You don’t have to do it alone. GSPCC FTO Management Consultation is your answer
Phillip White
(Part 3 of 3)
In its November 2022 report, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) clearly laid out policy guidance for FTO Program development and structure. Solid and successful FTO Program development and management, that particularly adheres to PERF’s recommendations, can seem difficult to achieve. This may be even more concerning for small to medium sized agencies that do not have the personnel, resources, or expertise to undertake such a project.
Seven of PERF’s “40 Guiding Principles,” directly reference department FTO Programs, how they are run, and what they should include in their development and management. In fact, there are specific calls to moving toward more modern teaching and training methodologies. PERF (2022) states, “Police agencies need to discard their antiquated thinking about field training and embrace a new approach” (p. 63). The “old way” of doing things or subscribing to the mantra, “That’s the way we’ve always done it” just does not cut it anymore in modern policing.
Granite State Police Career Counseling and its FTO Coordinator (SAC) Course provides a baseline structure that includes program development, forms and processes, and manual creation suggestions. It also includes a flash drive with all FTO-related forms and a Training Guide “Rook Book” template.
GSPCC Field Training Administration Consulting takes it to the next level. For those agencies that do not have the personnel, time, or institutional knowledge to review its current practices, policies, and processes, and bring them up to recommended standards, GSPCC can and will do that for them. We have both the bandwidth and expertise to identify and fill in the gaps in an FTO Program. Large or small, we have a package that will fit your department’s budget and needs. In fact, our consultation for the Tennessee Highway Patrol has produced positive results in both the administration and field performance throughout their state-wide 16 district Field Training Program. Our packages are designed to be flexible in cost based on department size, needs, and requests.
Be sure, policy change requirements and reform pertaining to field training are coming. Whether those changes will be state or federally mandated, PERF has laid the groundwork for them and the expectations. Evaluating the efficacy of your Field Training Program is essential. The quality of your FTO Program and the officers it produces might just save your department. Agencies across the country and in your region have an opportunity to be on the leading edge of FTO reform. You don’t have to do it alone; GSPCC is here to help.
Police Executive Research Forum. (2022 November). Transforming Police Recruit Training: 40 Guiding Principles. ISBN: 978-1-934485-67-5
(Phillip White is GSPCC’s Operations Manager, Instructor and is the San Jose (CA) Police Department’s Field Training Program Administrative Officer and POST Certified Coordinator.)