The first California peace officer job analysis was completed in 1979 and the second analysis was completed in 1998. In September 2012, POST began the project to update the 1998 analysis and define common elements of the entry-level peace officer profession. The analysis sought to identify the tasks, skills, abilities, knowledge requirements, and traits that are critical to successful job performance as a peace officer.

POST followed the professional training and testing standards and guidelines to develop a legally defensible task and content area outline for peace officers. A content validation strategy was employed to identify and describe the content of the peace officer's job. This strategy was followed in all phases of the project, including the twenty site visits, interviews, and "ride-alongs" with law enforcement officers throughout the state, the facilitation of six focus group workshops with subject matter experts (SMEs), and the development of a job analysis survey.

Survey data was collected over a one year period with 1,237 law enforcement officers, representing 236 different agencies (39%), within 50 different counties (86%), responding. Utilizing the information collected from the survey, a series of meetings were held with the SMEs to review the results, determine core items, establish critical task statements, and perform linkages between job tasks and job functions, and job functions and job competencies.

POST has completed this project and documented the results in a report and is presenting this report to the Commission (Refer to ATTACHMENT A).

The job analysis of peace officers described in this report provides a comprehensive description of current practice in California. The procedures of the job analysis are based upon a content validation strategy to ensure that the results accurately represent the practice of peace officers in the state.

The results of this job analysis has shown that, in general, the purpose and importance of peace officer work has remained unchanged. However, certain aspects of the profession have changed significantly within the last two decades. The vast improvements in technology have changed how peace officers perform their jobs. This was apparent in both the survey results and in the many comments made by SMEs in workshops. Advancement in technology effected how officers interpreted and rated job task statements. The advancement in technology had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on peace officer job tasks.

Maintaining and improving job readiness and skills have also increased in frequency and importance as a core job function. The peace officer profession is also placing an increased emphasis on community and public relations.

By adopting the task and content area outline contained in this report, POST can ensure that training reflects current practice. This report provides all documentation necessary to verify that the analysis has been implemented in accordance with legal, professional, and technical standards.

Results of the 2016 job analysis will be used to support and validate the purpose and content of the Regular Basic Course and corresponding tests, and will help guide several future POST projects.

First, the results of the 2016 peace officer job analysis will be used to update and modify the contents of the peace officer regular basic course to ensure that the content of the basic course is consistent with the job tasks performed by entry-level patrol officers. This project, called “the alignment project”, will match each of the critical job functions performed by California peace officers to specific learning domains, learning needs, and learning objectives in the peace officer basic courses.

Second, the data provided by the 2016 Peace Officer Job Analysis will be used to update and modify the test plan of the POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLETB) to be consistent with the job competencies required by entry-level patrol officers as described in the job analysis report.

Third, the data provided by the 2016 Peace Officer Job Analysis will be used as the basis for a patrol officer physical abilities task survey. This survey will use the critical physical tasks performed by entry-level patrol officers, as described in the job analysis report, as the basis for identifying the actual dimensions and characteristics of the physical tasks performed by peace officers. This will, in turn, be used to create a pre-academy physical abilities test.

Project priorities, plans, and timelines for these projects will be developed by staff from the Standards, Evaluation, and Research Bureau.