Field Training and Evaluation Program
The Grand Valley Police Department’s Field Training and Evaluation Program is an extension of the law enforcement selection process that combines pre-field training with objective evaluations to ensure that the standards of a competent law enforcement officer are met. The normal duration of the Field Training and Evaluation Program is sixteen (16) weeks. Much effort has been expended in designing a program which allows a new officer to learn how to perform in an efficient and safe manner, yet accomplishes this within time limits that are acceptable to police administration.
The goal of the Field Training and Evaluation process is to improve the overall effectiveness of the law enforcement services we deliver. The objectives of the program are:
- To produce a highly-trained and positively-motivated police officer capable of meeting or exceeding required standards of performance.
- To provide equal and standardized training to all newly-hired police officers through various aspects of duties and shift assignments, and to provide remedial training in those areas where deficiencies are identified.
- To improve the department’s screening process by providing on-the-job observation of each trainee’s performance.
- To establish an appraisal system which is valid and job-related, utilizing a standardized, systematic approach to documented measurement of probationary officer performance.
- To provide trainees with a Field Training Officer (FTO) to serve as a role model in the development of the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform patrol duties.
- To establish career paths within the department by providing Field Training Officers with additional training and opportunities to develop leadership skills.
The program has been divided into steps. Each step is a programmed length of time collated to a particular set of tasks that must be learned by each new officer. The tasks are ordered so that the trainee is exposed to the most basic and necessary tasks first. These tasks form the foundation upon which the trainee will build for the remainder of the program and into the subsequent years of service. As the trainee progresses through the program, the trainee will encounter increasingly more difficult tasks. Eventually, the trainee must be able to perform or be exposed to the majority of tasks necessary to assume the complex role of a Grand Valley State University police officer.
To maintain a certain level of uniformity, a concentrated effort must be made to standardize certain aspects of training that fall in a category of performance skills. This will enable a Field Training Officer to pick up a trainee at six or ten weeks and assume a certain amount of training has already taken place. Each successive Field Training Officer must be confident in the training that has preceded them. Exposure must take place before evaluation, and that exposure must be uniform if the evaluation is to be valid. Below are some guidelines designed to minimize problems that arise from inconsistent training and to ensure maximum uniformity in the training process.
ORIENTATION (2 WEEKS)
There is no evaluation required during the orientation step. The trainee will be orientated to the department and complete various documentation. The trainee will be issued logins and other necessary materials.
STEP 1 (4 WEEKS)
The “limbo” period, no evaluation required. Training climate should consist primarily of exposure. The trainee learns by seeing. Limited exposure to doing. The trainee performs routine, simple tasks.
In the training and evaluation period the trainee is being evaluated. The trainee begins to learn basic police functions; driving begins, report writing. The trainee should be able to handle non-stress type calls at the end of this period. The trainee is learning by doing.
STEP 2 (4 WEEKS)
The trainee will be driving a fair share and handling stress calls and driving on emergency runs. Important mid-point in the training process. Problem areas should surface. Remedial training may be indicated and additional attention can be given to areas of deficiency.
STEP 3 (4 WEEKS)
The trainee should be handling most of the calls. Emphasis will be on critical issues: performance under stress, ability to initiate positive action independently when required, healthy aggression, and judgment. Important deficiencies will have to be corrected at this point. For all practical purposes, training should be considered completed at the conclusion of this period.
STEP 4 (2 WEEKS) “Shadow”
The two (2) weeks in this step will be for observing and evaluation only. At the conclusion of this evaluation period, the Field Training Officer will make a final recommendation for extension, termination or release to solo assignment.
STEP 5 (Balance of probationary period)
Step 5 is the balance of the probationary period. The new officer is assigned to a patrol sergeant for evaluation and scheduling. The Field Training and Evaluation Program evaluation forms (MER) will be completed at the end of each calendar month by the assigned sergeant until the new officer has completed the probation period.
