Critics of police officer standards and training may not know there is a state commission in place that is responsible for overseeing and improving those standards and training.
The Missouri Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission is now formally asking for what it has been getting informally in protests – at least since August 9, 2014 when then-Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
The Missouri POST Commission and the Department of Public Safety invited Missourians to participate in a survey on law enforcement training and discipline in Missouri on August 18, only days before the August 26 deadline for the public to provide online feedback.
The POST Commission will review and discuss these comments during two open listening sessions to be conducted virtually following the survey. Additional comments from the public may be offered by email during the two listening sessions. An email address will be provided during the listening sessions. Listening sessions are scheduled to be held on Monday, August 31 and Wednesday, September 2.
The commission wants feedback from both the public and law enforcement officers as it reviews current training curriculum and Missouri’s disciplinary process.
In Missouri, law enforcement officers must complete 24 hours of continuing law enforcement education each year to maintain their peace officers licenses: 2 hours in Legal Studies; 2 hours in Technical Studies; 2 hours in Interpersonal Perspectives; 2 hours of Skill Development involving firearms; 6 hours of electives in any of the preceding core curriculum areas; and 1 hour of something that is often discussed loudly as protests: racial profiling awareness training.
Established by state statute, the POST Commission is responsible for the curriculum for law enforcement officer basic training and continuing education in Missouri. The commission has 11 seats, of which three (one for a sheriff, one for a police officer, and one for a police chief) are currently vacant. All of the appointed members are connected to law enforcement except for the sole public citizen member, who currently is Emanuel Cleaver III, senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City and the son of U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.
To comment before August 26, visit https://tinyurl.com/POST-feedback.
A telephone number to participate in the listening sessions on August 31 and September 2 will be provided on the POST Program webpage (https://tinyurl.com/MO-POST) after online comments have been received.
