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POST panel debates transferability of background investigations between agencies
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Summary
Advisory committee discussed a proposal to allow law‑enforcement background investigation files to transfer between agencies within 12 months of completion, including proposed limits, required updates and quality‑control concerns raised by advisory members and associations.
The advisory committee for the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) discussed a proposed rule allowing the transfer of peace‑officer background investigation files between agencies if the original background was completed within the previous 12 months.
The proposal, described by Kelly Saroski, staff services manager in POST's Strategic Communications and Research Bureau, would let a hiring agency accept a background investigation done by a prior agency so long as the file "was conducted in accordance with current requirements" and a background "update is required from when the background investigation was completed." Saroski said the 12‑month clock would be measured by the hiring‑authority designee signature date on the POST verification form (POST 2‑355).
Why it matters: Agencies said the change could speed hiring for lateral transfers and interim leadership positions, but advisory members warned it could allow substandard investigations to circulate between departments without POST review.
Most of the committee’s questions focused on quality control and how multiple transfers would be handled. Melanie Singley, manager of the Selection Standards Program, told the committee an accepted background would be treated like a new hire in terms of updates: "So it'd start over again," she said when asked whether the 12‑month period would reset after each transfer. Jim Grokow, POST assistant executive director, added that POST's current systems do not segregate private versus government presenters and that connectivity to an electronic background system (an EDI platform) is under development but not yet live.
Concerns and possible next steps: Advisory members urged limits on repeated portability. "...should there be a limit in the regulation as to how many times that original background can transfer or be portable?" one member asked. Sheriff and association representatives stressed the need for some form of pre‑transfer verification or a requirement that POST review transferred files so agencies do not inherit "substandard" investigations. POST staff said the commission would consider field input and could constrain transfers (for example, "one and done") when drafting regulation.
What POST presented: According to Saroski, recommended parameters from the California Police Chiefs Association included: transfers apply only to backgrounds completed within the last 12 months; transferred files must have been completed to current requirements; transfers remain at the discretion of both sending and receiving agencies; and both agencies must retain copies of the transferred file.
Next steps and limits: POST staff said the commission would hear the item as a consent matter the next day and that, depending on commission direction, staff could move to formal rulemaking, modify recommended language to add limits, or not proceed. Several advisory members asked POST to delay regulatory adoption until the committee and field had more time to provide input.
Additional details and open questions: Committee members pressed for clarity on what parts of a file would transfer ("the entire background file," POST staff said) and whether medical or psychological clearances would be portable (POST staff said those remain separate processes and medical/psychological clearances generally would need to be completed by the receiving agency). POST staff also noted an eventual electronic background system could shorten POST’s time to review files from months to days, which would mitigate some concerns but is not yet available.
Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on policy; instead POST will carry the committee's feedback to the commission and consider revisions in regulation drafting. Committee members asked that any final rule clearly address limits on repeat transfers, the scope of material that may be transferred, and what verification — if any — POST will require prior to transfer.
