Police Officer Training Program

When a new recruit is hired by the Fargo Police Department ,the recruit must complete the 18-week Police Training Officer (PTO) Program. The PTO program establishes a training team for each recruit that consists of two sergeants, several PTO trainers and a PTO evaluator. Two primary components to the PTO program are:

• Self-evaluation and learning by the recruit
• "Failing forward," meaning the recruit evaluates and learns from mistakes
  

The PTO Approach
The ideology of PTO recognizes we cannot expose a recruit to all of the situations a police officer could encounter in only 18-weeks of training. The recruit needs to develop and utilize resources to solve problems. Establishing a method of consistent and objective self-evaluation is crucial to the development of a successful officer. While in the PTO program, the recruit will prepare written evaluations on his or her progress in 15 core competency areas. The PTO evaluator will comment on the recruit's self-evaluation. 

During a mid-term evaluation, the PTO evaluator recommends to the PTO Board of Evaluators whether the recruit should continue the training. At the final evaluation, the evaluator comments on the recruit's readiness for graduation. The PTO evaluator may remand the recruit back to the previous phase of training. The Board of Evaluators also ensures the PTO training team uses sound training tactics and resources, if the recruit is struggling in training.

In 2005, the PTO program trained 14 recruits for a total of approximately 252 weeks.  We also expanded our expertise in PTO by sending Officers Chris Helmick and Travis Stefonowicz to PTO trainer certification. Travis and Chris joined Sergeants Mike Mitchell and Carlos Nestler as our staff of PTO-certified Train the Trainers.  We have become a regional training ground for PTO programs in other cities. 

We continue to evaluate and modify the PTO program to meet the ever-changing needs of our community and the new recruits hired by our department.