One of the most critical positions in any police department is the Field Training Officer. They have the incredible responsibility of molding and training new officers to the acceptable standards of the agency. If the FTO is successful, the agency will flourish, and they will have officers capable of fulfilling the agency’s mission. If they fail, the agency will incur the burden of dealing with problem officers throughout their career.

This program is designed to give the field training officers the tools they need to ensure a newly hired officer has every opportunity to be successful and become a productive member of the agency. However, the FTO program should be challenging and designed to vet out those who don’t have the skill to become police officers.