What is a Police FTO? 

Who else remembers the car vlogs and 50k subscribers?

Having good fto's is important. The best thing i learned coming off training was that i dont know shit so always be willing to learn and admit my mistakes when you make them.

Lol I remember signing my DOR and seeing all those 1’s and 2’s shit made me feel sad. Then I learned everyone gets 1’s and 2’s their first couple of weeks

I just got out of FTO school and I'm waiting for my first trainee.

Love how you end each video. You always bring the topic to a rational, level-headed conclusion that is based on principle.

My best FTO story occurred several years after I retired and was summoned for Jury Duty. I reported to the Criminal Court Building, and on the elevator ride up to the Jury Room, I met the arresting Officer, in the case that was being Tried. He was a great guy, and we shot the bull about retirement, the job, some of the crap we pulled working together, and he reminisced about some of the “tricks of the trade” I had taught him, that weren’t taught in the Academy. I had been this guy’s FTO for three months when he transitioned over from Patrol, to Investigations. Once upstairs, I and the prospective jurors, filled in our paperwork, and maybe we watched a video, I don’t recall everything. The first ten of us were escorted into the Courtroom to let each side accept or reject us one by one…I never even sat down. The Judge had been the D.A. for most of my career, and as soon as he saw me, he smiled and said, “Sgt, it’s been awhile!” Then he laughed, and told the new DA, the Defense Attorney, and everyone else that he could tell them some unbelievable stories about me and asked if I thought I could be an impartial juror. I told him that we were already in County Court. Therefore, the Grand Jury, and the DA, had already discovered enough evidence to convict the Defendant. (Any Officer’s here know that DA’s don’t accept cases he or she can’t win.) I reminded him that I once knew a DA, (himself), who claimed he could convict Micky Mouse of selling drugs to minors in Disney Land, if he was given enough evidence. I also informed the Court that I had knew everything about the case being heard, and that I had been the arresting Investigator’s FTO. Therefore, the possibility that the defendant was innocent, was ludicrous. That was ten years ago, and I’ve never been recalled for Jury Duty.

Just saw you posted a new vid and my day got 100000x better 👌👌👌

My boyfriend an FTO he takes it sooooo seriously he’s always getting home late when he’s training!

RIP Officer Mathew Rittner.

Love your vids, 1st responders saved me from an O.D and didn't treat me like trash 6 years clean in April. And now I try to work with law enforcement to help others get clean. Sorry bout the life story!

Thanks for the info! I just assumed that FTOs were merely senior officers at a department who had enough knowledge and experience to be able to train rookies.

Just found you recently! My boyfriend and I watch you and I use you to get him to start liking officers, he’s that guy lol In his words you’re “pretty cool” which I think so too!

Which one told you that you were being shot at because you stopped paying attention to the street signs?

Great info man....wish more officers put out videos like you do. Can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the honesty, if someone would have been this honest when I first got into law enforcement, I'd probably still be in this field. Be safe and watch your 6!!!

I always love when I get notification of a new video! Great video! FTOs are essential to a department’s success and molding well-rounded officers. Stay safe out there Officer401!

Thinking about it now, years later, the times I did ride-alongs when I was living in another city, a long time ago, several of the more enjoyable rides had me doing things for them whether it was simple logging traffic stops and calls on an over-time report or actively observing with the officer. I was my neighborhood's mobile neighborhood watch coordinator and I wanted to get the feel of patrolling. Several officers treated me much as a rookie partner and explained things to me. I learned a lot from them by participating that way. Much more than I did with the one officer who seemed to have a burr up his butt most of the ride. I was so thankful the police chief gave me permission to ride along anytime I wanted on any shift for as long as I wanted. At few sergeants weren't to happy at first and the patrol captain was never fond of the idea, but as my permission came from the chief they always found a willing officer to take me along with them. When I got to know one that had been a FTO before moving into the Community Oriented Policing, as my neighborhood COP officer, he would sometimes even ask me to come along for a little while if he saw me out walking. Good times.

Great vid and couldn't agree more. I had about 3 1/2 years on when I got FTO or JTO as I work in the jail for my Dept. My supervisors came to me and strongly "recommended" that I apply for FTO school and I'm glad I did. It's extremely rewarding and sometimes frustrating at the same time. It is a huge responsibility that one shouldn't take lightly and I was as proud of getting my FTO pin as I was when I got my badge.

I’ve got 8 more academy days before I graduate academy. I’m so ready to be out of that place haha FTO here I come

I'm in the process for Detroit police, and your videos help a lot. Thanks man

When I came on in “98” either the FTO’s said to sit there and shut up or they taught you... I was fortunate enough to have one who taught me, yes did I do the bs work such as staying with a body on a doa, traffic duty when lights when out, etc. My FTO though taught me how to work a radio, light etc so I learned not just sit there incase crap hit fan and that’s how I taught new officers. I was raised in a department that was into the fire from pan and led me to where I’m at now. Thank you to him and I’m proud to say to have worked with the East Cleveland Police Dept. for a decade before my latest career.

My man. We were just discussing this. Great topic. We need to collab. Hit me up. I just did one with field training officer. It was great

Awesome video man gives me something to remember when I starts FTO down the road. I start the academy next week! Super excited man always love watching your vids

I learn more on this channel than I do over the run of all of my CJ classes combined.Just gotta keep sloggin' through.

Just got hired in NC, meeting my FTO soon, appreciate all u do on this channel man.

Offier 401, how is the motorcycle division in a police department operated

Great video! Although I am not police or anything like that, I did work for the DoD and I trained people like your Sgt. "Lead by example". Thank you for posting this because there's not a lot of people who understand what it actually takes to do your job! Thank you for your service!

I feel you when it comes to taking things with a grain of salt. "Everyone has something good to teach and something crap to teach" is one of the most important lessons I learned.

Come to Macon you can definitely experience everything in a year! My old partner became an FTO just after 2 years. Most officers that left our old PD could get a job anywhere in Georgia with ease because you get so much experience in every aspect of the job on top of all the training we all had to go through. You woukd think you were training for GSP!

Good video as always 401!! I've learned alot about the LEO side of things and a portion of it is because of you. Thanks a bunch man!! And I have alot of respect towards you and you guys as LEOs!!!

Hi guys, I hope that you're doing well. I'm rather sick so just stopping by to wish you a great night. Thank you officer 401 for your videos, I have nothing but respect for the police and your content is absolutely amazing.

Always nice to see a new video after waking my lazy ass from a mid day nap, Thanks Mr 401!

Hey Officer401! Love the channel, litteraly my very first comment on anyones channel ever lol. Can you do a video on how old is too old to start a career in law Enforcement, or like starting a career in law enforcement when life has already “started” for you, meaning already having a wife and kids and stuff. Again, LOVE THE CHANNEL! Keep up the awesome work!

Every time I watch you I learn something thanks 401 stay sat out there the world is crazy

Good evening 401! Your videos are always 🔥

Ayeeee, I just got home from a rough day and a vid just came out! Woooot!

Sir this was a spectacular video. I'm an aspiring officer going through an FTO is in my near future, and this was a great bit of advice. I guess what i'de like to get some tips on is dealing with domestics. That's a tough scenario for any new Officer.

God Bless you Sir. Thankyou for all you do.

Great topic I am going through fto right now. Moving on to phase 3 where pretty much it’s my show the fto is there to answer my questions . Fun but stressful but best job ever .

I like the way you explain facts about law enforcement. You get it to the point and make it interesting!!! Keep it up I'd love to see more.

Officer 401 love the videos and in my opinion you in a way are an FTO to all your viewer's that are pursuing a career in law enforcement with you're knowledge and experience thank you for sharing it with everyone!

Love the vids man! Keep it up and stay safe!!

FTO here from snowy Minnesota! Great vid! Keep it safe brother.

I would like to thank you for dropping this video on me, it really made my day 110x better!

I'm in the process for Phoenix PD right now. Hoping for April academy. But I'm trying to learn all these streets but it's a lot. It's not as easy as I thought. Trying to learn them before the academy.

I don’t like Patty mayo

Much love from the fire service, keep making good vids blue boy

Great video keep them coming just like the guys y’all put away keep them coming there’s always room for one more don’t worry about over crowding they like being on top of each other thank you and all others like you for your service sir god bless y’all

Some department allow officers to become an FTO after only a year?! That surprises me since common sense tells me that real on the job experience is a good learning tool. I think it is great that some departments quiz new officers on concepts they stress as important and to gauge exactly where a particular officer is at. I also like that some FTOs will do mock scenarios to teach how to properly write reports. When you were in training, did your FTO look over your reports and make you go back to rewrite it so you understood how to do it properly? I knew FTOs carried significant responsibility but didn’t realize they could be asked to testify even years down the road if an LEO landed in legal hot water. It makes perfect sense the way you explained things. With any job, you gain valuable insight with experience. Classroom training is one thing, putting the concepts to work on the job is a whole other story.

I’d like you to do a video of your experiences with officers who transitioned from the military to police work. I’m currently in the process of trying to join a local PD here in NC and am that guy with 6 years of military experience across 2 branches of service stepping into the world of policing. I’d like to hear your good and your bad experiences with individuals in my shoes. I’m from GA originally, shout out from Griffin GA.

Going on break at work + new 401 video = ah yeah

This guy is awesome! Quick question have you ever had to call the police while being off duty?

Great Video Content and God bless All FTO's hope They become Great successful Police Officers

Good stuff. 13 year Leo myself. I’ve been an FTO for 8 years. Agree with an FTO needs several years on the road, personally 5 years plus is my opinion, a ton of responsibility and knowledge goes into it.

Hi office 401! Hope you have a great day!

So I have been watching for a long time and just didn’t really ever comment but I would like to thank you for educating the public even if we are not aspiring to be police officers like me.

Yay finally a new video from my favorite RU-vidr ever ❤️❤️❤️👍

My advice for some of y’all that work major city’s would be to learn the main roads of your area. I’m currently in FTO program and I’m not from the area I work in. My patrol area spans about 300 square miles and just knowing those roads has saved my ass a ton of times

Lol. I know and work along side the trooper on the cover of this video. How cool. Great trooper.

Didn't even need that notification 😏

Thank you, sir. Extremely inspiring.

Hello Officer 401. First I want to say I love watching your videos. I live in South Jersey I'm 52 yrs old getting ready to take the law enforcement civil service entry level exam. I took it in 2016 and made a HUGE mistake that cost me to fail it and that's why im taking it again next month. I would like to know what you think of someone my age getting into this field. There is a lot more to my story than just wanting to do this since I was a kid. Way to long to tell in a comment section of one of your videos lol. I will say I've been through 2 citizens Police academy's in my town and at the end of the academy I went on ride alongs which was awesome. I got to go on a dog track with officers during a home invasion call, I got to walk up to the passenger side of the vehicles we stopped to observe what was going on and look for anything suspicious going on while the officer I was with conducted the stop. We made about 5 stops for speeding and every one of them had an FOP card, no tickets lol. All that was exciting and is a small part of why I'm pursuing this now but there is much more to my story. Thanks for taking time to read this and comment back when you can with how you feel about a career change like this at my age. And yes I've been working my ass off in the gym and on the streets running and getting into shape lol.

Bro I just had a tuff day and I see u upload and u turned my day bro love what u doin and I'm gonna be a cop one day

Keep up the good work, brother, and thank you for your service!

Blessings 401

Great video! Could you do a video on police communication? Example: from dispatch, to the types of radios officers use on the field

Amazing as always man!!!

Great video man love your channel so much my favourite police channel

Starting my third day of FTO tonight. I love this job so far!

I agree with everything that you said, brother. This coming from a current FTO. Even if I noticed some newer cops with 2 years experience become an FTO (guys I give advice to), I decided to become an FTO after 4.5 years. I became an FTO to inspire the future generation of cops, just as my FTOs did so with me. Stay safe out there

I recognize an Arkansas State Trooper in a thumbnail when I see one. I guess that's because I work with them every day as a dispatcher!

Did you hear about Officer Lucas Dowell of the Virginia State Police? His funeral, last Saturday, was literally 5 miles from my house. Be safe out there. I enjoy your content.

*This is something I was told about on the job training.* The first year you have no idea what you're doing. The second year you start to figure things out. The third year is when you start to feel comfortable. (I found it to be very true.)

No lie, started FTO school this week. Great topic, great videos!

Local city cops in my area need to watch this. I've met good and bad officers and the bad ones have gotten me to lock my doors everytime I'm pulled over. They are also the reason I use a dashcam.

I'm applying to Baltimore PD. Passed my polygraph yesterday!

thats an Arkansas State Trooper in the thumbnail!! finally Arkansas is part of something cool lol

401 you nailed it on the head when you said an FTO can make or break a department. FTO's are like NCO's in the military, they train and teach the troops.

Ayo bro im almost done with basic jail school up at gpstc u from GA u gotta kno what im talkin about. We just did DT today. It was ruff but very rewarding

Every rule has an exception. I became an FTO the first year out of the academy and was training the next batch. Personal opinion but I still feel I was one of our agencies best FTO's. I started a little older and had four years of being a Marine MP (only 6 months patrol) so I'm sure that made a difference.

Was here before you popped off in subs and glad you did

I work in the military side of law enforcement.. was wondering if patrol supervisor is a common position in the civilian sector or is it titled differently.. patrol supervisor is typically the second in command on shift but deals with the patrolman where the watch commander being the main shift leader mostly dealing with admin and chain of command

I loved being an FTO. It kept me up on officer safety and seeing someone else's point of view and they may have a better idea of handling a call.

Hey man make a video on how to memorize/ remember case laws

My fto period was 4 days, I was able to extend it to 5 days!

So true. I’ve been with my dept a year and a half and I still have questions all the time. One thing I’d like to share is if a salty old veteran is an FTO and announced his retirement, don’t have him ride with rookies anymore

This video is a knowledge bomb for new officers. Don't ever expect to do anything right in FTO. You will always have a target on your back. The FTO will always find something wrong with what you do. Your FTO may do things dumb as shit. Just roll with it, learn as much as you can, keep your mouth shut, and do it differently when you become a FTO down the line.

Bruh I really respect the shit out of you #BigRespect

If your an FTO do you only teach new officers the ways of policing or do you go a certain amount of months on and then a few months off?

The FTO and the FTO program is the most under-appreciated and misunderstood component of a police agency. Most police managers and executive staff still don’t fully comprehend that their approach to police work and relationship with their agency/community was likely molded during the field training program. I would say that the FTO has the most important impact on a new officer’s career. Most seasoned officers can easily remember their most influential FTO and what they took away from their training relationship. When an agency needs to change its culture or direction, then it starts with the FTO.

As always an amazing video, keep it up.

When a department says no tattoos visible when wearing short sleeves, do they let it pass if you can cover it with a watch?

Working on finishing my associates now, I turn 20 in May, and the Public Information Officer at the department I am wanting to apply for said to apply in the fall-winter timeframe, I could go through the academy, and take the POST Test when I'm 21. What do you think about being a Cop in the city/county that you live in? I've heard good and bad things about it. I'm a huge homebody, I don't leave home much outside of work other than to go to the gym/shooting or grocery shopping.

One time a rookie cop couldn't smell my car because he was standing so far back. He let me go, his FTO was behind my car and had no idea what had just happened

We had 4 stages in FTO each lasting about 10 shifts. It was supposed to be like in stage 1 you do 25% of the work while you observe your FTO the other 75%, Stage 2 you do 50%, Stage 3 you're doing most the work 75%, and by stage 4 You were supposed to be doing 100% on your own with FTO just observing you. 2 of the stages you were working day shift and the other 2 would be night shift, since they wanted you to experience the different calls between day and night. 2nd Stage my FTO and I clashed hard, she said she would treat things like 3rd Stage. She would belittle me for things I told her I didn't know. She would constantly ask me questions over radio traffic then ask me what they said, and to answer her question simultaneously. One day after booking I was driving and she asked for handcuffs that were another officers when I reached for them the car drifted into the center median hitting a pylon against the driver mirror. I did a U-turn, pulled over in a parking lot, and called Sgt. to report the accident. When he got on scene she told me to stay in the car. When Sgt finished talking to her he approached me and asked if my FTO and I were getting along alright. I said not particularly in fact we kind of bump head sometimes, well apparently she told him that she believes that if she wasn't in the car I wouldn't have reported the accident. I asked what on earth made her say that, he said because she thought I should have stopped immediately and waited for the SGT instead of doing a U-turn and pulling off the road. I was livid. I cannot describe how much I despised having to sit in a car with her. 3rd Stage was a really cool officer who liked to get into drug arrests and he really taught me a lot, but my moms health went downhill and she was in and out of the hospital so I ended up calling out a lot. 4th Stage I was peaked, taking care of my mom, while simultaneously working was getting to me. You know how when you leave the academy and you're literally in the best shape of your life? I lost over 20 pounds in those last two stages, because of my moms situation. I had no one to help with her at home, so I was overworked. I finished FTO, but after my first day on my own, I quit. I wish the department had some sort of part-time work I could have done, but working 45-50 hour weeks while trying to take care of my mom was too much. It's been about 2 years, and my moms still alive, but we have a better support system now. I want to get back into policing but I worry no department will hire me after hearing I bounced after one day on my own.

I was FTO had 12 cadets over 8 years with GSP. They were all good guys. One guy was an Army Ranger, worked for a previous PD DUI task force, he was even a licensed pilot and played on the Scout team of a major college SEC football team. The other guys said, hell he will be training YOU before his 30 day period is up !! LOL Enjoyed being FTO but the thing you can't teach is CONFIDENCE. And a few of them scared the living shit outta me driving thinking the patrol car is invincible. It aint.

I’ve been on the streets for 5 days and my FTO is already having me do reports and I get to start driving tomorrow

Greetings from Central NH EMS!

Love ur videos keep it up, I learn lots from you. I think of being a cop when I get older cus of u.

Dear Officer401, I'm in college and I am apart of a team in the Fallen Officer Project and we are trying to get our name out and was hoping you can help. I'm going to speak with everyone today about making a video about to project and the officers each of us are trying to honor. if you would like to know more please reach out. I and the team would absolutely appreciate any help of trying to get our name out there

Keep up the great work 401