Page 73 - Argyle Police Officer Field Training Tips

The MFR queue in MCT should also be checked daily for any reports that were denied overnight. This
ensures the recruit is aware and can make the needed corrections in a timely manner.

Also, make sure videos are being categorized properly at the scene. Contacts should be categorized as
contacts, warnings as warnings, and arrests as arrests.
Recruits are in training, but they need to be working. Again, we set the standard during training. Being
lazy or allowing a recruit to be lazy produces poor performance and that hurts everyone from the future
officer to their co-workers, to the people we serve. Make sure they understand they need to be working.

Create great habits early on. Recruits need to record their interactions with the public and this requires
a lot of discipline early one in order to create the habit of turning on the camera. While on calls and
contacts, look at the recruit’s camera and verify that it is recording.
Recruits should check their email daily while at work. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the shift,
but it should be in the first half of their shift. This is because there might be emails that require them to
perform certain tasks such as a close patrol, amend a property voucher, respond to an event in town,
etc. If the recruit waits until the end of the shift, they run out of time to complete the task or may miss a
community event completely.

They should fill up their vehicles at the end of every shift if they do a lot of driving. While at the gas
station, get them to clean the windshield to prepare it for the next shift. Bugs and other road debris that
get stuck on windshields at night can make it difficult to see at night, so clean them daily.

They need to make sure to turn off all devices in the vehicle at the end of their shift. Equipment such as
a radar, laptop, and radio can drain a battery.
If your agency has ticket writers, the recruits need to make sure they are uploading the data at the end
of every shift. They also need to make sure they are placing the writes back on the chargers properly.

Body cameras should be put back on the charging station at the end of every shift. This ensures they are
being charged for the next shift and the videos are downloaded.

Other shared equipment should also be removed from the patrol vehicle at the end of every shift. This
includes items such as a handheld radar, a department owned set of binoculars, and firearms such as
rifles and less lethal shotguns. In fact, all firearms need to be removed from vehicles at the end of every
shift. Another note about firearms. When firearms are placed back in storage, they need to be unloaded.
ALWAYS!

Reports need to be completed prior to a recruit’s shift. This may require that the recruit comes off the
street earlier than usual. That is okay.
If recruits have a mailbox, remind them to keep it clean. Mailboxes are not storage boxes. Recruits have
lockers for storage.

Pg. 72 POLICE FIELD TRAINING CONCEPTS