BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 2130 (Gorell) - Military police officers: peace officer
training.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 4-1
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 16, 2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 2130 would authorize the Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST) to evaluate pertinent
military police officer training previously completed by any
jurisdiction's law enforcement officers for the purpose of
determining whether the training meets the current training
requirements prescribed by the Commission and would authorize
POST to consider previous military police officer training as
part of the Commission's basic course waiver process. This bill
would authorize the Commission to develop a protocol that
considers previous military police officer training as an
applicable substitute for portions of the current POST standard
training, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Potential one-time costs in excess of $150,000 (General
Fund) over 15 to 18 months for POST to research, develop,
and validate a protocol, as specified.
Potential ongoing annual costs of $206,000 (General Fund)
for program administration, including staffing for two
additional analyst positions to support the new process.
Background: Existing law requires POST to establish minimum
standards for the training of peace officers in California. The
entry level training requirement for general law enforcement
peace officers in the state is the Regular Basic Course (RBC)
prescribed by POST. Peace officers must demonstrate completion
of that course by passing an examination developed or approved
by the Commission.
The minimum content of the Regular Basic Course (RBC) covers 43
topics including but not limited to general criminal statutes,
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patrol techniques, juvenile law, search and seizure, gang
awareness, domestic violence, and traffic enforcement. The
minimum number of instructional hours across the range of topics
is 560 hours. Including scenario and written testing, total
minimum required hours for the RBC is 664 hours.
Currently, the only alternative to completion of the RBC is the
Basic Course Waiver (BCW) process, which is a waiver of
attendance of a basic course. The waiver has the same standing
in law as a certificate of completion of the RBC in California.
An application for the BCW must include verification of
successful completion of each of the following:
At least a 200-hour general law enforcement basic course.
At least 664 hours of general law enforcement training
(including the basic course).
The legislatively mandated training subjects included in the
RBC.
At least one year of general law enforcement experience.
The basis for military police officer training is the Uniform
Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). While there are some criminal
offenses that overlap between the Penal Code and the UCMJ, there
are also various differences.
Proposed Law: This bill would authorize POST to evaluate
pertinent military police officer training previously completed
by any jurisdiction's law enforcement officers for the purpose
of determining whether the training meets the current training
requirements prescribed by the Commission and may consider
previous military police officer training as part of the
Commission's basic course waiver process.
This bill additionally authorizes POST to develop a protocol
that considers previous military police officer training as an
applicable substitute for portions of the current standard
training. In developing the protocol, the Commission is required
to do both of the following:
Assess the content and transferability of military police
officer training to fulfill the Commission's program
requirements.
Identify additional training requirements that must be
fulfilled to satisfactorily complete the Commission's
certification program.
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Staff Comments: To the extent POST opts to evaluate pertinent
military police officer training, as specified, consider
previous military police officer training as part of the
Commission's basic course waiver process, and develop the
specified protocol, POST would incur both one-time and ongoing
costs. One-time costs potentially in excess of $150,000 (General
Fund) for research, development, validation, and approval of a
process would create workload that is not absorbable. POST
estimates the protocol would take 15 to 18 months to develop, as
the disparity in training and missions between the five branches
of the armed forces would likely require pilot testing of
courses to address the differences and bring the applicants to a
common standard. To support the process upon implementation, the
POST estimates ongoing annual resource needs of $206,000
(General Fund) for two positions to support the ongoing
administration of the program.