The Agency’s Field Training and Evaluation Program begins when a recruit police officer graduates from the Connecticut Police Academy or one of the other area POST-accredited academies. The recruit will then begin a 16-week training and evaluation program where the recruit rides with an experienced Wallingford Police Field Training Officer (FTO) that teaches the recruit, through hands-on experience, the duties and responsibilities of a Wallingford Police Officer.
The Field Training Program is designed in phases that allow the recruit to gain experience and take on more responsibility as the program continues. During the final phase of the recruit’s Field Training, the Recruit will take on the primary officer responsibilities and will be evaluated by the Field Training Officer to ensure that the Recruit is ready and capable to act on their own.
The supervisor of the FTO program is responsible for the Field Training Evaluation Program scheduling, and ensuring that each recruit is exposed to all of the various departmental units, and has successfully completed all designed benchmarks within the program.