Published: Mon, 07/03/2017 - 1:27pm
Hello again from POST. Here is an update from the most recent POST Board meeting.
- On June 2, the Colorado POST Board had its second quarterly board meeting of 2017. Thank you to Chief Robert White, (Denver PD), and Sheriff Fred McKee, (Delta County SO) for their service to the POST Board as they complete their terms June 30, 2017. We also welcomed Chief Cory Christensen, (Steamboat Springs PD), as a new member. All of the current POST Board members are listed on the POST website under the About POST tab, POST Board, Members and Staff.
- Two individuals had their peace officer certifications revoked for felony convictions, (four YTD), and two individuals had their peace officer certifications revoked for misdemeanor convictions, (six YTD). Three of the four were peace officers at the time of the offense.
- Every year our training region grant program guidelines are reviewed and revised by POST staff and then approved by the POST Board. This year we again updated the guidelines. The vast majority of the changes were minor and mirrored state fiscal rules and procedural changes. One change that may affect some of you is Section 13 - Administrative Requirements, 13.1 Enrollment Management. Grantee agrees to limit enrollment to training, including the host agency, to four (4) seats, or 20% of the class size (whichever is greater) for each agency within the Region, until two (2) weeks prior to the start of training. The exception to this is when a course is held at a venue that can accommodate a large number of attendees or the class is announced to the Region within a month of its start date.
- The POST Board approved region grant awards in the amount of $2,960,000. This year a formula-funded allocation process was utilized to award grants funds to the 10 POST- designated training regions and training providers. In 2016, the POST Board approved using the formula allocation process which utilizes a base award amount to each region ($133,200) and then applies a formula that funds agencies based on size (the number of peace officers employed).
- Each small agency received $4,388.37 (less than 35 personnel)
- Each medium agency received $2,220.00 (between 36 and 99 personnel)
- Each large agency received $3,154.71 (100 and above personnel)
- The POST Board also approved 10% of the State\'s POST allocation to use to fund law enforcement training providers such as CSOC and COVA.
- One of the duties of the POST Board is to establish standards for training school resource officers, which are described in C.R.S. 24-31-312. The POST Board voted to transition from the current Colorado SRO approved curriculum to the NASRO Basic SRO curriculum as the Colorado POST-approved SRO curriculum.
United States citizenship has been a controversial topic across our country for the past several months and POST has fielded many questions during this time. In an effort to help those that might be seeking peace officer certification, POST added a few paragraphs to our already existing Hiring Requirements page on our POST website. POST\'s position has not changed, we have just put it in writing and tried to clarify. The very simple explanation is that anyone seeking peace officer certification in Colorado must 1) be here legally, and 2) be allowed to work here. There are several nuances to various categories of non-citizen immigrants. POST cannot provide legal advice and suggests that you consult an attorney if you have referred to our webpage and still have questions.
The March 24, 2017 POST Board meeting was our annual formal rulemaking hearing. The POST Board approved minor additions or clarifications to 13 of the 29 rules. The change most relevant to this audience is in Rule 17 - Certification Records (d) - By the 31st of January of each year, each agency shall verify the accuracy of the certified peace officers associated with the law enforcement agency listed on the POST portal by submitting an email to POST.By submitting this email each agency is certifying that the agency has confirmed all certified peace officers associated with their law enforcement agency have no convictions that would prevent the individual from being a certified peace officer in Colorado, and that each certified peace officer has a valid Colorado Driver\'s License of Colorado ID.
The July POST Board Manual will be available on the POST website on or shortly after July 1, 2017. It will contain all rule changes effective July 1, 2017 as well as the revised Law Enforcement Driving program. Statutory changes will appear in the January 2018 Manual.
As a reminder, the first-year training period for 24-31-315(1), also known as HB 15-1287, ends June 30, 2017. Each certified peace officer shall satisfactorily complete the training by July 1, 2017, and shall satisfactorily complete the training at least once every five years thereafter. Officers that do not complete this required training will be suspended and will not be allowed to perform any law enforcement duties until the mandatory training is completed and documentation is received by POST. A preliminary non-compliance report will be sent out the first week of July to every non-compliant officer and their agency head. Non-compliant officers have 30 days to complete the mandatory training and/or dispute the POST data. The final report will be sent to each non-compliant officer and their agency head the second week of August.
The training the first year is two hours of each of the following:
- Proper Holds &, Restraints
- Anti-Bias Policing
- Community Policing &, Community Partnerships
- De-escalation
TOTAL of 8 hours must be completed by June 30, 2017
If you have any questions regarding this training, please contact Bob Baker, Robert.baker@coag.gov or 720.508.6719 as soon as possible.
As always, I welcome your feedback.
Cory Amend
POST Director
Upcoming Important Dates
June 30, 2017 - Training period for CRS 24-31-315 ends June 30, 2017 - all FY 2017 expenditures must be reported, all items purchased must be received
First Week of July, 2017 - Preliminary CRS 24-31-315 non-compliance letters sent
July 31, 2017 - CRS 24-31-315 grace period ends
Second Week of August, 2017 - Final CRS 24-31-315 non-compliance letters