History, Purpose and Authority of the DoD POST Commission
The Department of Defense Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (DoD POST) formed to standardize law enforcement training throughout Defense agencies. Currently, there are nine member agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency Pentagon Force Protection Agency, United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Navy, and the United States Marine Corps.
This effort began in 2002 as a response to the 9-11 attacks. The DoD Joint Security Chiefs commissioned a Functional Area Analysis (FAA) of law enforcement and security practices throughout the DoD, which led to the formation of the Police and Guard Working Group. The goal of the Group was to enhance antiterrorism, law enforcement, and force protection practices to better secure DoD assets. With a narrowing focus on training, this group identified the United States Army Military Police School (USAMPS) as the gold standard of law enforcement training throughout DoD, and relied on Department of the Army leadership, funding and training strategies to strengthen the military’s law enforcement and security apparatus. In 2016, the Group adopted its current organizational name and POST structure.
Accreditation
DoD POST confers training accreditation to its member agencies by certifying compliance with DoDI 5525.15 (Law Enforcement Standards and Training in the DoD). The operations element of the DoD POST Commission is the Office of Accreditation and Credentialing (OAC), located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. By authority of the DoD POST Director, this Curriculum Accreditation Process is published to assist member agencies in achieving the distinction of DoD POST accreditation.
In Dec 2020, Col Hess, the USMC DoD POST Commissioner applied for accreditation of the Basic Police Officers Course (BPOC). In April 2021, the DoD POST Curriculum Accreditation Board began the assessment of the BPOC and several other programs. Upon completion of this several week process, accreditation for the programs will be voted on at the next DoD POST Commission meeting.