Peace Officers Standards and Training
Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) refers to state-established programs that set training and performance standards for law enforcement officers in the United States. These standards are crucial for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of police services, impacting how law enforcement engages with the communities they serve. The roots of professional police training can be traced back to the early 19th century in London, with notable developments in the U.S. occurring throughout the 20th century, particularly after critical assessments of policing practices highlighted significant deficiencies in training.
POST agencies, which have been established in every U.S. state except Hawaii, aim to improve police performance through systematic training. This training is designed to ensure uniformity and professionalism within law enforcement, while also addressing public safety needs and expectations. Research indicates that there is a correlation between the amount of training officers receive and the incidence of lawsuits against police departments, making training a vital tool for risk management.
Moreover, POST agencies adapt training curricula to reflect contemporary policing challenges, fostering a responsive approach to law enforcement. In the 21st century, POST principles have also influenced international policing standards, extending the concept of effective law enforcement beyond U.S. borders. Ultimately, the ongoing development and implementation of POST standards support the creation of safer and more accountable police services.
Peace Officers Standards and Training
IDENTIFICATION: State programs establishing training and performance standards for law-enforcement officers
SIGNIFICANCE: Professional training and standards play a critical role in the quality and quantity of services delivered by the police, who are a major component of the American criminal justice system.
One criterion of any profession is that it defines minimum standards of performance and minimum amounts of training or preparation for its practitioners. Peace officers, or police or law-enforcement officers as they are more frequently called, throughout the criminal justice system in the United States all now claim professional status.
Development
By the middle of the nineteenth century, most large northeastern cities in the United States had some type of police, but there were no recognized standards or professional training for them. The idea that the police should have training and display the best of ethics had originated in 1829 in Great Britain’s capital, London, where Sir Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police Service. In 1893, the International Association of Chiefs of Police was formed in the United States, and it began advocating the training of police officers. However, it was not until 1960 that this association was to develop minimum training standards and promote them to the fifty states.
In 1929, President Herbert Hoover created the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, which became known as the Wickersham Commission. It was the first major body to look into the workings of what would later become known as the American criminal justice system; it was also the first federal assessment of law enforcement throughout the United States. The commission’s final reports on the police were highly critical, highlighting the lack of training and standards. The commission’s official report made many recommendations, but as they were only recommendations, police around the nation were slow to change and adopt new ways.
Mid-Twentieth Century Progress
In 1953, the American Bar Association drafted a Model Police Training Act that sought to provide a model for those involved in or monitoring police training. During the mid-1960s, for the first time in the history of public-opinion polling, crime became the leading concern of Americans. President Lyndon B. Johnson created the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice , and numerous blue-ribbon panels were appointed to study the problem. In 1968, the presidential commission published The Police, which made many recommendations for improving police training and education. The Police also recommended that each state establish a police officers standards and training body.
In 1959, California and New York became the first states to establish peace officers standards and training agencies. Over the next twenty-five years, the remaining states established their own agencies. Some states use different names for their offices, which makes for some confusion; however, California was the first with the name “Police Officers Standards and Training,” and most police forces now simply use the term POST. As of the 2020s, all US states except Hawaii use POST training or a POST equivalent.
POST personnel serve as liaisons between government policy- and lawmakers and law-enforcement agencies. They work with law-enforcement and police officers in general and with the heads of police academies and police training divisions, in particular.
Functions and Benefits
POST agencies work to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the police by improving the quality and increasing the quantity of their training. Since police officers perform as they are trained, improved training helps to improve their performance. Systematic training also helps to make police work more uniform and more predictable within the state offering the training and lends an air of enhanced professionalism to the police.
Studies of police departments have found an inverse correlation between the numbers of hours of training that officers receive and the numbers of lawsuits that are brought against the departments. Training is perhaps the best insurance a law-enforcement agency can have against litigation. POST bodies closely monitor lawsuits against police departments because they point to areas in which additional training is needed. POST agencies function to assist police departments in reducing their liabilities.
If training appears not to affect how police and the public interact, then the POST agency must question whether the training being given is relevant to the work of the police. POST must take account of what the public expects and the nature of problems the police are facing. POST agencies function to keep training and standards current by ensuring that policing meets the needs and expectations of current conditions, in contrast to the desires of the police clique. As POST agencies work to improve the quantity and quality of training, society enjoys the benefits of more effective delivery of police services and increased public safety.
The beginning of the twenty-first century saw police standards and training being taken to higher levels. British and American police have long been the two models of modern policing for the rest of the world. During the 1990s, the U.S. State Department began work that led to the creation of four international law-enforcement academies. They are located in Roswell, New Mexico; Budapest, Hungary; Gaborone, Botswana; and Bangkok, Thailand. The concept of peace officers standards and training now serves to promote democracy and represent U.S. foreign policy worldwide.
Bibliography
Charles, Michael. Police Training: Breaking All the Rules. Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 2000.
Guthrie, Edward. “Higher Learning and Police Training.” Law and Order (December, 2000): 124.
"Human Rights Standards and Practice for the Police." Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2004, www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/training5Add3en.pdf. Accessed 8 July 2024. .
Kenny, Dennis J., and Robert P. McNamara, eds. Police and Policing: Contemporary Issues. 2d ed. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishing, 1999.
Morash, Merry. The Move to Community Policing: Making Change Happen. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2002.
"Police POST Entry-Level Test Preparation." Job Test Prep, 2024, www.jobtestprep.com/peace-officer-standards-training. Accessed 8 July 2024.