Field Training Officer Program (FTOP)

Field Training Officer Program (FTOP)

The current Field Training Program is a CALEA approved, San Jose` style model of training. The Field Training Program is designed to acquaint the Recruit Officer with agency policies, procedures, rules, and regulations and will have a curriculum based on tasks of the most frequent assignments. This training is designed to supplement formal classroom training received through any of the state’s recognized Criminal Justice Training Centers. The minimum length of the Field Training Program for Recruit Officers is 500 successful hours of training for inexperienced recruits.  Previous law enforcement experience will be evaluated to determine if the length of the program may be shortened. 

While Recruit Officers are in the FTOP, they are assigned to Field Training Officers (FTO). The FTO will teach, train and evaluate the Recruit Officers through each phase of the FTOP. Customarily Recruit Officers will be assigned to a different FTO for each phase except the final phase. The FTO will complete a Daily Observational Report (DOR) for the Recruit Officer while in the FTOP. The DOR is used to rate the daily activity of the Recruit Officer and documents all aspects of their training in the FTEP. The Recruit Officer will complete the final phase of the FTOP with the FTO to which they were first assigned. This gives a good comparison of how the Recruit Officer has progressed through the FTOP.

 Field Training Officers (FTO)

A field training officer (FTO) is an experienced or senior member of the organization who is responsible for the training and evaluation of recruits / trainees. Field Training Officers are selected based upon their years of service, competency, and ability to teach their retained knowledge to others. FTOs receive a 10% increase in pay while training new recruits.