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POST Monthly Report

August 2020

Keeping you up to date on POST projects

New “Mental Health” Training Video Released

POST has released its newest training video, Mental Health: Responding to Individuals in Crisis. Available to view on the POST Learning Portal, the goal of this training program is to prepare California law enforcement professionals for the response, recognition, and investigation of people suffering a mental health crisis. Officers will recognize their important role in aiding persons affected by mental health crises and how to best handle these calls to avoid unnecessary return calls and reduce the potential for confrontations. Upon completion of this training program, officers will have a greater understanding of the laws covering mental health, identify common factors affecting those suffering from mental health emergencies, and be better prepared to conduct a mental health investigation. The new video program offers group or individual trainee viewing modes and includes printable instructor and trainee documents for either group-facilitated or individual instruction. DVD copies may also be ordered online at POST Training Videos.

Questions about the new Mental Health: Responding to Individuals in Crisis training video may be directed to Nick Muyo, Learning Technology Resources Bureau, at (916) 227-4895

POST Hosts Scenario Manager Course

Scenario Manager Course at POST
Scenario Manager Course at POST

On August 3-6, 2020, POST’s Basic Training Bureau hosted a 24-hour Scenario Manager Course at POST in West Sacramento. This course is required for Basic Academy Scenario Managers, prior to their management of scenario testing. Sixteen attendees, representing ten basic academies from throughout the state, were in attendance. During the course, attendees learned about scenario competencies, test development, testing and remedial training requirements, and scenario test security protocols.

In alignment with COVID-19 guidelines, the Scenario Manager Course was facilitated with the priority of health in mind. Worktables were set up with a minimum distance of six feet apart and were sanitized at the end of each day. Masks were required to be worn and additional masks, gloves, sterilization wipes, and hand sanitizers were provided for use throughout the course.

Questions regarding the Scenario Manager Course may be directed to Staff Services Manager I (Specialist) Anita Finner, Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-3901.

Academy Instructor Certification Course (AICC) Funding FY 2020/21

To support the ongoing need for Academy Instructor Certification, the POST Executive Office has approved $300,000 for statewide AICC presentations during FY 2020/21 through Plan V reimbursement. This represents a significant funding increase compared to FY 2019/20. Funding and presentations are monitored by the Training Program Services (TPS) Bureau.

Upcoming courses will be advertised in the POST Course Catalog, or you may contact the AICC Presenters directly for enrollment information.

As of the date of this report, POST has selected the following locations to present AICC Plan V courses.

  • SRPSTC Sacramento Regional Public Safety Training Center
  • Stanislaus Regional Training Center
  • State Center Fresno City College
  • State Center Fresno City College (to present in Bakersfield)
  • San Jose Police Department
  • San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
  • Alan Hancock College
  • CSU Long Beach
  • San Diego Miramar College
  • Napa Valley College
  • College of the Redwoods (to present in Butte)
  • Golden West
  • San Diego Regional Training Center

Additionally, students may attend AICC through our Instructor Development Institute (IDI) Program with South Bay Regional Training Consortium and Government Training Agency without financial impact to their agency.

Instructors who have completed AICC are highly encouraged to receive continuing instructor development through the POST IDI Program. If you are interested in becoming a POST Master Instructor, please contact our course presenter Government Training Agency.

If you have any questions regarding the AICC program, please contact Jenny Michel at (916) 227-4567 or Bill Baldwin at (916) 227-4263.

POST Presents RTO Workshop in Folsom

RTO Course in Folsom
RTO Course in Folsom

During the week of August 11-14, 2020, POST’s Basic Training Bureau (BTB) facilitated a 24-hour Recruit Training Officer (RTO) Course for Basic Course Presenters. POST Regulation requires all full-time RTOs to complete this course within one year of their appointment to their respective academies.

The Recruit Training Officer Course was facilitated in Folsom, CA and included instruction on Recruit Management and Supervision, POST Regulations and Training Procedures, testing and remedial training requirements, liability and ethics dialogue, legislative mandates, academy safety policies, Test Management and Assessment System (TMAS), Communication Counseling and Evaluations, Physical Training trends/patterns and Special Training Issues.

If you are interested in more information, please contact Law Enforcement Consultant Carrie Hollar, Basic Training Bureau, at (916) 227-4661

POST Continues to Offer Online Webinar Presentations

Online Webinar Presentation
Online Webinar Presentation

Law Enforcement Consultants from the Training Delivery and Compliance Bureau (TDC) continue to offer online “Webinar” presentations to serve our constituents during these unique times we find ourselves in. Recently, our offerings have allowed over 150 people to obtain CPT credit for courses such as our Background Investigations Update, Reserve Coordinator Introduction, Regional Training Manager Workshop, and the Training Administrator Course (TAC). Presentations are scheduled based on the needs of a region or specialty topics, such as the Reserve Coordinator Introduction. Courses have all filled up quickly and more have been added based on demand. Online presentations are abridged variations of the in-person courses but allow us to provide important training and information to those who need it during these unique times where in-person training is limited by COVID-19 restrictions. 

Questions regarding these training opportunities can be directed to your Regional Law Enforcement Consultant.

AB 332 Research Project Update

Assembly Bill 332 (Penal Code Section 13510.05) research project data collection and analyses are continuing. Initial test, and if relevant, remediation and retest outcome data is being collected on all 42 POST required tests for all individuals attending any intensive format regular basic academy beginning since July 1, 2019. 

As of August 20, 2020, data has been collected on 2,509 students enrolled in 43 academy classes from 21 different academies. Once data cleaning is complete, this will likely be the primary dataset used for the project analyses. Academies affected by COVID-19 continue to collect data, but these datasets will need to be analyzed separately due to course presentation and testing procedures that differ from the primary dataset.

POST staff are continuing to screen each academy class’s data for omissions and staff are contacting these academies to collect the missing data. Academies are encouraged to assist POST in making the analysis database as complete as possible, and to contact Chau Chan at (916) 227-4835 with any issues, questions, or are unclear with the task or instructions. Questions related the analyses of this data should be direct to Dr. Bob Holmgren at (916) 227-4830.

Meet the New POST Employees

Nicole Mendoza

Nicole Mendoza

Staff Services Analyst
Basic Training Bureau

Nicole has returned to State service after moving home from Nevada where she was doing property management. Prior to that, Nicole worked for Caltrans, CalPERS, and CHP over 11 years in various analytical roles. Nicole is a Staff Services Analyst in the Basic Training Bureau.

Sam Judkis

Sam Judkis

Information Technology Associate
Computer Services Bureau

Sam recently completed a B.S. in Computer Science from Oregon State University. He is joining POST as an IT Associate in the Computer Services Bureau’s Web Unit. As a relatively new resident of the Sacramento area, he is excited to begin his career in State service.

Legislative Update

Status of Current Legislation

The following is Legislation assigned to POST in the 2020-21 session. (Updated 8/24/2020)

Bill # and Author Title and Summary Status of Bill

AB 66

Assembly Member Gonzalez

Police: use of force.

Would prohibit the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents, as defined, by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, demonstration, or other gathering of persons, except in compliance with specified standards set by the bill, and would prohibit their use solely due to a violation of an imposed curfew, verbal threat, or noncompliance with a law enforcement directive. The bill would prohibit the use of chloroacetophenone tear gas or 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile gas by law enforcement agencies to disperse any assembly, protest, demonstration, or other gathering of persons.

Amended Date: 08/20/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 20). Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

AB 846

Assembly Member Burke

Public Employment: public officers or employees declared by law to be peace officers

Current law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to perform various functions involving the training of peace officers. Current law requires peace officers in this state to meet specified minimum standards, including, among other requirements, that peace officers be evaluated by a physician and surgeon or psychologist and found to be free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition that might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer. This bill would require that evaluation to include bias against race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.

Amended Date: 06/25/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 20). Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

AB 1022

Assembly Member Holden

Peace officers: use of force

Current law requires each law enforcement agency, on or before January 1, 2021, to maintain a policy that provides a minimum standard on the use of force. Current law requires that policy, among other things, to require that officers report potential excessive force to a superior officer when present and observing another officer using force that the officer believes to be unnecessary, and to require that officers intercede when present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is necessary, as specified.This bill would require those law enforcement policies to require those officers to immediately report potential excessive force, and to intercede when present and observing an officer using excessive force, as defined.

Amended Date: 07/30/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-In committee: Held under submission.

AB 1196

Assembly Member Gipson

Peace officers: use of force

Would prohibit a law enforcement agency from authorizing the use of a carotid restraint or a choke hold, as defined.

Amended Date: 08/24/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (August 20). Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

AB 1299

Assembly Member Salas

Peace officers: employment

Would require any agency that employs peace officers to notify the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training when a peace officer separates from employment, including details of any termination or resignation in lieu of termination. This bill would require an agency to notify the commission if an officer leaves the agency with a complaint, charge, or investigation pending, and would require the agency to complete the investigation and notify the commission of its findings. The bill would require the commission to include this information in an officer’s profile and make that information available to specified parties including any law enforcement agency that is conducting a preemployment background investigation of the subject of the profile.

Amended Date: 08/06/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 20). Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

AB 1506

Assembly Member McCarty

Police use of force

Current law requires law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice, as specified, any incident in which a peace officer is involved in a shooting or use of force that results in death or serious bodily injury. This bill would create a division within the Department of Justice to, upon the request of a law enforcement agency, review the use-of-force policy of the agency and make recommendations, as specified.

Amended Date: 8/17/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (August 20). Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

AB 1599

Assembly Member Cunningham

Peace Officers: investigations of misconduct

Would require a law enforcement agency or oversight agency to complete its investigation into an allegation of the use of force resulting in death or great bodily injury, sexual assault, discharge of a firearm, or dishonesty relating to the reporting, investigation, or prosecution of a crime or misconduct by another peace officer or custodial officer, despite the peace officer’s or custodial officer’s voluntary separation from the employing agency. The bill would require the investigation to result in a finding that the allegation is either sustained, not sustained, unfounded, or exonerated, as defined. The bill would also require an agency other than an officer’s employing agency that conducts an investigation of these allegations to disclose its findings with the employing agency no later than the conclusion of the investigation.

Amended Date: 7/8/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-In committee: Held under submission.

AB 1709

Assembly Member Weber

Law Enforcement: use of force

This bill would remove the specification that a peace officer making an arrest need not desist in their efforts because of resistance or threatened resistance from the person being arrested. The bill would also require a peace officer to attempt to control an incident through deescalation tactics, as defined, in an effort to reduce or avoid the need to use force, to render medical aid immediately or as soon as feasible, and to intervene to stop a violation of law or an excessive use of force by another peace officer.

Amended Date: 07/21/2020

Status: 7/21/2020-From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S

SB 731

Senator Bradford

Peace Officers: certification: civil rights

Would provide that a threat, intimidation, or coercion under the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act may be inherent in any interference with a civil right and would describe intentional acts for these purposes as an act in which the person acted with general intent or a conscious objective to engage in particular conduct.

Amended Date: 08/20/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

SB 776

Senator Skinner

Peace officers: release of records

Current law makes peace officer and custodial officer personnel records and specified records maintained by any state or local agency, or information obtained from these records, confidential and prohibits these records from being disclosed in any criminal or civil proceeding except by discovery. Current law sets forth exceptions to this policy, including, among others, records relating to specified incidents involving the discharge of a firearm, sexual assault, perjury, or misconduct by a peace officer or custodial officer. Current law makes a record related to an incident involving the use of force against a person resulting in death or great bodily injury subject to disclosure. Current law requires a state or local agency to make these excepted records available for inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act. This bill would make every incident involving use of force to make a member of the public comply with an officer, force that is unreasonable, or excessive force subject to disclosure.

Amended Date: 08/24/2020

Status: 8/20/2020-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 6.) (August 20). (Text Published 8/21/2020)

SB 1089

Senator Archuleta

Law enforcement: training policies

Current law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in the Department of Justice and requires the commission to adopt rules establishing minimum standards regarding the recruitment of peace officers. Existing law requires the commission to develop guidelines and implement courses of instruction regarding racial profiling, domestic violence, hate crimes, vehicle pursuits, and human trafficking, among others. Current law requires the commission to implement a course or courses of instruction for the regular and periodic training of law enforcement officers in the use of force. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

Introduced Date: 2/19/2020

Status: 2/27/2020-Referred to Com on RLS

SB 1392

Senator Bradford

Peace officers: basic course of training

Current law requires every peace officer to have satisfactorily completed an introductory training course prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Current law requires each applicant for admission to a basic course of training certified by the commission that includes the carrying and use of firearms, who is not sponsored by a local or other law enforcement agency, or is not a peace officer, to submit written certification to the Department of Justice that the applicant has no criminal history background that would disqualify them from possessing a firearm. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Introduced Date: 2/21/2020

Status: 3/12/2020-Referred to Com. on RLS.

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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