Walpole, Robby Bringolf (POST Law Enforcement Consultant), Chief Kevin Domby, Mark Nagel (POST Law Enforcement Consultant), and Jamila Fields (POST Supervisor I Specialist).

In early January, members of the Management Counseling and Projects Bureau (MCPB) traveled to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) campus to facilitate a management study on-site assessment for the UCSC Police Department.

The MCPB team engaged directly with UCSC Police Chief Kevin Domby and Captain Steve Walpole to align on the scope and objectives of the study. The Chief and his team were extremely helpful and welcoming. While on-site, the MCPB crew conducted a thorough tour of the department's facilities, held executive-level strategy sessions, and performed a series of staff interviews to gather data on current operations and the organizational climate.

The data gathered during this visit will form the foundation of the final management report POST will be providing to Chief Domby.

For general inquiries on management studies, please reach out to Mark Nagel, Law Enforcement Consultant with the Management Counseling and Projects Bureau, (916) 809-1735.

Basic Course Certification Review of Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office

Template placeholder image — Caption: Members of Class 205 at the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Basic Academy undergo inspections by their Recruit Training Officer Dep. Cory Thurman.

On January 12-16, 2026, BTB conducted a Basic Course Certification Review (BCCR) of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Regular Basic Course.

The BCCR is an in-depth review of Basic Course presenters and the certification of their courses to promote the quality, integrity, and safety of entry-level peace officer training in California. POST ensures all certified Basic Course presenters comply with Penal and Government Codes related to POST, Commission Regulations, Commission Procedures, and the Training and Testing Specifications.

For questions regarding the BCCR process, please contact Bill Lewis, Supervisor I (Specialist) with the Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-4856.

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.

Adopt Learning Domain 44: Active Shooter
Commission Regulations 1005, 1007, 1008, and 1059
Approved December 4, 2025
Effective April 1, 2026
OAL Notice of Approval and Approved Text (pdf)

Additional information regarding the Commission Regulation changes can be obtained by contacting the Regulations Analyst at regulatorybulletins@post.ca.gov.

Legislative Update

Status of Current Legislation

The following is a list of bills POST is monitoring during the 2026 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 1/28/2026)

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

Bill # and Author	Title and Summary	Status of Bill
AB 1013 Assembly Member Garcia	Peace officer training: behavioral health Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish and keep updated a classroom-based continuing training course 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 disorders. Current law requires the commission to make available the course to each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties. This bill would authorize the commission to partner with local departments of behavioral health, community-based organizations, or nonprofit organizations to establish and keep updated this classroom-based continuing training course. The bill would require a law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties to complete the course.	Introduced: 2/20/2025 Status: 1/23/2026 - DEAD
AB 1115 Assembly Member Castillo	Peace officers: mental health liaisons The California Constitution authorizes local governments to make and enforce all police and sanitary ordinances and regulations within its limits that are not in conflict with general laws. Existing law requires the board of supervisors of a county and the governing body of a city to take measures necessary to preserve and protect the public health in its jurisdiction. This bill would authorize a local government to designate one or more existing employees specializing in counseling or mental health services as a law enforcement mental health liaison to facilitate mental health support for peace officers who serve the local jurisdiction. This bill contains other related provisions.	Introduced: 2/20/2025 Status: 1/23/2026 - DEAD
AB 1537 Assembly Member Bryan	Peace officers: secondary employment Current law provides that every executive or ministerial officer, employee, or appointee of the State of California, or any county or city therein, or any political subdivision thereof, who knowingly asks, receives, or agrees to receive any emolument, gratuity, or reward, or any promise thereof excepting such as may be authorized by law for doing an official act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Current law exempts from that offense certain employment by a peace officer while off duty, as specified. Existing law also provides that a peace officer shall not be prohibited from engaging in other employment while off duty, as specified. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, prohibit a peace officer from being employed by, or being an independent contractor of or volunteer for, the United States Department of Homeland Security or its contractors or any other entity that assists with or engages in immigration enforcement. The bill would provide that failure to comply with this provision constitutes, for certain purposes, an act of dishonesty and that it is grounds for decertification as a peace officer. The bill would require a peace officer to report to their employing law enforcement agency any secondary employment relating to immigration enforcement.	Introduced: 1/5/2026 Location: 1/5/2026-A. PRINT
AB 1544 Assembly Member Krell	Court proceedings: media access Current law authorizes specified peace officers to close the immediate area surrounding any emergency field command post or other command post or to establish a police line or rolling closure at a demonstration, march, protest, or rally, as specified. Current law exempts a duly authorized representative of any news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network from the provisions prohibiting entry into the closed areas mentioned above. This bill would bar a judicial officer, peace officer, or other law enforcement officer from prohibiting a duly authorized representative of a news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network from accessing court proceedings that are open to the public.	Introduced: 1/5/2026 Location: 1/5/2026-A. PRINT
AB 1586 Assembly Member Ramos	Opioid overdose reversal medication: school resource officers Current law authorizes a school district, county office of education, and charter school to provide emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to school nurses and trained personnel who have volunteered, and authorizes school nurses and trained personnel to use naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose. This bill, to be known as the School Safety and Opioid Overdose Prevention Act, would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to ensure that (A) each school resource officer, as defined, while on duty at a school campus or school-sponsored activity, carries an opioid antagonist to provide emergency treatment to persons who are suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose and (B) each school resource officer, upon assignment to a schoolsite, and at least every 2 years thereafter, completes an opioid overdose recognition and response training, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a school resource officer who administers an opioid antagonist while assigned to a schoolsite, and their employing or contracting entity, from being held liable in a civil action or being subject to criminal prosecution for the school resource officer’s acts or omissions, unless those acts or omissions constitute gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct, as provided.	Introduced: 1/14/2026 Location: 1/14/2026-A. PRINT
AB 1589 Assembly Member Chen	Firearms: silencers Current law makes it a felony for any person, firm, or corporation to possess a silencer within this state. Current law exempts specified actions from those provisions, including the possession of silencers by specified peace officers employed by specified law enforcement agencies or by military or naval forces, when on duty and when the use of silencers is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties. This bill would further exempt from the prohibition on possessing silencers specified level I reserve peace officers.	Introduced: 1/15/2026 Location: 1/15/2026-A. PRINT
AB 1615 Assembly Member Nguyen	Firearms: unsafe handguns Current law makes it a crime, punishable by not more than one year in county jail, to manufacture or cause to be manufactured, import into the state for sale, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, give, or lend an unsafe handgun. Current law establishes certain exemptions to this prohibition, including, among others, exemptions for sales to specified law enforcement agencies and other specified government agencies for use by specified employees and sales to specified peace officers. Current law specifies that the sale of an unsafe handgun to certain specified entities, including county probation departments, and members of those entities, is only authorized if the handgun is to be used as a service weapon by a peace officer who has successfully completed the basic course prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and who qualifies with the handgun, as specified, at least every 6 months. This bill would authorize a peace officer employed by a county probation department and using an unsafe handgun as a service weapon to satisfy the above-described training requirement by completion of the firearm portion of a training course prescribed by POST and who qualifies with the handgun, as specified, at least every 3 months.	Introduced: 1/21/2026 Location: 1/21/2026-A. PRINT
AB 1627 Assembly Member Avila Farias	Public employment: disqualifications Current law specifies circumstances that disqualify a person from holding office or being employed as a peace officer, including, among other things, having been convicted of a felony. This bill would disqualify a person from being a peace officer if they were employed by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement between September 1, 2025, and January 20, 2029, or the Alabama Department of Corrections or the Georgia Department of Corrections between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2026.	Introduced: 1/26/2026 Location: 1/26/2026-A. PRINT
SB 691 Senator Wahab	Body-worn cameras: policies Current law requires law enforcement agencies, departments, or entities to consider specified best practices regarding the downloading and storage of body-worn camera data, such as specifically stating the length of time that recorded data is to be stored, when establishing policies and procedures for the implementation and operation of a body-worn camera system, as specified. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, each law enforcement agency that has a body-worn camera policy to update that policy to include a procedure for emergency service personnel to request the redaction of evidentiary and nonevidentiary recordings of a patient undergoing medical or psychological evaluation, procedure, or treatment by emergency service personnel.	Introduced: 2/21/2025 Last Amend: 1/5/2026 Location: 1/27/2026-A. DESK

Bill # and Author

Title and Summary

Status of Bill

AB 1013

Assembly Member Garcia

Peace officer training: behavioral health

Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish and keep updated a classroom-based continuing training course 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 disorders. Current law requires the commission to make available the course to each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties. This bill would authorize the commission to partner with local departments of behavioral health, community-based organizations, or nonprofit organizations to establish and keep updated this classroom-based continuing training course. The bill would require a law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties to complete the course.

Introduced: 2/20/2025

Status: 1/23/2026 - DEAD

AB 1115

Assembly Member Castillo

Peace officers: mental health liaisons

The California Constitution authorizes local governments to make and enforce all police and sanitary ordinances and regulations within its limits that are not in conflict with general laws. Existing law requires the board of supervisors of a county and the governing body of a city to take measures necessary to preserve and protect the public health in its jurisdiction. This bill would authorize a local government to designate one or more existing employees specializing in counseling or mental health services as a law enforcement mental health liaison to facilitate mental health support for peace officers who serve the local jurisdiction. This bill contains other related provisions.

Introduced: 2/20/2025

Status: 1/23/2026 - DEAD

AB 1537

Assembly Member Bryan

Peace officers: secondary employment

Current law provides that every executive or ministerial officer, employee, or appointee of the State of California, or any county or city therein, or any political subdivision thereof, who knowingly asks, receives, or agrees to receive any emolument, gratuity, or reward, or any promise thereof excepting such as may be authorized by law for doing an official act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Current law exempts from that offense certain employment by a peace officer while off duty, as specified. Existing law also provides that a peace officer shall not be prohibited from engaging in other employment while off duty, as specified. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, prohibit a peace officer from being employed by, or being an independent contractor of or volunteer for, the United States Department of Homeland Security or its contractors or any other entity that assists with or engages in immigration enforcement. The bill would provide that failure to comply with this provision constitutes, for certain purposes, an act of dishonesty and that it is grounds for decertification as a peace officer. The bill would require a peace officer to report to their employing law enforcement agency any secondary employment relating to immigration enforcement.

Introduced: 1/5/2026

Location: 1/5/2026-A. PRINT

AB 1544

Assembly Member Krell

Court proceedings: media access

Current law authorizes specified peace officers to close the immediate area surrounding any emergency field command post or other command post or to establish a police line or rolling closure at a demonstration, march, protest, or rally, as specified. Current law exempts a duly authorized representative of any news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network from the provisions prohibiting entry into the closed areas mentioned above. This bill would bar a judicial officer, peace officer, or other law enforcement officer from prohibiting a duly authorized representative of a news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network from accessing court proceedings that are open to the public.

Introduced: 1/5/2026

Location: 1/5/2026-A. PRINT

AB 1586

Assembly Member Ramos

Opioid overdose reversal medication: school resource officers

Current law authorizes a school district, county office of education, and charter school to provide emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to school nurses and trained personnel who have volunteered, and authorizes school nurses and trained personnel to use naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose. This bill, to be known as the School Safety and Opioid Overdose Prevention Act, would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to ensure that (A) each school resource officer, as defined, while on duty at a school campus or school-sponsored activity, carries an opioid antagonist to provide emergency treatment to persons who are suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose and (B) each school resource officer, upon assignment to a schoolsite, and at least every 2 years thereafter, completes an opioid overdose recognition and response training, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a school resource officer who administers an opioid antagonist while assigned to a schoolsite, and their employing or contracting entity, from being held liable in a civil action or being subject to criminal prosecution for the school resource officer’s acts or omissions, unless those acts or omissions constitute gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct, as provided.

Introduced: 1/14/2026

Location: 1/14/2026-A. PRINT

AB 1589

Assembly Member Chen

Firearms: silencers

Current law makes it a felony for any person, firm, or corporation to possess a silencer within this state. Current law exempts specified actions from those provisions, including the possession of silencers by specified peace officers employed by specified law enforcement agencies or by military or naval forces, when on duty and when the use of silencers is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties. This bill would further exempt from the prohibition on possessing silencers specified level I reserve peace officers.

Introduced: 1/15/2026

Location: 1/15/2026-A. PRINT

AB 1615

Assembly Member Nguyen

Firearms: unsafe handguns

Current law makes it a crime, punishable by not more than one year in county jail, to manufacture or cause to be manufactured, import into the state for sale, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, give, or lend an unsafe handgun. Current law establishes certain exemptions to this prohibition, including, among others, exemptions for sales to specified law enforcement agencies and other specified government agencies for use by specified employees and sales to specified peace officers. Current law specifies that the sale of an unsafe handgun to certain specified entities, including county probation departments, and members of those entities, is only authorized if the handgun is to be used as a service weapon by a peace officer who has successfully completed the basic course prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and who qualifies with the handgun, as specified, at least every 6 months. This bill would authorize a peace officer employed by a county probation department and using an unsafe handgun as a service weapon to satisfy the above-described training requirement by completion of the firearm portion of a training course prescribed by POST and who qualifies with the handgun, as specified, at least every 3 months.

Introduced: 1/21/2026

Location: 1/21/2026-A. PRINT

AB 1627

Assembly Member Avila Farias

Public employment: disqualifications

Current law specifies circumstances that disqualify a person from holding office or being employed as a peace officer, including, among other things, having been convicted of a felony. This bill would disqualify a person from being a peace officer if they were employed by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement between September 1, 2025, and January 20, 2029, or the Alabama Department of Corrections or the Georgia Department of Corrections between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2026.

Introduced: 1/26/2026

Location: 1/26/2026-A. PRINT

SB 691

Senator Wahab

Body-worn cameras: policies

Current law requires law enforcement agencies, departments, or entities to consider specified best practices regarding the downloading and storage of body-worn camera data, such as specifically stating the length of time that recorded data is to be stored, when establishing policies and procedures for the implementation and operation of a body-worn camera system, as specified. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, each law enforcement agency that has a body-worn camera policy to update that policy to include a procedure for emergency service personnel to request the redaction of evidentiary and nonevidentiary recordings of a patient undergoing medical or psychological evaluation, procedure, or treatment by emergency service personnel.

Introduced: 2/21/2025

Last Amend: 1/5/2026

Location: 1/27/2026-A. DESK

The POST Monthly Report is a monthly status report that informs POST Commissioners and the California law enforcement community of recent progress on POST projects and instructional programs under development, and other information of importance to our mission to continually enhance the professionalism of California law enforcement.

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