May 15, 2026 · California POST agencies

California POST release notes

Guardian released new updates for agencies using California POST. If you’re not a California POST agency, you can skip this one.

If you are a California POST agency but haven’t switched on California POST mode yet, give our support team a quick call and we’ll get you set up so you can use the features below.

Video walkthrough

Prefer to watch?

We put together a short video walkthrough of everything in these notes. If you’d rather see the changes in action than read about them, jump straight to the player.

Watch the walkthrough →

Otherwise, here’s what’s new.

A new look for the Background Narrative Report

Your background narrative now follows the same order and the same section titles as the official California POST template — both in the online ID Report and in the PDF you download.

You don’t have to do anything to make this happen. Keep adding your narrative the way you always have, and Guardian will sort it into the right sections for you. When your auditor opens the report, everything is already lined up to match what they’re expecting to see.

ID Report narrative showing California POST–style section headers: Bias Assessment / Personal History Information with Primary Overview, Social Media, and References subsections, followed by Employment Eligibility. — Background Narrative Report output with POST-aligned section titles and structure (example: Bias Assessment / Personal History Information).

See every narrative in one place

We added a new link on the ID Report called Narrative (All Sections). Click it and you’ll see every narrative on a single page from top to bottom. It’s a read-only view, which makes it great for:

Reviewing the full investigation in one shot
Letting an auditor scan everything without clicking around
Catching anything that still needs to be filled in

Investigation tabs showing California POST renamed tab titles across the investigation workspace. — Renamed investigation tabs — use **Narrative (All Sections)** on the ID Report when you want every narrative in one continuous read-only view.

You can still click through each section one at a time like before — this is just another option for people who prefer to see it all together.

Updated tab names and order

We renamed and rearranged the investigation tabs so they line up more closely with the California POST language and flow. A few examples:

Personal History Questionnaire → Bias Assessment / Personal History Information
Legal / Fingerprints / Firearms → DOJ/FBI Firearms Clearance
Financial Check → Credit Records Check
Agency Checks → Local Agency Checks
National Decertification Index (NDI) → Experienced Peace Officer Checks

Investigation tabs including GC §1029 / Public Records Check and Employment Eligibility. — New tabs for **GC §1029 / Public Records Check** and **Employment Eligibility**.

We also added two brand-new tabs so your narratives have a clear home:

GC §1029 / Public Records Check
Employment Eligibility

Some tabs now have more than one narrative box

A handful of tabs need to feed more than one section of the final report. To keep things clean, we split those tabs into separate narrative boxes — one for each section. You’ll see this in:

Bias Assessment / Personal History Information — Primary Overview, Social Media Results for Bias, References and Other Sources
GC §1029 / Public Records Check — GC §1029, Public Records
Experienced Peace Officer Checks — NDI, POST Profile

Investigation workspace for Bias Assessment / Personal History Information with separate narrative cards for Primary Overview, Social Media Results for Bias, and References. — Separate narrative areas per tab — what you enter here feeds the POST-aligned output shown at the top of this page.

Just type each piece of your narrative into the matching box, and Guardian will send each one to the right place in the report. No formatting or labeling needed on your end.

Already doing your own section breaks? No problem. You don’t have to go back and update old work. If a box is left empty, we won’t show the label, so nothing will look repeated or out of place. Going forward, just type into the appropriate box as you write.

Both names are shown in Forms & Templates

When you go into Forms & Templates to file a form under a tab, you’ll see the Guardian name we’ve always used, with a small “also known as” showing the California POST name next to it. That way you can recognize the tab either way — whichever name feels more familiar.

Forms and Templates list showing Guardian tab names with California POST alternate names. — Guardian tab names with California POST “also known as” labels.

New: choose the format per position

In the past, “California POST” format applied that format to every position in your agency. Now it’s flexible. When you create a new position in the Position Manager, you’ll see a new box called Investigation Format with two choices:

Guardian Default
California POST

Position Manager showing Investigation Format options and Compare Formats. — Investigation Format per position — Guardian Default or California POST.

California POST only audits sworn positions, so you can use the California POST format for those and Guardian Default for your non-sworn positions if that fits how you work. Or you can keep using California POST across the board — totally up to you.

Not sure which to pick?

Click Compare Formats right there on the screen. It shows you:

The tab layout for each option
Which tabs were renamed or added (clearly labeled “renamed” or “new”)
A sample of how each version’s narrative report comes out

What about reports I’ve already generated?

PDFs you’ve already downloaded stay exactly as they were — those don’t change. If you want a copy in the new format, just generate the report again. The online ID Report will automatically show the new layout going forward.

Questions?

If you have any questions, or you’d like us to switch your agency over to California POST mode, please reach out to our support team. We’re happy to help.

Thanks for reading — and thanks, as always, for partnering with us.

Video Watch the walkthrough → Archive View all release notes →

Contact support: support@guardianalliancetechnologies.com