Course Description
Your agency’s future depends on the quality of your field training program. This intensive three-day course from the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute is designed to give you and other experienced leaders the strategic vision and practical tools needed to build a defensible, effective, and modern Field Training Officer (FTO) program.
This isn’t just a refresher—it’s a deep dive into advanced training strategy, risk mitigation, and performance assessment tailored for experienced officers like you.
Learning Outcomes
Move beyond basic training models. This course empowers you to:
- conduct a comparative analysis of the most widely used field training models, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and adaptability to your agency’s changing needs
- formulate future training strategies by evaluating the insights gained from historical training models within your agency
- mitigate organizational risk by surveying current practices, pinpointing areas of liability exposure, and developing strategies to enhance your program
- analyze the causal link between flawed training design, compromised officer performance, and increased civil liability
- strategically align your training with your agency’s most pressing needs
- standardize practices by identifying the root causes of inconsistent training, developing solutions, and fostering a shared understanding of best practices among field trainers
- define each component of the STAR acronym (Situation, Task, Action, Result) in the context of police performance
- articulate why using the STAR method provides an objective, evidence-based description of recruit performance
- analyze fact patterns of case studies and apply the STAR method to determine the needs of a field training program
- develop strategies for transfer hires, including evaluating their unique training needs and ensuring your training policy is defensible against litigation
- define the roles and responsibilities of the Field Training Coordinator and Supervisors for seamless program administration
- analyze training scenarios and determine the criteria and required documentation for the defensible termination of a poor-performing recruit