In February 2017, POST made significant changes to testing in the basic courses allowing for improved evaluation of both student learning and instructional quality in the classroom. To continue these improvement efforts, POST is proposing changes to the basic courses certification and presentation processes which will be assessed during the pilot program to determine the feasibility of implementation.

As discussed at the October 26, 2017, Commission meeting, POST is exploring the removal of the Learning Domain (LD) 34 First Aid, CPR, and AED requirement from the basic courses. If removed, basic course attendees will be required to obtain EMSA approved First Aid, CPR, AED certification prior to the start of the course or prior to course completion. Additionally, the basic course presenter will be required to present an 8-hour tactical medicine block of instruction.

POST is also working to improve the certification process for basic courses which is currently very cumbersome for both presenters and POST staff with no guarantee the course materials being presented to POST reflect what is being taught. Currently POST requires basic course presenters to submit the course documents in advance of the projected start date (i.e., course administrative information, expanded course outline, instructor resumes, hourly distributions and safety policies with a budget required if tuition is charged.) The expanded course outline is a repeat, presented in an alternate format, of the Training and Testing Specifications (TTS) for Peace Officer Basic Courses and the hourly distribution is the order in which the presenter plans to present the material.

In speaking with basic course presenters, it is commonplace to have two files for each basic course presentation- one containing the materials “turned in to POST” via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and one, a “working file” which contains the material outlining how the course was actually presented (e.g., working schedule).  POST does not receive a copy of the "working file" and therefore may be unaware of any missed required activity (e.g., tests, instruction, etc.,) until a Basic Course Certification Review(BCCR) is conducted 3 to 6 years after the course was presented. This is a significant length of time before determining requirements/mandates were not met. POST's practice is to conduct a BCCR on each presenter every three years but, due to Law Enforcement Consultant vacancies, has been unable to maintain that schedule. 

Past BCCRs have exposed situations where critical components of the course were not presented/tested which required “graduated and working LEOs” return to the training presenter to complete the required training/testing. The current certification process is time consuming for presenters as well as POST staff and is not a true reflection of training received.

POST is proposing a pilot program that will accomplish three objectives; 1. change the certification process for basic courses, 2. remove the LD 34 First Aid, CPR, and AED requirement from the basic courses and 3. provide training of Procedural Justice, Tactical Medicine, De-escalation and Rifle training.

Courses presented under the pilot program will make changes to both the certification process and the course presentation process as follows:

• When requesting course certification, presenters will submit an attestation.  This document will be signed by the Director, indicating agreement to present in its entirety, the TTS in place at the time of course presentation as well as agreement all mandates shall be met. Presenters will also submit Instructor Resumes, Safety Policies, and a Budget when necessary. Presenters will no longer be required to submit an Expanded Course Outline or Hourly Distribution. 30 days prior to course completion, presenters must submit to POST the “working schedule” referencing the TTS and mandate requirements met by each instructional block. POST will review the “working schedule” to ensure all TTS, hours, and mandate requirements have been met. These changes will facilitate an in-depth review of the course, as presented, and will help eliminate the need for “graduated and working LEOs” to return to the training presenter in order to complete required training/testing.
• Removal of LD 34 First Aid, CPR, and AED training and testing requirement from the basic course. Taking the 21 hours of training and testing dedicated to LD 34 plus 14 of the 18 additional instructional and testing hours (formerly written testing hours), and replacing those 35 hours with 8 hours tactical medicine, 8 hours procedural justice, 16 hours rifle training, and 4 hours de-escalation techniques. 5 hours would remain as additional instructional and testing hours to be used for POST-required content.

Should the Commission approve the pilot program, two Regular Basic Course presenters are prepared to pilot this new model; Santa Rosa Junior College and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.