The Field Training and Evaluation Program, coordinated by Captain Paul Schlecht, has a twofold purpose.

The first goal is to assist new probationary police officers as they make the transition from civilian life to that of being a sworn police officer. This includes familiarization with the City of Greenfield, its policies and procedures, meeting fellow city employees, obtaining necessary equipment, and getting to know the primary Field Training Officer (FTO). It is also at this stage of training that Defense and Arrest Tactics, Firearms Training, traffic stops, and building searches are instructed by specially trained members of the department.

The second goal of the program is to assist Police Academy graduates as they make the transition from the classroom environment to the application of learned skills in "field situations". A cadre of specially trained patrol officers, the FTOs, accomplishes this. The FTOs are tasked with providing the highest quality training to our new officers.

The Field Training Program utilizes major elements of the "San Diego Model", a concept that has gained national acceptance. The probationary officer will spend a minimum of 85 workdays on all three shifts with at least three different FTOs. During this time, the FTOs will cover in excess of 80 pages of training task guidelines with their probationary officer. In addition, a daily observation report (DOR) that evaluates the probationary officer in 32 behaviorally anchored rating areas is completed each and every workday. At the end of this intense time of training, the probationary officer will have the ability to function as a solo officer and deliver safe, courteous, effective and efficient law enforcement services to the community. Many of our FTOs maintain memberships in organizations such as the National Association of Field Training Officers.