One of the most stressful assignments you can have in a career is that of being a freshly graduated Field Training Officer (FTO) and about to embark with your first recruit. Now to be honest, this does not sound as stressful as many assignments but when you look at the gravity of this assignment, it can well be one of the most demanding assignments. You have a suitable amount of street experience and have attended the FTO School, so what is the big issue? There are several things that can cloud your performance and hopefully not impede the recruit’s progress. Some of these challenges the FTO School may have prepared you for and the others are life experiences that I hope you don’t have to endure. Let’s review and learn from others mistakes so you can set your sights on success.
Time Management
If there was ever the most frequent mistake and one of the biggest ones to overcome it is time management. I do not know how long your department prescribes for its FTO program. Fact is there never will be enough time for you to get it all done. Time is a valuable commodity so don’t squander it. The best FTO’s that I have seen had a schedule for the day and balanced it with the day’s calls for service and routine daily business. You know that you will need administrative time to review yesterday’s lessons and tour of duty. Although most will wrap up the end of the day with a daily observation report of some flavor, you must clear up any questions from prior shift. This can be small but very important, for you are working with a building block process; if the day before is tarnished in any way, it must be clarified or there will be a learning disconnect.
You will also have to work in today’s lessons for this can vary depending up the complexity of today’s teaching points. Other tasks will require less time as the recruit masters skills and confidence increases so it is a constant balancing act. One thing that you will have to do is ‘seize a moment’. There could be a major call or incident going on but not in your area of responsibility. We cannot create crime scenes like this for later when the recruit needs it, so why not now? Most good FTO Supervisors will allow you to go over to observe and seize a learning moment. If this is allowed great but watch the time invested.
Frivolity should be limited but all work does make you a dull FTO. I have had some recruits who felt the FTO system at times bullied them. Wait hold on before you lose it. If this occurs, you have to satisfy your mind that there were no sexual, physical harassments and this was not an unsafe or hostile work environment. So temper the fun but keep your eyes on the training objectives and your time.
Teach, don’t perform. Remember the classic maximum of instruction. Step one – Instructor Performs and Instructor Verbalizes. Step Two- Student performs and Instructor verbalizes. Step Three- Student Performs and Student verbalizes. One of the most common young FTO mistakes is to perform all the work for time and frustration’s sake. The recruit will never fully learn through osmosis and performance will never be achieved. Exhale and allow the young recruit to work through their problems.
Teach Teamwork – face it, none of us do it alone, so therefore instill teamwork into them. Granted some recruits are introverts and loners but they need to fit into the bigger scheme of things. When you are the FNG (Fabulous New Guy) on the squad it is always awkward finding your niche in life. Explain that the squad has a variety of characters. Each in their own way has their strengths, they will help you and you in turn will fit in.
Don’t teach insubordination- Not everyone likes everyone and not every supervisor is a loveable as me. Teach the recruit to respect the rank and their position at all times even if they may not respect the person wearing it. Granted there will be some times your blood will boil in dealing with a supervisor, but getting a charge of insubordination levied against you does not boost the career. There will be times to get along with all and survive the rest.
Teach Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions- Nobody ever has all the answers, so we are destined to seek help. If they hesitate this can create a learning disconnect. Recall that what we are presenting is a building block process, if yesterday’s block of instruction is not grasped, expect problems today and down the road.
Finally, patience- none of us ‘got it’ on the first day and we should all still be learning new skills daily. There will be the light bulb goes off above their head moment and things will start to connect. Promote learning and uplift them, your patience with them will pay off. Zenith Electronics used to have a motto about their products, ‘the quality goes in before the name goes on’. The care of their product’s performance should give us all a reference point as trainers. Whenever I had an officer as a student they become a “Harvey Training Officer” and will be that for life. I have invested my energy in them and I have an ownership as their trainer or mentor. Recently, I made mention on an old police academy graduation picture from the mid-1980s of a few that I had taught and FTOed. One officer made a comment that that was a condescending statement. Knowing him and his career, he had never been a FTO nor instructor. Therefore he does not understand or ‘get it’ about the ownership of being a FTO. Soon after, one of the other officers later mentioned that in a few years he too became an instructor as well. I had to smile to myself for the circle was complete. A student of mine had become an instructor and the ownership goes on further.
William L. Harvey | Chief
William L. "Bill" Harvey is a U.S. Army Military Police Corps veteran. He has a BA in criminology from St. Leo University and is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute of the University of Louisville (103rd AOC). Harvey served for over 23 years with the Savannah (GA) Police Department in field operations, investigations and completed his career as the director of training. Served as the chief of police of the Lebanon City Police Dept (PA) for over seven years and then ten years as Chief of Police for the Ephrata Police Dept (PA). In retirement he continues to publish for professional periodicals and train.
