POST Assigning Field Units: Rules You Have Never Seen

Sub-test 2 of the POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery asks you to do the thing the job is named after: decide which unit goes to which call. What makes it a test of aptitude rather than of experience is that the rules are invented.

What it involves

POST's description: "the examinee reads a novel set of rules and then determines which field unit or units should be assigned to various 'incidents'. The incidents occur in different geographic regions and are designated emergency or non-emergency. The examinee uses a multiple-choice response format to designate no, one, or more units to be dispatched to each incident."

Three features of that are worth pulling out, because each one catches people.

One: the rules are novel on purpose

"Novel" is POST's word. The rule set is not California practice, not any agency's policy, and not anything you could have studied. The battery is explicitly designed to measure "general abilities that are normally developed over an extended period of time", not "job-specific knowledge or skills that are taught in training".

Which means prior dispatch experience is not the advantage it feels like it should be. If anything it is a liability, because an experienced candidate carries assumptions — that the nearest unit goes, that you always send two to a violent call — and the invented rule set may say something different. The only authority is the rules on the page.

Two: the answer can be more than one unit, or none

The response format allows "no, one, or more units". Most multiple-choice tests condition you to pick exactly one option; this one does not. POST's sample instructions are explicit: "if an incident requires more than one unit to be assigned, you are to mark more than one letter on your answer sheet for that item. When no units are to be assigned, mark the space labeled 'N' on your answer sheet for that item."

Candidates lose marks here by defaulting to a single unit because that is what a multiple-choice question usually wants.

Three: several rules apply at once

POST's illustrative rule set shows the shape. Units are designated to cover particular areas; units are assigned only to areas they cover, "except as noted below"; units are assigned only if currently available; and all available units are assigned to an emergency call.

So each incident needs three facts checked against each other — the area, the call type, and what each unit is currently doing — with an override clause sitting on top. The emergency rule in that example overrides the area restriction, which is exactly the sort of interaction the test is built around.

How to work it

• Read the rules before the incidents, and read the exceptions twice. The phrase "except as noted below" is where the marks are.
• Build the coverage map first. Which unit covers which area is fixed for the whole set; extracting it once beats re-reading it for every item.
• Work each incident in the same order. Area, then call type, then availability. A fixed sequence stops you skipping the check that matters.
• Check the override before you commit. Ask whether an emergency designation changes the answer you were about to give.
• Answer what the rules say, not what you would do. Especially if you have worked a console.

The related sub-test

Sub-test 4, Setting Priorities, works the same way with a different question: a novel rule set, and events to be ordered by priority rather than matched to units. The two reward the same discipline. Our guide to POST Setting Priorities covers it.

Practising it

Our unit assignment drill is built on this shape: an invented rule set, incidents with an area and a call type, and answers that may be no units, one or several. The rules change between runs, which is the point — what you are training is the reading discipline, not a particular rule set.

Decision making and map reading cover the neighbouring skills, and the POST battery guide covers all eleven sub-tests.

The Examinee Guide is dated February 1996 and is the document POST publishes for candidates. Confirm the current arrangements with the agency testing you.

Sources

• California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery: Examinee Guide (February 1996)
• California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, Public Safety Dispatcher Entry-Level Test Battery: Applicant FAQs

The POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery is administered by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. DispatchDrills is an independent practice provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by California POST. We do not reproduce exam content; every example in our material is original and illustrative.

Common questions

What is the Assigning Field Units test?

Sub-test 2 of the POST dispatcher battery. You read an invented rule set and decide which field units, if any, should be sent to each incident.

Do I need to know real dispatch procedure?

No. POST states the battery measures general abilities rather than job-specific knowledge, and the rules given are novel.

Can the answer be more than one unit?

Yes, and it can be none. The response format covers no units, one unit or several, with a separate mark for no units.

Does dispatch experience help?

Less than people expect, and it can hurt if it leads you to apply real-world assumptions instead of the rules on the page.

How long is the sub-test?

POST states the eleven tests range from about 5 to 15 minutes each, timed separately, with the whole battery taking about two and a half to three hours including a break.