Since I would be working in an “affluent” area I would believe a vehicle patrols would be more prone to low end crimes. This would be a middle class neighbor hood with an appreciation of their neighbor hood. One of the biggest concerns would be breaking and entering, Vehicle thief, and small drug sales and consumption. This would be better suited for a vehicle patrol due to the fact even if it’s a small area the department would want to spend the money to have foot officers walking around making it easier to evade the offices and response time that much slower. With a vehicle patrol; you could keep a constant move in your area and have a faster response time if ever needed. The importance of the field training officer is a great concept. Even if someone completes the basic officer’s course all they know is the basics. With the FTO idea you can take a new officer and put them with some one that has been on the force for some time, in this case 9 years. With becoming an officer for any city or town there is a lot to learn outside of the academy. Such as how the public acts told officer on all parts of town, what to expect out of certain calls (drunk and disorderly), and what to expect out of everyday life as an officer. I know that a lot of jobs use this same idea as the FTO in their business like fast food, car sales man and the Army. I have been though it with the Army every time I go to a new post. Once you arrive there, someone from the Unit you are going to show you around town and tells you how thing work in this unit. This helps out when learning about a new duty station.
The FTO is an important position to have because it puts you in charge of training the new officers up to the department standards. Even though they learn a lot in the academy they do not learn how the department runs and operates. It is up to the FTO to make sure that every aspect of the department is explained to the new officer and to make sure her/she understands what is going on. Without the FTO it would be like asking a dentist to mold a cast he/she would know what to do.
A working personality is one that can be used at the work place. Not all work places carry the same vide everywhere you go. One place can be very calm and quit and o one talks to each other. Another can be very exciting and everyone gets along with each and enjoys having small talk throughout the day. If you began work at the first place no one would want you to be laud and distract them from their work. You would have to learn to work in the same atmosphere to keep the peace in the work place. If you start working at the second office you can bring your own personality to the work place talk freely with the other co-workers and not where about this being frowned a pound. This will developed more over time in to more of a friend ship rather than a work place friend ship. Once a good work personality is made you and your co-worker would start to meet outside of work like to watch a foot-ball game or for back yard BBQs.
In the FTO remarks about forgetting everything I believe there is a certain cynicism in the statement. Not everything tough in the academy is used or tough properly. I know once I was done with basic training for the Army only 10% of what was tough was used. The rest my unit thought me once I arrived. I believe this to also be true with officer training. They teach the concept to be used but not how to conduct the training or how to perform under real pressure. As much as the academy wants to simulate danger it will never be like the real thing. The FTO can tell the officer what is wrong with the department just so the new officer can get it in his/her head it’s not a movie set and not everything works perfect. With the know age of the real danger and the fact the department isn’t perfect the new officer will pay more attrition to what the FTO is saying and trying to teach them.