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Police Training Officer (PTO) Overview and Introduction
In their implementation of community-oriented policing, police executives have voiced a common concern about training, especially post-academy field training for new officers. Post-academy field training has not emphasized or promoted community policing concepts and behaviors. To address this deficiency, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services funded the development of an alternative national model for field training that would incorporate community policing and problem-solving principles. To accomplish the objective, the Reno (Nevada) Police Department partnered with the Police Executive Research Forum. The result of their collaboration is a new training program called the Police Training Officer (PTO) program. It incorporates contemporary methods in adult education and a version of the problem-based learning method of teaching adapted for police.
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/CaseStudiesPDF3.pdf
Police Training Officer (PTO) Manual
The Manual presents the PTO model to Police Training Officers, and is intended for use in their classroom instruction and as a resource when training new officers. It begins with an introduction of problem-based learning, which underlies the PTO model. Chapter 2 outlines the composition of the PTO program, including its phase structure and evaluation elements. Duties and responsibilities of program personnel are explored in Chapter 3. Chapters 4, 5, 7, and 8 detail the four phases of training in the model. These chapters include trainer copies of three necessary evaluation and teaching tools used in the program: the Neighborhood Portfolio Exercise, the Problem-Based Learning Exercise, and the weekly Coaching and Training Report. Chapters 6 and 9 guide the trainer through the Mid-Term and Final Evaluation components of the model. The manual concludes with appendixes containing evaluation forms and Learning Activity Packages.
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/pto_manual.pdf
Police Training Officer (PTO) Trainee Manual
The Trainee Manual presents the Police Training Officer (PTO) program to police trainees, and is intended for use in their classroom instruction and as a resource when training. It begins with an introduction of problem-based learning, which underlies the PTO program. Chapter 2 outlines the composition of the PTO program, including its phase structure and evaluation elements. Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7 detail the four phases of training in the model. These chapters include trainee copies of three necessary evaluation and teaching tools used in the program: the Neighborhood Portfolio Exercise, the Problem-Based Learning Exercise, and the weekly Coaching and Training Report. Chapters 5 and 8 guide the trainee through the Mid-Term and Final Evaluation components of the model. The manual concludes with appendices containing evaluation forms and Learning Activity Packages.
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/pto%20-%20trainee%20manual.pdf
Police Training Officer (PTO) Training Standard
The Training Standard outlines a 40-hour course for Police Training Officer (PTO). It teaches trainers how to help their trainees apply policing and problem-solving skills in a 15-week post-academy training program by outlining 15 problem-based learning instruction blocks. The manual is part of a 4-part series that includes, PTO Overview and Introduction, PTO Manual, PTO Training Standard, and PTO Trainee Manual.
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/pto%20-%20training%20standards.pdf
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation's state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources.
Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.
Rather than simply responding to crimes once they have been committed, community policing concentrates on preventing crime and eliminating the atmosphere of fear it creates. Earning the trust of the community and making those individuals stakeholders in their own safety enables law enforcement to better understand and address both the needs of the community and the factors that contribute to crime.
Center for Problem Oriented Policing
The mission of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing is to advance the concept and practice of problem-oriented policing in open and democratic societies. It does so by making readily accessible information about ways in which police can more effectively address specific crime and disorder problems.
The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing is a non-profit organization comprising affiliated police practitioners, researchers, and universities dedicated to the advancement of problem-oriented policing.