Page 72 - Argyle Police Officer Field Training Tips

Daily Tasks and general self-discipline

Self-discipline is an important part of any profession. The best officers also tend to be the most
disciplined. One way to help recruits be disciplined is to test them on their required daily tasks.

I’ll come in early from time to time and put a plastic knife or red gun in the backseat of the recruit’s
vehicle to test whether they are truly inspecting their vehicle. I don’t make impossible for the recruit to
find it, but I don’t leave it plain sight either. For example, I might put the plastic knife in the door pocket.
Occasionally, I’ll also pour salt or sugar into a small baggie and leave it in random areas of the prisoner
area in the vehicle. Do not use this as a tactic to gauge integrity. A recruit may tell you they checked the
vehicle and not find the item. Please remember that they are recruits and may not be as thorough as a
seasoned officer. A recruit’s idea of checking a vehicle is likely different than a seasoned officer.
Unfortunately, I’ve heard of recruits being accused of lying about checking the vehicle when in reality
they checked it, but just did a poor job of it. So, take off your police hat from time to time and put on
your teacher hat. We were all recruits once and we all wanted our field trainers to give us the benefit of
the doubt.

If I work in an area where we see a lot of DWI’s, I’ll have a recruit run me through one rep of SFST’s daily
(usually at the beginning of the shift). This only takes a few minutes but improves their confidence with
giving the instructions. Plus, it helps the FTO see areas they need to improve in.

Make sure the recruit tested their Taser

Make sure the recruit press checked their pistol

If they are on night shift, ask them if they have a flashlight and a spare. Are they charged?
If they have a weapon light, is the battery charged?

Do they have business cards on their person or bag?

What about parking violation or abandoned vehicle notices/stickers?

Do they have all the necessary forms in their patrol bag?

Perform a daily inspection of them. Is their uniform clean and pressed? Can we even claim to be
professional if we don’t look professional? Typically, what you see in training is what you get. Training is
where we can set the standard. A 5’oclock shadow tells me they are too lazy to shave. Help them
understand they either have a beard or are clean shaven but coming to work unshaven because they
didn’t feel like shaving that morning doesn’t work in this field.

Submit vehicle inspection every day. Even when you pick up a vehicle for off-duty, make sure recruits
are disciplined about this. In addition to completing this daily, if your department has Flock cameras,
make sure to log in every morning.
Is the recruit showing up at the appropriate time? Being punctual is part of any job, especially police.

Make sure they are logging into the camera system every day. This should be part of their vehicle
inspection routine. If they fail to log in, their videos may get saved under someone else and we have to
go back later to recategorize them under their name.

Pg. 71 POLICE FIELD TRAINING CONCEPTS