FTO Program

The Grand Blanc Township 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 goal of the Field Training and Evaluation process is to improve the overall effectiveness of law enforcement services delivered.

2nd Phase of Initial Training

Trainees entering the Field Training and Evaluation Program will have completed a basic Police Academy certified by the State of Michigan. With the foundation established at the Police Academy, the trainees should be prepared to begin the second phase of their initial training - the application of the academy experience to the role of a practicing police officer. This applied training will be under the direct supervision of a Field Training Officer (FTO). The trainee will assume the duties of a police officer and continue the learning process under real field conditions. The trainee's performance must be monitored very closely during this period. Not only will the trainee be monitored for safety, but also to ensure that standardization and equality of training is received.

The normal duration of the Field Training and Evaluation Program is 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 16-week program has been divided into phases. Each phase is a programmed length of time collated with 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 police officer.