Peace Officer Psychological Evaluators

On October 24, 2018, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved changes to the minimum continuing professional education (CPE) requirements for peace officer psychological evaluators. Information on the changes can be found in Bulletin 2018-38 (pdf).

Effective January 1, 2019, all evaluators must complete the POST Peace Officer Psychological Screening Manual online (book-based) exam prior to conducting evaluations. Incumbent evaluators (i.e. those who have been conducting peace officer evaluations) should have met this requirement by July 1, 2019. New evaluators must meet this requirement prior to conducting peace officer psychological evaluations. Those who have already taken and passed the examination, have met this requirement and will not need to retake the exam. 

Experience and Education Requirements:

A psychologist who conducts peace officer screening evaluations must meet Government Code Section 1031(f)(2) requirements, which consist of being licensed by the California Board of Psychology and experience that is "at least the equivalent of five full-time years ... in the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and mental disorders, including the equivalent of three full-time years accrued postdoctorate. The ... psychologist shall also have met any applicable education and training procedures set forth by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) designed for the conduct of preemployment psychological screening of peace officers."

POST continuing professional education (CPE) requirements for psychological evaluators are outlined in Commission Regulation 1955, which includes completion of the POST Peace Officer Psychological Screening Manual on-line (book-based) exam [see Bulletin 2018-38 (pdf)] and 12 hours of CPE every two years coinciding with the evaluator's license renewal cycle. CPE hours are generally prorated at .5 hours/month based on the license renewal date. 

• If you are a peace officer psychological screening evaluator, you can log in to your existing profile or create a profile to be added to this list.
• POST-approved courses can be found on the list of approved CPE courses.

Agency Considerations for Selecting Screening Psychologists:

When seeking the services of a screening psychologist, agencies should take into consideration the psychologist's experience and depth and breadth of education and training. Chapter 3 of the POST Peace Officer Psychological Screening Manual provides information on selecting a screening psychologist and Appendix A provides a sample questionnaire for that purpose. At a minimum agencies should do the following:

• Review the psychologist's entire profile by selecting "Evaluator Details." Their profile will include their contact information, license #, CV (if provided), and specific CPE courses completed.
• Verify the psychologist's license through the California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), Board of Psychology License Search.
• Ensure that the psychologist is compliant with POST CPE requirements. A green "yes" in the last two columns indicates they are currently compliant.

NOTE: POST does not "approve" or "certify" psychological evaluators; however, the list (below) indicates if the psychologist has met POST CPE requirements. For a psychologist to be current and in compliance with POST CPE requirements, the "Meets CPE Hours Req't?"  and "Meets Mandatory Course Req't?" columns must both indicate "yes.”

The evaluator list is defaulted to sort by evaluator name. Select the column headings to sort by other areas.