Abstract
Communications Training Officers (CTOs) within the 24 California Highway Patrol state-wide Communications Centers (CC) currently lack a comprehensive training guide which provides a roadmap to guide them and enhance their ability to assess and accurately document performance. The current standardized method of training for entry-level dispatchers within the California Highway Patrol consists of five weeks of departmental mandated Peace Officer Standards of Training (POST) and Agency Specific (AS) Public Safety Dispatcher Basic Course (PSDBC) call-taking and radio training at the CHP Academy. To improve current practices and create a user-friendly all-inclusive training overview document for CTOs, this project was developed to enhance their understanding of the Department’s Training Standards in an intelligible abridged version. New CTOs must be introduced to their multi-faceted roles as informal leaders as not only a trainer, but a coach, mentor, counselor, and a peer. The Comprehensive Communications Training Officer Program Guide, Annex A, Roadmap to the Golden Gate Dispatch Training Program, provides each CTO visual and written queues with the goal of eliminating the confusion and frustration he or she may encounter when struggling to interpret cumbersome wordy department policy.