In 1996, the California legislature allocated $2,000,000 to POST to provide experiential training in diversity and tolerance for law enforcement officers.  The funding in support of this training has remained a part of the POST budget each year since then.

POST contracted with the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance (MOT) to present unique and dynamic courses and to provide the museum experience to thousands of law enforcement personnel.

Of the $2,000,000, POST retains $444,000 each year to reimburse agencies for travel and per diem in conjunction with travel to Los Angeles where the museum is located.  The remaining $1,556,000 has been available to the Museum of Tolerance for the presentation of POST certified law enforcement training courses.

The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) currently presents 11 courses for law enforcement including Hate Crimes, Fair and Impartial Policing (Racial Profiling), and Cultural Diversity.  The MOT also presents courses geared towards supervisors and command staff with a focus on effective supervision in a diverse workplace and community.  Session six in the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SLI) is presented at the MOT and enhances relevant themes presented in previous SLI sessions by discussing the nexus between diversity and leadership in a historical and contemporary context.

POST uses the $444,000 to reimburse the travel and per diem for personnel from local law enforcement (reimbursable) agencies.

The curriculum over the years has been continually updated to reflect contemporary concepts and address relevant community issues such as implied bias and procedural justice.  Student evaluations continue to be positive and reflect MOT training has a profound impact on how they view diversity both in their agencies and in the communities they serve.

A breakdown of the cost for the Museum of Tolerance training program is contained in Attachment A.

This program is supported by POST Strategic Plan Strategy B.8.1, Ensuring instructor certification and training requirements in POST regulations are current and Objective D.1, Support law enforcement agencies in developing positive, durable, and collaborative relationships with their communities.