In Neeley v. Board of Retirement (1974) 36 Cal.App.3d 815, the respondents were identification technicians employed by the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. They carried badges and cards identifying themselves as deputy sheriffs, were required to take the same physical examination as safety officers, underwent training with batons, rifles, shotguns and other weapons, were required to be on 24-hour emergency call and had been summoned to active duty on rare occasions. (Id. at pp. 818-819.) However, their main duties consisted of gathering, analyzing and classifying evidence. (Id. at pp. 823-824.) The Neeley court, construing a statute with substantially identical wording as section 20436(a), upheld the board's ruling that the sheriffs' technicians were not safety members engaged in "active law enforcement duties." The Court of Appeal noted that "while respondents' activities are related to and essential to law enforcement, they are not active law enforcement. Respondents are technical, administrative and support personnel for those officers who are on the firing line." (36 Cal.App.3d at p. 822.)