Quarterly Newsletter
Peace Officer Standards & Accountability Division
Q3 2024
The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division (POSAD) Quarterly Newsletter is a quarterly status report that informs the California law enforcement community of recent updates, projects, and trainings related to certification and decertification.
Video: Bureau Chief Christine Ford, with the Professional Conduct Southern Bureau, provides a brief message on the importance of completing an Address of Record.
ADDRESS OF RECORD STATISTICS
Total Active, Separated, or Retired Peace Officers
- Total Addresses of Records: 25,891
- Personal Address or PO Box Designations: 10,077
- Agency Address Designations: 15,814
Active Peace Officers
- Total Addresses of Records: 24,424
- Personal Address or P.O. Box Designations: 9,121
- Agency Address Designations: 15,303
As a reminder, Commission Regulation 1215 requires all active and recently separated peace officers to maintain an official Address of Record (AOR) with POST. This is done through the peace officer’s POST PASS account and shall remain confidential.
Individual peace officers have the option to designate a personal address or P.O. Box or their current employing agencies. If a peace officer fails to designate an AOR, or separates from employment without updating this information, the AOR will default to their current or last employing law enforcement agency. It is in the best interest of all peace officers to designate an AOR where they can immediately receive correspondence from POST regarding their certification.
For more information, please see POST Bulletin 2023-64. Any questions regarding the AOR can be directed to the AOR Inquiries inbox.
CURRENT PEACE OFFICER CERTIFICATION AND DECERTIFICATION STATISTICS
The below statistics include a brief summary of total agency misconduct reports (AMR), case volume, and the top three allegations as of September 6, 2024. For further statistics, please visit the POST Data Warehouse.
- Total Approved AMRs: 28,758
- Total Assigned Cases: 19,206
- Total Open Cases: 11,326
- Open Cases w/Agency: 2,797
- Open Cases w/POST: 8,529
- Total Closed Cases: 7,879
- 1205(a)(3) – Physical Abuse/Excessive or Unreasonable Use of Force: 12,416 allegations
- 1205(a)(5) – Demonstrating Bias: 8,920 allegations
- 1205(a)(2) – Abuse of Power: 4,402 allegations
From January 1, 2024 to September 15, 2024, POST has:
- Issued 41 Immediate Temporary Suspensions
- Revoked 46 peace officer certifications
- 15 of these were default certifications
- Deemed 77 peace officers ineligible due to a felony convictions identified in Government Code section 1029
- Received 49 Voluntary Surrenders
*“Temporary Suspensions Removed by Year” captures the Immediate Temporary Suspensions that have been withdrawn by the Executive Director or were withdrawn and replaced by a revocation.
PEACE OFFICER CERTIFICATION ACTIONS PAGE UPDATES
Over the course of the next few months, POSAD will be updating the Peace Officer Certification Actions Page on the POST Website to include hyperlinks to pleading documents or orders, when appropriate. Peace officers who have been served with a notice of disciplinary action will have pleading documents or orders hyperlinked. As a peace officer’s case moves through the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board and Commission hearing processes, older documents may be replaced by newer documents.
Those peace officers who have had their certifications revoked will show a Statement of Findings. If a peace officer has been deemed ineligible due to a felony conviction, there will be an update to the “Basis” column to include the specific charges and date of conviction. Peace officers who surrendered their certifications may have their voluntary surrender forms hyperlinked, depending on the circumstances of their surrender. Immediate Temporary Suspensions will not be hyperlinked as these are not final actions against a peace officer’s certification. No documents will be uploaded that are not already considered a matter of public record and all personal identifying information will be redacted.
Questions regarding the updates to the Peace Officer Certification Actions Page may be directed to the Certification Bureau.
UPDATES TO BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION INQUIRY RESPONSES
To facilitate more informed hiring decisions by agency heads, the Certification Bureau is releasing additional information when an inquiry includes a candidate that has any reported complaints, charges, or allegations against them. Background Investigation Inquiry response letters will now include a two to three sentence summary of any possible complaints, charges, or allegations the candidate may have. The format for the Background Investigation Inquiry response letters will remain the same for those with no reported complaints, charges, or allegations.
When available, the Certification Bureau is also releasing copies of the Affidavits of Separation that the candidate may have in EDI as part of the response to the Background Investigation Inquiry request. Background investigators are currently utilizing GovQA to request and receive Background Investigation Inquiry letters pursuant to Penal Code section 13510.9(d)(3). This process will not change for background investigators.
Questions regarding the updated responses to background inquiries may be directed to the Certification Bureau.
UPDATED AFFIDAVIT OF SEPARATION PROCESS IN EDI
Beginning August 20, 2024, all separations for peace officers, including the Affidavit of Separation Form, POST 2-357 (05/2024) (pdf), shall be reviewed and approved by POST prior to updating to the POST Profile. Please be advised, the Notice of Separation (NOS) process in EDI will remain the same for agency entry. However, Certification Bureau staff will now review the NOS entry and Affidavit of Separation and return any separations to the agency for corrections, if necessary, prior to approval for publication on the POST Profile. Once necessary corrections have been made, Certification Bureau staff will approve the separation, and it will be reflected appropriately on the POST Profile. If there are no corrections needed, the NOS will be approved and published as normal to the POST Profile.
Questions regarding the separation of service and/or Affidavit of Separation Form, POST 2-357 may be directed to the Certification Bureau.
VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF PEACE OFFICER CERTIFICATION FORM UPDATES
The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved updates to the Voluntary Surrender of Peace Officer Certification Form, POST 2-358 (01/2024) (pdf). While POST made updates to this form in January 2024 to include the POST ID and a notary page, additional updates were still pending approval through the rulemaking process. During this time, POST accepted both versions of POST 2-358. As of August 20, 2024, the regulatory amendments were approved.
As such, effective August 20, 2024, ALL voluntary surrenders will need to be completed on the most current form that is dated January 2024 in the upper left-hand corner. Any forms received with a signature dated after August 20, 2024 will be returned to the surrendering peace officer for notary. While this is an extra step, it is not meant to make the process more difficult for the surrendering peace officer. Rather, it is for the protection of all peace officers. POST has added the requirement of a POST ID and the notary to ensure the identity of the surrendering peace officer is verified and the action is noted on the correct peace officer’s certification.
In addition, with the significant increase in the number of voluntary surrenders received, POST is now sending notification letters to the agency head of the surrendering peace officer's last employing agency. Notifications will also be sent to the district attorney of the county of the last employing agency. This is to ensure that the last employing agency is aware of the surrendering peace officer’s certification status as well as to keep the local district attorney apprised of voluntary surrenders that may affect pending or former cases. In the event the voluntary surrender is part of a negotiated plea agreement, it is important to confirm with the local district attorney that the involved individual has complied with this aspect of the terms of their agreement.
Questions regarding voluntary surrenders may be directed to the Certification Bureau.
FAILURE TO RESPOND TO NOTICE OF INTENT LETTER
When the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division (Division) has found reasonable grounds for disciplinary action against a peace officer’s certification based on its determination that clear and convincing evidence establishes that a peace officer has engaged in serious misconduct, a Notice of Intent letter (Notice) will be sent to the subject officer. This Notice provides the subject officer with a detailed explanation of the decertification procedure and the officer’s rights to contest and appeal, along with the Division’s Investigative Summary and Findings which outlines the Division’s determination.
To contest this action, the subject officer is required to submit a request in writing to POST via a Request for Review of Peace Officer Certification Form, POST 2-359 (03/2023) (pdf) within 30 calendar days of the Notice’s mailing date. Failure to request an appeal within this timeframe will result in a default revocation of the subject officer’s certification without any further proceedings. Alternatively, the subject officer may voluntarily surrender their peace officer certification by submitting a Voluntary Surrender of Peace Officer Certification Form, POST 2-358 (01/2024) (pdf). A voluntary surrender is permanent, and a surrendered certification cannot be reactivated.
For a guide to peace officer decertification proceedings and officer rights to contest and appeal, please visit the POST Website.
For additional questions regarding decertification-related matters, please contact the Intake and Disposition Bureau.
INTAKE AND DISPOSITION BUREAU UPDATE
The Intake and Disposition Bureau identified the most common issues found when agency reporters used Mark43. The following is a list of recommendations to help agency reporters manage and submit their Mark43 reports.
Mark43 Recommendations for Submitting Reports
- Locate the subject officer’s name and profile using the drop-down menu in Mark43 rather than creating a new profile for each officer. All individuals with a POST Profile in EDI are entered into Mark43. Creating a new profile creates double entries in Mark43. Remember, many people share the same name, so please make sure to select the correct individual. Also, please include the current address and phone number for the subject officer.
- In the Narrative card for an AMR:
- Separate the SB 2 serious misconduct allegation(s) and its disposition(s) versus agency policy violation(s) and its disposition(s).
- Utilize the following disposition closure language: Unfounded, Not Sustained, Sustained, or Exonerated. Provide the date the investigation was completed and the date of voluntary/involuntary separation.
- In the Attachments card for an AMR:
- If there is a finding for an investigation status, be sure to upload/attach investigative documents/Internal Affairs reports here.
- When submitting a new report in Mark43, please add your agency as a role with “Can Manage” permission settings. This will allow everyone in your agency (with POST Mark43 access) to be able to view your submissions. This must be done with every report submission.
- Apply this to your current and previously generated reports unless certain reports have restricted access criteria.
- Before a law enforcement agency’s outgoing Mark43 reporter has their account deactivated, that reporter is responsible for adding their agency as a role with “Can Manage” permission to all their AMRs or Agency Supplementals that the agency’s current and new Mark43 reporters may have to manage.
- Ensure a new reporter has an activated Mark43 account before the agency’s only Mark43 reporter ends their responsibilities.
- If an AMR or an Agency Supplemental was created in error, then submit all draft reports with “Report created in error” entered in the narrative card.
- Do not enter any Mark43 reporter comments in the Comments section of a POST Public Complaint (PPC). This comments section is for POST internal use.
- Four instances to submit a linked agency supplemental report:
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- Submit an agency response when the serious misconduct allegation in a PPC is NOT one of the nine definitions of serious misconduct.
- Update on case status (i.e. Investigation is still ongoing; Investigation completed, Final Report).
- Update employment status of subject peace officer.
- Submission of requested documents.
Definition of Serious Misconduct
A common question that agency reporters ask is "What is the definition of serious misconduct?" Visit the POST Website to view the nine definitions of serious misconduct as defined by the Commission.
How to Respond to an Agency Notification of a POST Public Complaint:
Complaints received from the public will be forwarded to the employing agency for investigation and disposition.
If the allegation(s) in the POST Public Complaint (PPC) is NOT one or more of the nine definition of serious misconduct pursuant to California Penal Code section 13510.8, then follow these steps to submit a linked Agency Supplemental report:
- Bring up the POST PPC: PUBLIC-24-XXXXXX in Mark43.
- Click Create Linked Report and select Agency Supplemental.
- Select Auto-Fill option to pull existing data.
- In the Supplement Information card:
- For Event Start Date/Time, enter date the agency supplemental was created – time not needed.
- Event End date will be auto-filled – time not needed.
- Enter subject officer agency.
- Enter yourself as the primary reporter.
- Enter investigating agency.
- Select Final Report for Supplement Type.
- Click Save Progress in Supplement Information card.
- In the Involved Profiles card:
- Leave it blank – information NOT required in the Involved Profiles card.
- In the Court Case card:
- In the Narrative card:
- Click G and select Agency Update template.
- Under the appropriate sections of the template, provide an explanation of the investigative steps taken (i.e., viewed BWC, took witness statements, interviewed witnesses, interviewed officers, etc.) that led to the determination that the allegation(s) in the PPC does NOT meet the definition of serious misconduct pursuant to California Penal Code section 13510.8.
- Click Save Progress in Narrative card.
- In the Attachments card, click +Add/Edit Attachments to provide POST with the final Internal Affairs investigative report or other investigative documents. Select investigative file(s) to upload and give a description of the attachment. Click Save Progress.
- Click “Manage Permissions” icon (looks like a padlock with a white checkmark inside).
- Do NOT edit or delete the existing nine Role/Group and Permission settings.
- Click + ROLE; click cursor into the blank drop-down field; type in your agency; select your agency; select “Can Manage” for permission setting; click Save.
- Click Validate Report.
- Click Submit.
If the allegation(s) in the PPC is one or more of the nine definitions of serious misconduct pursuant to California Penal Code section 13510.8., then follow these steps to submit a linked Agency Misconduct Report:
- Bring up the PPC: PUBLIC-24-XXXXXX.
- Click Create Linked Report and select Agency Misconduct Report from the drop-down menu.
- Select Auto-Fill option to pull existing data.
- Enter the required information in the Event Information card.
- Enter the required information in the Involved Profiles card.
- Enter the required information in the Agency Misconduct card.
- Enter the required information in the Court Case card, if applicable.
- Enter the required information in the Narrative card.
- In the Attachments card, click +Add/Edit Attachments. If investigation status is something other than "Open", select investigative file(s) to upload and give a description of the attachment. Click Save Progress.
- Click “Manage Permissions” icon (looks like a padlock with a white checkmark inside).
- Do NOT edit or delete the existing nine Role/Group and Permission settings.
- Click + ROLE; click cursor into the blank drop-down field; type in your agency; select your agency; select Can Manage for permission setting; click Save.
- Click Validate Report.
- Click Submit.
Should you have any questions about responding to a POST Public Complaint or submitting an Agency Misconduct Report, or an Agency Supplemental, please contact the Intake and Disposition Bureau at (916) 227-2822 or by submitting an email to the Complaint Intake inbox.
- If you would like the most current Mark43 Guide for Agency Misconduct Reports and/or a Mark43 Guide for Agency Supplemental Submission, please email your request to the Intake and Disposition Bureau's Complaint Intake inbox.
- If you need Mark43 support or training, please email questions to the Mark43 User Support inbox.
MARK43 REMINDERS
Include Additional Information and Documentation in Your Supplemental Report
- When a task is sent from POST in Mark43, please be sure to supply any additional information or documentation in a supplemental report. Any items or notes attached to the task do not show up in the case file and it is difficult for POST staff to locate and utilize during the review of the case.
Updated Mark43 Training Video
- The Mark43 Serious Misconduct Reporting training video has been updated and will be posted on the POST Learning Portal in Fall 2024. This instructional video demonstrates how to submit an Agency Misconduct Report, an Agency Supplemental Report, and how to respond to a POST Public Complaint.
Review and Update Your Agency's Mark43 Users
- Please ensure that your agency’s authorized Mark43 users are up-to-date. Anyone who no longer needs access should be removed as a user. POST staff frequently communicates with Mark43 users to provide notifications and request additional information regarding reports of alleged serious misconduct. If your agency needs to remove or add users in Mark43, fill out the Mark43 Access Application, POST 2-361 (12/2022) (pdf), and submit the completed form to the Mark43 User Support inbox or fax the form to (916) 227-5271.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
- September 30, 2024: The Professional Conduct Central Bureau will be presenting "The Decertification Process: An Introductory Guide to Serious Misconduct and Practical Considerations” at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. This three-hour presentation will be offered twice. Any law enforcement agency staff is welcome and encouraged to attend. Space is limited. Please RSVP through Eventbrite:
- October 1, 2024: The Professional Conduct Central Bureau will be presenting "The Decertification Process: An Introductory Guide to Serious Misconduct and Practical Considerations” at the South San Francisco Police Department. This three-hour presentation will be offered twice. Any law enforcement agency staff is welcome and encouraged to attend. Space is limited. Please RSVP through Eventbrite:
- October 3, 2024: The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division will be hosting an in-person SB 2 Update workshop in San Diego. This workshop will take place from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Space is limited, so if you are interested in this training, please sign up through the POST Website.
- Mark43 Training: The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division will be hosting quarterly Mark43 in-person and online trainings. Additional information will be provided in Fall 2024.
FREQUENTLY USED FORMS
RECENTLY APPROVED RULEMAKING FILES RELATED TO CERTIFICATION
The following is a list of recently approved rulemaking files, related to peace officer certification, 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.
UPCOMING PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS ACCOUNTABILITY ADVISORY BOARD HEARING DATES
October 17, 2024
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
POST Headquarters
860 Stillwater Road, Ste 100
West Sacramento, CA 95605
DISTRICT CONTACTS
The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division identified and separated the State of California into districts. Cases will be handled regionally. Below are the Law Enforcement Consultant contacts listed for each district.
View Map
Professional Conduct Northern Bureau
Professional Conduct Central Bureau
Professional Conduct Los Angeles County Bureau
Professional Conduct Southern Bureau