The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) sponsors forensic profiling and handwriting analysis classes necessary to attend a Certification Class held every two years. On August 18, 2011, Harold Yates was among 20 Texas Peace Officers and 11 other juvenile, probation and mental health professionals certified for the 2010-11 period. To achieve certification, Deputy Yates completed classroom and case study training in psychological and subconscious characteristics at government locations in Abilene, Waco, Angleton and Belton.

Forensic profiling and handwriting analysis is a scientific approach to the field of applied psychology. Under Federal Guidelines, forensic handwriting analysis is admissible in state or federal courts and writings are public information just like facial expression, speech and body language. Therefore a suspect, victim or witness does not need to be informed or consent to their handwriting being analyzed to help solve a crime provided no identifying information is given to the officer performing the analysis. It is also helpful in assisting victims of traumatic crimes that may not be able or want to tell their stories because details can be brought forward from their subconscious through answering questions in writing about events, places and individuals. Forensic analysis and profiling differ from general handwriting analysis in that officers are given specialized training in investigating over 400 major and minor psychological traits.

Certification uses include psychological profiling, statement analysis for truthfulness, fugitive apprehension, custody evaluations, probation evaluations, detection of drug & alcohol usage, violence assessments, suicide and homicide investigations, confession validation, sexual abuse investigation plus anonymous notes and forgeries. As an example of a typical application, victims and perpetrators often give different stories in their written statements and forensic analysis can determine who is untruthful and where future questions to discover substantiating facts and evidence should be directed.

The training for TCLEOSE was conducted by Ms. Treyce Montoya who is President of the Center of Forensic Profiling, National Association of Handwriting & Document Experts (NAHDE), and the International Association of Handwriting Therapists (IAHT). The next Texas Certification Class will be held in the summer of 2014.