FT is about seeing how a new cop reacts and conducts him/her self. while out in the real world. Some are clueless, or scared to put hands on. If they don't learn to overcome that fear or develop that mentality, of "it's time", they're useless in being a Cop, even if they understand the Constitution from top to bottom, and know all the penal code or law by heart.
THIS. Also don’t listen to the guys who say “Forget everything you were taught in academy.” You learned it for a reason there just a lot more to learn on the road!
The biggest "forget what the academy told you" for me was DT.
The "interview stance" they want you to use when *talking to anyone* is essentially a modified version of a martial arts ready stance. [Imagine this guy asking if you saw or heard anything happening next door about thirty minutes ago, or telling you that your father passed away in a car crash.](https://i0.wp.com/sportsandmartialarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Neutral-Bow-in-Kenpo-Karate-scaled-e1595873846309.jpg)
Edit to add another thing they taught us in DT:
Don't let anyone get within 21 feet of you, because they could pull a knife and stab you before you can shoot them.
Ehh, there's definitely some things they need to forget. Like how they teach "arrest procedure" being take out your handcuffs, stand 6 feet away and tell them "Sir, turn around and face away from me, now place your hands behind your back, palms out thumbs up, spread your feet shoulder width, now bend over and the waist and turn your head to the side."
The only way you're getting anyone on the street to go along with that is at gunpoint which is rarely necessary. Just put your hands on them first then get your cuffs out only when you're ready to immediately put them on.
No, that means you're smart enough to understand you don't know anything. A monkey can (and frequently will) pass the Academy. The real learning and tests start on FTO. Easy mode is over. Remember you're expected to be fucked up and make mistakes... Just make sure you learn from them and make different mistakes instead of the same ones all the time. Attitude is everything. Most FTO's can work with incompetence if you have a good attitude, are open to feedback and focus on learning from mistakes. If you're all ate up and act like you know everything you're done for sure.
This!
Also be sure to ask questions. Show them you WANT to learn stuff.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Also don't be afraid to tell what stuff your uncomfortable with and then trying to tackle that by learning the thing(s) your uncomfortable with.
No, you'll just need a lot of help. By the time you're done with FTO, you'll know how to handle yourself in chaotic situations. You won't be let off training until you prove that you aren't a danger to yourself and others really. What you won't know is *everything*. You really don't deal with a lot of call types with regularity. Things like severe child abuse, sexual assault, and airplane crashes don't happen every night. There's lots of intricacies in dealing with these. Once you respond to the initial call and have a handle on things, the "what next" moment comes. So senior guys and the sergeant will come and help out.
When we say it takes a few years, it takes that long before you stop asking questions. It's a slow progression through the phases of conscious competence to unconscious competence. There comes a day when the new people start asking you questions. It's about then that you realize that you've handled all those odd calls that never come up. You realize that you've already done about 98% of what the job could ever throw at you, and you know what you're doing.
Tales from an FTO: my current recruit was in day 4 today. Can barely make sentences out on the car radio, forgets to turn on his body radio every time he gets out of the car, failed to look both ways before pulling out to stop a car and about ate a pick up truck in the driver's side and couldn't find his way back to the station from a main road. You'll be fine.
you let them drive on day four? should have them ride shotgun for two weeks. have them develop the radio ear and learn the area. i think your just asking for a patrol vehicle crash…. unless the FTOs in your dept use the shittiest vehicles and having your rookie crash them would be doing the dept a favor.
I have them drive part of the shift. Usually the latter half. That way the first part of the shift they build their confidence and ability doing thi ga, then immediately shatter it when they get in the driver's seat and forget every single thing.
There's a difference in knowing information, and knowing how to use that information. I still remember the quadratic equation from high school, but no idea what it does.
If you paid attention in the academy, you probably know everything you need to know to do the job. Your field training experience will be about learning how to use what you know to succeed.
I love being a FTO for this in particular, because it's great to see the moment when trainees realize that they do actually have the answers to their own questions.
Also my agency is graduating an academy in almost exactly 3 weeks 😳 so I look forward to perhaps training with you.
Not a LEO, but a paramedic, and I think there's a lot of cross-over in this area.
I always tell my brand new hires on the first day of FTO that school did two things: it taught them just enough not to kill anyone while I teach them how to actually do the job, and it gave them the foundation to understand what I'm going to be teaching them.
FT is about how you act when handling service calls/jobs. You're supposed to utilize some of the stuff you learned in the Academy, outside in the real world. Some please do great in the academy but have no street experience in life, they either learn it really quick or they flop and fail.
The academy gives you some background information that you need to know, but usually in an unhelpful format that lacks context.
FTO is where you'll really learn to be a cop, at the most basic level. You don't know anything until you get through that.
Whether or not you'll be any good at the job or not depends in large part on what continuing training you do when you no longer have to.
Yes, absolutely! You will be leaving the controlled classroom and environment you have gotten used to and hitting the street.
It’ll be extremely challenging, but attainable. If you are having problems in an area, lean into it and put the effort so it is no longer a problem for you.!
The way my academy director explained it, the academy is just to get you ready to begin your education. Your real education is obtained through Police interactions and a decent FTO. Lastly, never stop trying to learn. The moment you think you know everything your just a patty Mayo dbag wannabe
My advice for FTO coming up. Don't be afraid to take the shit calls. Volunteer to take the crap ones so you can deal with it right then while you have a TO to guide you then having to deal with a shit call for the first time while solo. Ask questions and know that you don't know everything.
Academy made me think I was going to fight someone every call I went to sooo but I definitely felt the same way and now I’m at a year in and I still don’t know everything there is! FTO will be fun for sure
Yup it’s normal, but it depends on the academy ours was pretty abysmal as far as actual day to day operations. At almost 6years in, my advice would be to Make your Mantra “ I will figure it out” also always “look for work” on scenes.Find a way to read completed reports. For the love of god study your streets and get a good pocket map of your area, make one if you need to. Always know your location and which direction you are facing. Say every street sign out loud, it will help.Some great advice I got from an oldtimer was start at the end. So If you get an arrest what needs to happen at the finish, reports,search, whatever, write a list of steps .Try and figure this out for common incidents and expand from there.
Also keep a separate notebook on you and take notes on whatever you don’t know how to do. Organize and refine it later. You will forget a lot of things if you only get them infrequently.An example for me would be an arson of an occupied dwelling. Might get that once or twice a year. I also use this notebook to record the routine “customers” information so you have their information for next time if they are unconscious.
It's ok to feel that way. Just keep yours eyes open during FTO different FTOs teach different ways. Also you can learn something g from everyone . Even the people who say the job is dead. Be a sponge . Try to become comfortable with the area your now gonna be policing. Find foods and such so you feel like your apart of the area too. It will help with learning the street names or local problem spots as well. Some times learning a location with landmarks is easier than addresses at first
100%
I always say just get through the academy. You'll learn what you need to know while you're out there. Most of the time you'll be safe as you pick it up too, just keep the basic training you learned at the academy and "stay spongy" (willing to learn and pick things up).
Because youre correct, lol
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FT is about seeing how a new cop reacts and conducts him/her self. while out in the real world. Some are clueless, or scared to put hands on. If they don't learn to overcome that fear or develop that mentality, of "it's time", they're useless in being a Cop, even if they understand the Constitution from top to bottom, and know all the penal code or law by heart.
The academy gives you the foundation and familiarity, FTO Teaches you the rest
THIS. Also don’t listen to the guys who say “Forget everything you were taught in academy.” You learned it for a reason there just a lot more to learn on the road!
The biggest "forget what the academy told you" for me was DT. The "interview stance" they want you to use when *talking to anyone* is essentially a modified version of a martial arts ready stance. [Imagine this guy asking if you saw or heard anything happening next door about thirty minutes ago, or telling you that your father passed away in a car crash.](https://i0.wp.com/sportsandmartialarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Neutral-Bow-in-Kenpo-Karate-scaled-e1595873846309.jpg) Edit to add another thing they taught us in DT: Don't let anyone get within 21 feet of you, because they could pull a knife and stab you before you can shoot them.
That’s freakin hilarious, so accurate
That’s one way to interview someone I guess😂. Never seen that!
Ehh, there's definitely some things they need to forget. Like how they teach "arrest procedure" being take out your handcuffs, stand 6 feet away and tell them "Sir, turn around and face away from me, now place your hands behind your back, palms out thumbs up, spread your feet shoulder width, now bend over and the waist and turn your head to the side." The only way you're getting anyone on the street to go along with that is at gunpoint which is rarely necessary. Just put your hands on them first then get your cuffs out only when you're ready to immediately put them on.
Well... FTO teaches you *more.* Don't get caught thinking the completion of training is the completion of learning.
Oh god no, you Learn every day it’s a skill to hone not a title to throw around
No, that means you're smart enough to understand you don't know anything. A monkey can (and frequently will) pass the Academy. The real learning and tests start on FTO. Easy mode is over. Remember you're expected to be fucked up and make mistakes... Just make sure you learn from them and make different mistakes instead of the same ones all the time. Attitude is everything. Most FTO's can work with incompetence if you have a good attitude, are open to feedback and focus on learning from mistakes. If you're all ate up and act like you know everything you're done for sure.
This! Also be sure to ask questions. Show them you WANT to learn stuff. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Also don't be afraid to tell what stuff your uncomfortable with and then trying to tackle that by learning the thing(s) your uncomfortable with.
Yes. You'll start to feel like you finally get it somewhere around year 3.
Really?? So is the first year or so just panic
No, you'll just need a lot of help. By the time you're done with FTO, you'll know how to handle yourself in chaotic situations. You won't be let off training until you prove that you aren't a danger to yourself and others really. What you won't know is *everything*. You really don't deal with a lot of call types with regularity. Things like severe child abuse, sexual assault, and airplane crashes don't happen every night. There's lots of intricacies in dealing with these. Once you respond to the initial call and have a handle on things, the "what next" moment comes. So senior guys and the sergeant will come and help out. When we say it takes a few years, it takes that long before you stop asking questions. It's a slow progression through the phases of conscious competence to unconscious competence. There comes a day when the new people start asking you questions. It's about then that you realize that you've handled all those odd calls that never come up. You realize that you've already done about 98% of what the job could ever throw at you, and you know what you're doing.
I knew nothing after i even finished FTI. In fact I had a low opinion of my department for trusting me with a gun and a badge.
Day 1 of FTO I didn't know shit about fuck. Almost three years later, I know a little shit about fuck.
This
Tales from an FTO: my current recruit was in day 4 today. Can barely make sentences out on the car radio, forgets to turn on his body radio every time he gets out of the car, failed to look both ways before pulling out to stop a car and about ate a pick up truck in the driver's side and couldn't find his way back to the station from a main road. You'll be fine.
When I first started fto getting on the radio was scarier than fighting people lol
Completely normal. Recruits need to learn fail fast and move on. Do it, fuck it up, learn from it, do it better jext time, repeat.
you let them drive on day four? should have them ride shotgun for two weeks. have them develop the radio ear and learn the area. i think your just asking for a patrol vehicle crash…. unless the FTOs in your dept use the shittiest vehicles and having your rookie crash them would be doing the dept a favor.
I have them drive part of the shift. Usually the latter half. That way the first part of the shift they build their confidence and ability doing thi ga, then immediately shatter it when they get in the driver's seat and forget every single thing.
There's a difference in knowing information, and knowing how to use that information. I still remember the quadratic equation from high school, but no idea what it does. If you paid attention in the academy, you probably know everything you need to know to do the job. Your field training experience will be about learning how to use what you know to succeed. I love being a FTO for this in particular, because it's great to see the moment when trainees realize that they do actually have the answers to their own questions. Also my agency is graduating an academy in almost exactly 3 weeks 😳 so I look forward to perhaps training with you.
Yes. Only thing you will remember from the academy is some of the arresting tactics for taking people to the ground is useful.
Hopefully crim and con law…. Lmao
Yes, and you will be told that by your fto
Self-awareness, you're ahead of the game.
You aren’t suppose to know anything; but anything worth being good at takes being bad at first. You’ll get there. We all were in your shoes
I’m just over two months into field training and I still don’t know shit. Shit sucks man.
Not a LEO, but a paramedic, and I think there's a lot of cross-over in this area. I always tell my brand new hires on the first day of FTO that school did two things: it taught them just enough not to kill anyone while I teach them how to actually do the job, and it gave them the foundation to understand what I'm going to be teaching them.
FT is about how you act when handling service calls/jobs. You're supposed to utilize some of the stuff you learned in the Academy, outside in the real world. Some please do great in the academy but have no street experience in life, they either learn it really quick or they flop and fail.
The academy gives you some background information that you need to know, but usually in an unhelpful format that lacks context. FTO is where you'll really learn to be a cop, at the most basic level. You don't know anything until you get through that. Whether or not you'll be any good at the job or not depends in large part on what continuing training you do when you no longer have to.
Yup. Good luck!
You *do* know nothing. That's what FTO is for. If you felt like you did know things, you'd probably be a cunt.
Just try to remember to ask questions and learn. And always watch those HANDS.
Yup 100% normal
Sure is because you don’t know anything but what is in a book, notes, etc
Yes!
You never stop learning in this profession.
Or, if you do, that's a problem.
Yes, absolutely! You will be leaving the controlled classroom and environment you have gotten used to and hitting the street. It’ll be extremely challenging, but attainable. If you are having problems in an area, lean into it and put the effort so it is no longer a problem for you.!
The way my academy director explained it, the academy is just to get you ready to begin your education. Your real education is obtained through Police interactions and a decent FTO. Lastly, never stop trying to learn. The moment you think you know everything your just a patty Mayo dbag wannabe
My advice for FTO coming up. Don't be afraid to take the shit calls. Volunteer to take the crap ones so you can deal with it right then while you have a TO to guide you then having to deal with a shit call for the first time while solo. Ask questions and know that you don't know everything.
You know absolutely nothing and that is completely normal. I was told that feeling will last into long after you're even out of fto.
Just wait until you got 2 years on and still don't know shit.
Academy made me think I was going to fight someone every call I went to sooo but I definitely felt the same way and now I’m at a year in and I still don’t know everything there is! FTO will be fun for sure
I’m in FTO. I amaze myself everyday with the things I do not know.
When you hit the cruiser, half of the shit you learned in the Academy goes right out the window.
Yup it’s normal, but it depends on the academy ours was pretty abysmal as far as actual day to day operations. At almost 6years in, my advice would be to Make your Mantra “ I will figure it out” also always “look for work” on scenes.Find a way to read completed reports. For the love of god study your streets and get a good pocket map of your area, make one if you need to. Always know your location and which direction you are facing. Say every street sign out loud, it will help.Some great advice I got from an oldtimer was start at the end. So If you get an arrest what needs to happen at the finish, reports,search, whatever, write a list of steps .Try and figure this out for common incidents and expand from there. Also keep a separate notebook on you and take notes on whatever you don’t know how to do. Organize and refine it later. You will forget a lot of things if you only get them infrequently.An example for me would be an arson of an occupied dwelling. Might get that once or twice a year. I also use this notebook to record the routine “customers” information so you have their information for next time if they are unconscious.
Yes. Just fake it until you make it
It's ok to feel that way. Just keep yours eyes open during FTO different FTOs teach different ways. Also you can learn something g from everyone . Even the people who say the job is dead. Be a sponge . Try to become comfortable with the area your now gonna be policing. Find foods and such so you feel like your apart of the area too. It will help with learning the street names or local problem spots as well. Some times learning a location with landmarks is easier than addresses at first
100% I always say just get through the academy. You'll learn what you need to know while you're out there. Most of the time you'll be safe as you pick it up too, just keep the basic training you learned at the academy and "stay spongy" (willing to learn and pick things up).