August 2013
POLICE CHIEF-CITY MANAGER WORKSHOP PRESENTER CHANGE
The Police Chief-City Manager Workshop provides a unique opportunity for police chiefs and city managers to come together in a workshop setting to examine the city’s police services while forging an effective working relationship. Richard Word, Chief of the Vacaville Police Department, is the new presenter of the course.
POST is in the process of identifying a group of current chiefs and city managers who will meet to review and update the curriculum. Presentations are anticipated to resume in early 2014.
Questions about the Police Chief-City Manager Workshop may be directed to Staff Services Manager I Kathy Hobson, Management Counseling Services Bureau, at (916) 227-3911.
POST MEDICAL SCREENING MANUAL REVISIONS
A meeting was held in August to commence work on the revision to the Cardiovascular chapter of the POST Medical Screening Manual for California Law Enforcement. Meeting participants included POST Special Consultant Shelley Weiss Spilberg, Ph.D.; MED-TOX project director Gene Carmean; MED-TOX medical experts Dr. Leslie Israel and Dr. Richard Gerkin; and Dr. Robert Goldberg, Director of Occupational Health for Los Angeles County, who provides medical oversight.
The Cardiovascular chapter is the second of five sections that will be revised by MED-TOX. A final draft of the first chapter, covering the Respiratory system, is currently out for review by selected pulmonary specialists, and is expected to be published in October. The remaining three chapters will cover the Hematology, Vision, and Musculoskeletal systems.
Questions about the project may be directed to Special Consultant Shelley Spilberg, Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau, at (916) 227-4824; or Personnel Selection Consultant I Melani Singley, Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau, at (916) 227-4258.
SHERMAN BLOCK SUPERVISORY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FACILITATOR’S WORKSHOP CONDUCTED
The Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SBSLI) Facilitators met August 1-3, 2013, for the fall workshop. The intensive 24-hour agenda included a review of the book, "Lead by Greatness" by David Lapin. Participants were asked to review the Leadership Fingerprint. The Leadership Fingerprint is a part of the Lead by Greatness presentation received from members of the Lapin International Group. The SBSLI Facilitators opted not to consider incorporating the model at this time.
There was a required pre-reading of the article from the Journal of Authentic Leadership Education, March 2013, titled "Leadership Thinking: a Discipline of the Mind for the Effective Law Enforcement Supervisor" by Kendall Zoller, Anthony H. Normore, and Bob Harrison. Review and discussion of the elements of the article were conducted in order to develop possible integration into the SBSLI curriculum.
The participants also reviewed the Penn State report of the special investigative counsel regarding the actions of the Pennsylvania State University related to the child sexual abuse committed by Gerald A. Sandusky. They discussed the actions taken by the Penn State attorney, public safety officials, janitors, school administration, Board of Trustees, Paterno, and McQuery. The discussion involved consideration of the potential integration of the event into the SBSLI curriculum and the Adaptive Leadership model.
The participants reviewed two movies in order to measure their potential use in the SBSLI program. "Lincoln" - a 2012 movie based in part of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s novel, "Team of Rivals: The political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." The movie covers the final four months of Lincoln’s life and his efforts, challenges, and dilemmas faced in getting the 13th Amendment passed as law into the Constitution of the United States.
The second movie reviewed was "Conspiracy." On January 20, 1942, 15 German Nazi officials attended a conference at Wannsee, outside of Berlin. The purpose was to address the issue of Hitler’s challenges to accomplishing his dream of Aryan supremacy. The conference resulted in the development of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” and determined the fate of six million Jewish lives that changed the shape of the world. A dialogue was developed around the concepts of how the drama could be used to reinforce the understanding of the concepts in Session 6 at the Museum of Tolerance (MOT) that support the students’ experience.
The next SBSLI Facilitators workshop is scheduled for May 2014.
Questions about the SBSLI program may be directed to Senior Consultant Kevin Hart, Center for Leadership Development Bureau, at (916) 227-2824.
REGIONAL SKILLS TRAINING CENTERS ACQUIRE NEW FORCE OPTIONS SIMULATORS
The Regional Skills Training Centers (RSTC) statewide will be receiving new Force Option Simulators to reinvigorate the simulator training programs. Following a year of evaluating the program needs, drafting exacting specifications to meet the program needs and a protracted bid process, IES Interactive Training in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded the contract to provide 24 fixed installations and six portable Law Enforcement Force Option Training Simulator Systems to the RSTC program. The award specifies a five-year all inclusive warranty on all hardware and software, system-wide updates when required, and instructor training. The award additionally included a pre-award demonstration of the proposed systems to validate the equipment meets all the requirements identified in the solicitation package.
POST staff required the pre-award demonstration of the proposed systems to be at an existing law enforcement agency, and outside of the manufacturers “perfect” and controlled environment. IES agreed and the demonstration was ultimately scheduled at the Ventura Sheriff’s training facility. Attending the pre-award demonstration were POST staff and the subject matter experts involved in the drafting of the solicitation. IES successfully demonstrated both the permanently installed (fixed) system and a portable system. POST staff recommended approval of the award.
The new Force Options systems are slated for delivery beginning in September and should be fully deployed during December 2013. The delivery, installation, and setup of the equipment will take one day, followed by a full day of train-the-trainer instruction for the RSTC site instructors.
Questions about the new force options systems, driving simulators, or the RSTC program may be directed to Senior Consultant Steven Craig, Training Program Services Bureau, at (916) 227-5562.
POST BASIC COURSE TEST REVIEW PANEL MEETS
The Test Panel met in August for the fourth meeting of 2013. The panel continued work on new testing format from 24 individual domain tests and eight end-of-course tests to multi-dimensional educational objective tests. The actual number of tests still needs to be determined.
With assistance from POST staff, the panel refined the item development process, established a style format, and started to attach educational objectives to newly written scenarios. The proposed pilot testing goal of mid-2013 as presented to and approved by the POST Consortium in September has been changed to mid-2015 with the final implementation nearer to 2016 to allow enough time to gather data and pilot-test new software.
The next panel meeting is scheduled for September 10, 2013, to review information that will be presented to the Consortium on September 11, 2013, in Garden Grove, California. POST continues to solicit volunteers to serve on the test panel.
Questions about POST Test Panel may be directed to Personnel Selection Consultant Supervisor Diane Hrepich, Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau, at (916) 227-4831; or Associate Governmental Program Analyst Windy Kaiser, Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau, at (916) 227-4537.
POST PRESENTS TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP WITH THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF POLICE TRAINING OFFICERS
During August 2013, POST and the California Association of Police Training Officers (CAPTO) presented an eight-hour “Training Needs Assessments and Training Plans” in San Luis Obispo. Forty students ranging from law enforcement executives to agency training managers received current and contemporary training on the legal liabilities relating to agency training needs assessments and training plans, levels of training needs assessments, and developing an agency training plan. Attorney Missy O’Linn spoke on key training issues emerging from case law and failure to train issues. Other topics included understanding agency training policies, use of surveys in training needs assessments, and students received hands-on experience in creating an agency training plan.
Questions about the course may be directed to Bureau Chief Stephanie Scofield, Training Delivery and Compliance Bureau, at (916) 227-4872.
ANNUAL RESERVE PEACE OFFICERS CONFERENCE
The California Reserve Peace Officers Association (CRPOA) held its annual training conference in San Jose on August 21-24, 2013. Over 300 reserve officers and coordinators in attendance selected from 22 POST-certified training courses on topics including; building searches, understanding street gangs, identity theft, crimes against children, search and seizure and officer safety. Continuing Professional Training credit was granted for attendance at these classes.
Bureau Chief Frank Decker gave the welcoming address to open the conference and responded to a series of questions submitted by CRPOA members. On August 22, Bureau Chief Decker and senior consultants Lon Ramlan and Mike Barnes presented an eight-hour Reserve Coordinator Introduction class for newer reserve coordinators followed the next day by a four-hour Reserve Coordinator Update class for experienced coordinators. Nearly 50 attendees participated in the two classes which provided information and discussion on reserve training, reserve levels, selection standards, training requirements, and recruitment.
Questions about the reserve coordinator classes or the Reserve Peace Officer Program may be directed to Senior Consultant Lon Ramlan, Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-4820.
POST HOSTS INAUGURAL RESEARCH ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
In August 2013, POST hosted the first meeting of the Research Advisory Council (RAC). Comprised of representatives from POST’s stakeholder groups, the RAC is an advisory body formed in support of the Commission’s direction to conduct and use research to identify best practices in support of the field.
The mission of the RAC is to create and implement a research agenda and to solicit and review research proposals. Authorized research will primarily be conducted using research fellows and graduate students from California-based public colleges and universities.
The inaugural meeting included a review of the mission of RAC, creation of broad-based research topics/areas of concentration for further consideration, and suggested research requirements, preferences, and selection standards related to future POST Calls for Proposals. The next RAC meeting will be held in January 2014.
Questions about the Research Advisory Council may be directed to Bureau Chief Bryon Gustafson, Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau, at (916) 227-4832.
PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCHER 2013 SYMPOSIUM
POST staff met this month with subject matter experts (SMEs) in the field of symposium planning. The purpose of the meeting was to begin the process for planning a Public Safety Dispatcher symposium, to be delivered in 2014. The SMEs were senior staff members from San Diego Regional Training Center who have delivered the highly successful Instructor Symposium for several years. A plan of action was developed with some clear objectives for planning and delivering the first of what will likely become many years of successful Public Safety Dispatcher annual symposiums.
Questions about the Public Safety Dispatcher program may be directed to Senior Consultant Larry Ellsworth, Training Program Services Bureau, at (916) 227-4895.
UPDATE ON THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT WRITING FOR INSTRUCTORS COURSE
POST staff, working in conjunction with subject matter experts, conducted a two-year project to develop, standardize, and validate the evaluation tools and process of Learning Domain 18, Investigative Report Writing, in the Regular Basic Course. The project included the development of a 24-hour course for report writing instructors. Several presentations of the course were presented around the state. Based on feedback from the attendees, the course was revised to include more material on instructional techniques and training resources.
On August 20-22, 2013, staff from the Basic Training Bureau presented the revised course to 19 new and experienced report writing instructors. The student evaluations for this class are being reviewed and any necessary revisions will be incorporated in the course. The course will then be made available for certification throughout the state.
Questions about the course, or course content, may be directed to Senior Consultant Alexis Blaylock in the Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-3935.
ROBERT PRESLEY INSTITUTE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION CORE COURSE PRESENTERS MET IN ORANGE COUNTY
The Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation (ICI) core course presenters met in Orange County this month to continue planning for an all-instructor core course workshop to be held in the summer of 2014. A plan of action was developed to present breakout workshops and a plenary session for each of the eight main topic areas of instruction. San Diego was identified as the best venue for the anticipated 150 instructors to meet. A plan of action was developed to ensure proper notification to the anticipated attendees as well as what would be expected of them at the workshop. The instructors will be asked to bring their “best practices” of instruction to be shared with the group. These will focus primarily on learning activities and classroom management skills as well as ensuring all presenters statewide are delivering content according to POST’s directives and course documentation.
Questions about the Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation program may be directed to Senior Consultant Larry Ellsworth, Training Program Services Bureau, at (916) 227-4895.
POST-SPONSORED BLOOD DRIVES STILL SUCCESSFUL
Since February 2009, POST has hosted 22 blood drives at its Sacramento headquarters. As of August 7, 2013, 517 pints of blood have been donated by POST staff, volunteers from other departments of state service, military personnel, and private citizens (“walk-ins”) wishing to donate.
It is expected that some people that sign up to donate may not be able to do so due to schedule conflicts or health issues. However, the August 7, 2013, blood drive at POST was different. It was the first time since POST began hosting the events that everyone who signed up to donate actually kept their appointments AND was allowed to donate. We’ve labeled it the “Blood Drive Trifecta”: 27 sign-ups; 27 show-ups; and 27 pints donated.
Thanks to all those who have contributed to the success of this event. As the staff at BloodSource says, “The gift of blood is the gift of life.” POST’s next blood drive is scheduled for Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Those interested in becoming a blood donor are encouraged to sign up.
Questions about the Sponsored Blood Drives may be directed to Associate Governmental Program Analyst Patti Kaida, Administrative Services Bureau, at (916) 227-4847.
The Administrative Progress 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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