NCJ Number
213797
Date Published
September 2001
Length
195 pages
Annotation
This document outlines courses that train California law enforcement officers in conducting background investigations on individuals applying for positions of public trust within criminal justice organizations.
Abstract
This document constitutes a revision of the POST (California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training) Background Investigation Course. It contains two new courses: A Background Investigation Update Course and a Background Investigation Command Staff Orientation Course. These additional courses provide a framework for updating existing background investigators and target the special needs of unit supervisors and personnel program administrators. This series of courses addresses the full range of training needs expressed by law enforcement personnel who conduct background investigations. The core course, which is intended for new background investigators, covers the roles and responsibilities of the background investigator, peace officer job dimensions, public safety dispatcher job traits, legal aspects of pre-employment background investigation, areas of inquiry, information sources, pre-employment interviewing, pre-employment psychological evaluations, devices for detecting deception, and the documentation of background investigations. The topics addressed in the update course for existing background investigators include a review of changes in fair employment laws, how to design a proper waiver, document assessment, and how to construct the background investigation narrative. The course on the administration of background investigations focuses on reasons for conducting pre-employment background investigations, the pre-employment screening of peace officers and public safety dispatchers, peace officer job dimensions and public safety dispatcher job traits, command staff roles and responsibilities in the pre-employment screening process, pre-employment examiners and support services, and current and emerging issues in pre-employment screening. For each course, this document includes instructional goals, recommended topics, recommended minimum instructional time, origination date, and revision dates. Extensive supporting materials and references are provided in the concluding section.