All public safety dispatcher candidates must satisfy the following four requirements (POST Regulation 1956) to become a POST-qualified dispatcher:

1. Demonstrate verbal, reasoning, memory, and perceptual abilities at levels necessary to perform the dispatching job. This may be satisfied by completing the POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery or alternate job-related tests of these abilities. (POST Regulation 1957)
2. Participate in an oral interview or other measure of oral communication abilities to determine suitability for public safety dispatcher service. (POST Regulation 1958)
3. Be subjected to a thorough background investigation to verify the absence of past behavior indicative of unsuitability to perform public safety dispatcher duties. (POST Regulation 1959)
4. Be evaluated to determine if the candidate is free of any physical (i.e., medical) condition that might adversely affect the ability to perform the duties of a public safety dispatcher. (POST regulation 1960)

Individual agencies can impose additional requirements or more stringent standards than POST does. These may include a psychological evaluation.

The POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery is composed of 11 subtests. Attachment A contains sample questions for each subtest.  Some of the tests are power tests, some are speeded tests, and some are hybrid speed/power tests. Tests which are designated as power tests were designed to measure abilities which are not heavily dependent upon speed of response; i.e., the time limits were established such that the vast majority of examinees complete the test in the allotted time.

Conversely, tests designated as speeded are intended to measure abilities where speed of response is an integral part of the ability being measured; thus, these tests are purposely administered under highly restrictive time limits such that virtually no examinee can respond to all items. The tests designated as hybrid speed/power tests present information to examinees under somewhat speeded conditions, while examinees are given sufficient time to respond to questions regarding the information presented.

The eleven subtests are as follows:

1. Public Safety Bulletin:  The examinee is given 3 minutes to review a one-page simulated "shift bulletin" containing several single-paragraph descriptions, each one pertaining to a different event.  After the study period, the examinee answers multiple-choice questions regarding facts and details about the events based solely upon memory. (paper-pencil format; power test; 4 response options; 15 items; 6 min.)
2. Assigning Field Units:  The examinee reads a novel set of rules for assigning field units and then determines which of five field units should be assigned to various "incidents."  The incidents occur in different geographic regions and are designated emergency or non-emergency.  The examinee uses a multiple-choice response format to designate no, one, or more units to be dispatched to each incident.  Each item response alternative is scored.  This test is designed to measure the deductive facet of Reasoning Ability.  (paper-pencil format; power test; 32 response options; 20 items; 5 min.)
3. Evaluating Facts:  The examinee reads a set of public safety-related facts and then determines whether statements that follow are true, false, or cannot be determined based on the facts.  The answer is marked on a multiple-choice response sheet.  (paper-pencil format; power test; 3 response options; 15 items; 5 min.)
4. Setting Priorities:  The examinee is given a novel set of rules to read and follow in order assign priority codes to events.  The events are presented in sets of three.  A multiple-choice response format is used to designate the priority of events in each triad as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority.  This test is designed to measure Information Ordering ability, a facet of Reasoning ability.  (paper-pencil format; power test; 3 response options; 15 sets/45 items; 10 min.)
5. Reading Comprehension:  The examinee reads a brief passage and then answers multiple-choice questions regarding facts and details contained in the passage, as well as the meaning of the information, how it may be interpreted, and conclusions that may be drawn.  While primarily designed to measure Written Comprehension ability, this test also measures Reasoning ability.   (paper-pencil format; power test; 4 response options; 20 items; 15 min.)
6. Clarity:  The examinee compares two versions of the same sentence and identifies the one that is more clearly written.  The answer is marked on a multiple-choice response sheet.  This test measures Written Expression, a facet of Verbal ability. (paper-pencil format; power test; 2 response options; 15 items; 5 min.)
7. Recalling Facts & Details:  The examinee listens to a recording of a simulated call for law enforcement service received by a public safety dispatcher.  The examinee is not allowed to take notes.  The examinee then answers multiple-choice questions regarding various facts and details contained in the call, based solely upon memory.  (compact disk format; hybrid speed/power test; 4 response options; 18 items; 9 min.)
8. Call-Taking:  The examinee listens to a recording of three simulated calls for law enforcement service received by a dispatcher.  The examinee can take notes during the calls and is given a brief period to complete the notes after all calls have been presented.  The examinee can use the notes to answer a series of multiple-choice questions regarding facts and details pertaining the calls, as well as interpretations and conclusions regarding the meaning of each call.  While primarily a measure of Reasoning ability, this test also measures Oral Comprehension (Verbal) and Perceptual Speed and Accuracy abilities.  (compact disk format; hybrid speed/ power test; 4 response options; 25 items; 17 min.)
9. Oral Directions:  The examinee listens to a recording of a simulated radio call from a patrol officer to a dispatcher.  The examinee can take notes during the call and is given a brief period to complete the notes after the call is presented.  The examinee can use the notes to answer multiple-choice questions regarding various tasks to be performed, the order in which they are to be performed, various details contained in the call such as names, times, locations, etc., and interpretations and conclusions that may be drawn.   While primarily a measure of Reasoning ability (Information Ordering), this test also measures Oral Comprehension (Verbal) and Memory abilities.  (compact disk format; hybrid speed/power test; 4 response options; 17 items; 14 min.) 
10. Checking Coded Information:  The examinee listens to a recording of a narrator presenting a series of random letter-number codes.  The codes range from two to four alphanumeric characters.  As each code is presented orally, the examinee refers to a "Code Sheet," and identifies and marks the corresponding code among 5 written alternatives.  The information is presented slowly at first, increasing in speed until the task becomes very difficult.  After the information is presented, the examinee the marks his/her answers onto a scannable answer sheet.  This test is designed to measure Perceptual Speed and Accuracy.  (compact disk format; speeded test; 5 response options; 60 items; 9 min.)
11. Checking & Listening:  The examinee performs two tasks at the same time: (1) compare a list of names, addresses, and license numbers with a "HOT SHEET" containing similar information, and identify as many matches as possible; and (2) listen to a recording of simulated radio broadcasts from several field units and keep track of their status.  The examinee records the unit status transmissions on a "RADIO LOG."  After the simulated radio broadcasts have ended, the examinee is instructed to stop the comparison task and answer a series of multiple-choice questions regarding the various status changes of each unit.  This test was designed to measure Perceptual Time Sharing ability, primarily.  (compact disk format; speeded part I, hybrid speed/ power part II; 2 response options part I; 5 response options part II; 105 items; 13 min.)

Each subtest applies to one or more of the four abilities required by regulation 1957 – verbal, reasoning, memory, and perceptual. These applications result in the following weightings of the abilities in the test battery:

• Verbal:           29%
• Reasoning:    36%
• Memory:        19%
• Perceptual:    16%

These percentages are consistent with the relative importance of these abilities as identified in a statewide job analysis of the dispatcher position.

When scoring the tests, examinees' total number right scores are adjusted by subtracting a fractional value for each wrong answer.  The purpose of this adjustment is to take into account the possibility of guessing the correct answer by randomly selecting among multiple-choice item response alternatives.  The guessing-adjusted scores are standardized so that the tests receive equal weight in contributing to Total Battery Score. The total score is computed by averaging the eleven standardized test scores and then re-scaling the average to a T-score. (See Attachment B)

Although no absolute passing score is required by POST, the recommended minimum passing score range is 48-57, with 50 being the average T-score.