The training of Police Officers has changed drastically over the years. At one time "training" consisted of merely pointing out the boundaries of the County and telling the new employee the hours he/she was to work. As departments became more sophisticated, training standards had to increase. A part of this sophistication was a growing awareness of police liability in the handling of everyday police functions and a demand by the public for better police services.
To help solve the problems faced by police departments, minimum training standards were set by State Law. These standards ensured that minimum training was received and that it was uniform to its application. There was still a problem when the officer got back to their respective department. The officer had to be integrated into the fine particularities of that department. Often the job was left up to a senior officer working the same shift and had questionable results. There was limited control over the subjects taught and no uniformity of instruction. Many times the new officer learned as many bad habits as good procedures from some senior officers, along with picking up negative attitudes. Along with this problem was the difficulty shift commanders had in properly monitoring a new officer’s progress. With a whole shift to divide their time, the new officer, unless they have made a mistake, only received cursory attention. This caused problems in weeding out people unsuited for police work.
Upon the election of Sheriff Illingworth, he sought out to improve the training of new deputies hired by the Wood County Sheriff Department. In the past, new officers would be put out on their own without any formal hands on training by the department. To help overcome these problems, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department has instituted the Field Training Officer Program. With this program, our new Patrol Officers will receive controlled and standardized training. The department will be able to ensure the quality of training and determine the effectiveness of the new Patrol Officer at performing the duties expected of him/her.
The end result of this program will be the development of highly trained, motivated,
and competent Patrol Officer to better serve the expanding needs of our community.
| WHAT IS A F.T.O PROGRAM ? A SYSTEMATICALLY-ORGANIZED AND |
Sheriff Illingworth assigned a deputy to create and implement and coordinate the field training program. This deputy was sent to several schools to do research on which type of training program would better suit our department. The department decided on implementing a program that would require all newly hired deputies to satisfactory complete a 13 week field training program. The department selected and trained 4 deputies to serve as training officers, and assigned one sergeant to oversee the program.
The first week of training is a basic orientation week to the functions of the department.
The following twelve weeks the new deputy will be assigned to each Field Training Officer for 3 weeks. During each week the new deputy will follow a training guide set forth by the department. This training guide will cover all policies and procedures of the department, along with learning how to handle most situation a new job will encounter. They will be tested at the end of each week to ensure materials covered were learned. Each day the new deputy will be evaluated and critiqued by their training officer. There is 28 areas that they can be evaluated on. The new deputy can be scored on a scale of 1 through 7. They must maintain a average score of "4" throughout the training program to satisfactory complete the training. If they do not maintain this average, their training can be extended for a specified period of time. If problems still persist, and this average cannot be maintained the new deputy's employment may be terminated.
Upon successful completion of 13 weeks, the new deputy now moves on to solo patrol. By this time this deputy should be up to speed and ready to serve the citizens of Wood County.
This new deputy is still evaluated on a monthly basis by the training sergeant until their probationary period is over. The probationary period for the Wood County Sheriff Department is ONE YEAR.
EACH YEAR THE WOOD COUNTY RESERVES RECEIVE 24 HOURS OF INSERVICE TRAINING PUT ON BY THE FIELD TRAINING OFFICERS. THIS MEET THE YEARLY REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH BY THE TRAINING AND STANDARDS BUREAU. THE RESERVES ALSO RECEIVE TRAINING IN RANGE AND CPR IN ADDITION TO THE 24 HOURS.