NCJ Number
106618
Journal
Field Training Quarterly Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1987) Pages: 4-9
Date Published
1987
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Detention Facility Training Officer (FTO) Program in Maricopa County, Ariz., became an important step in developing a professional detention staff through a 6-week basic detention academy.
Abstract
Since March 1986, the Maricopa County jail system and the sheriff's office have trained 458 detention officers with over 15,000 man-hours. The training included: emergency health procedures, hostage procedures, inmate rights, use of force, suicide prevention, grievance and disciplinary procedures, and contraband control. All training has been provided onsite. Upon graduation, cadet officers are assigned to a FTO at a facility for 4-weeks of on-the-job, individualized training. This training includes facility orientation and layout, emergency procedures and evacuation routes, communication and officer safety, visitation procedures, house and floor officer duties, release procedure, documentation, use of force, report writing, Federal court mandates, post orders, intake procedures, inmate services, security functions, and inmate housing functions. All lessons are graded by the FTO through objectives checklists. Evaluation by FTO's is made weekly, using a 21-section evaluation sheet with 69 separate functions. The FTO program is an evaluation of both the cadet and the curriculum of the training academy. Cadets evaluate their FTO's in order to assist the FTO's in improving teaching techniques. Illustration.