Page 11 - Argyle Police Officer Field Training Tips

When you make a mistake, let your training officer know as soon as you can. Oftentimes, mistakes can
be fixed with limited damage if the fix is applied soon enough. Don’t wait for someone to find it a few
days later and then come to you to fix it. One, it looks like you tried to hide it. Two, fixing something
days later usually means a lot more work. Also, remembers that mistakes from actions that were caused
by good intentions will not cause you any grief. Just make sure you do not make mistakes because you
were angry or were simply being mean to someone, those can cost you your job. Never lie, that will cost
you your job.

The job gets much easier with time and experience. Before you know it, you’ll be confident and very
good at your job, but it requires effort on your part. Review the laws you enforce regularly until you
truly know and understand them well enough to explain them to a civilian. Keep learning, training, and
practicing for the rest of your career. Stay current on police trends, techniques, and practices. Learn
your policies and procedures as quickly as you can too.

Do not brag about things you’ve done. You’ll be working with officers that have been kicked, bitten,
punched, or possibly even shot or shot at. They’ve also done the job in worse conditions than you ever
will. In other words, they have already been there and done that. They won’t be impressed with your
new cop stories so don’t even share them. This applies to stats too. You are not in a competition here;
your stats do not matter.

Get to know people, they will be great resources for you. The public has more eyes than you, so use
that. The newspaper delivery person is very knowledgeable of your area and can notify you when they
see something suspicious in the early hours. The same applies to the mail carriers, except they are out
during the day. The retired residents see everything, get to know them. Build a good relationship with all
of these people and encourage them to call in suspicious activities.

Establish relationships with other officers too. Get their phone numbers and don’t be afraid to call them
and run things by them. Everyone was in your shoes once and they haven’t forgotten that. They will
gladly help you get better.

Speak with the clerks at convenient stores, they often know their regular customers and can tell you if
someone you are looking for was recently in the area.

The dispatch area is secure, they don’t need your protection. So, stay out of there! When you are in
there, you are distracting them, and you aren’t doing your work.

When you get the urge to use the restroom, use it as soon as you have an opportunity. You never know
when you will catch a major call. The same applies to eating and paperwork. Eat the moment you get
chance.

Don’t be lazy. Always be punctual and give 110% in all that you do. If someone tells you to be there at
0700, be there at 0650. If you took 2 pictures, take 2 more. This applies to training and classes you
attend also. Always pay attention to training even when it is a boring topic. You will be responsible for
the information and following the training. Performing actions as you were training also takes some of
the liability away from you. Once you learn a good technique or process, do it the same way every time.
This will help you remember it better.

Pg. 10 POLICE FIELD TRAINING CONCEPTS