CJTC details FTO/PTO overhaul as instructors and funding strain programs

The Criminal Justice Training Commission on Tuesday received an extensive update on the agency’s Field Training Officer (FTO) and Police Training Officer (PTO) programs and options to address instructor shortages and inconsistent evaluations.

Agency training staff described two national training models now used in Washington, and explained the Commission’s work to combine a job-task analysis with field-training standards to produce a Washington-specific FTO model policy and associated training materials. Staff said the model will align basic training, field training and evaluation and add instructor development and apprenticeship pathways.

Commission staff said their approach uses standardized evaluation guidelines adopted nationally, with a 1–7 Likert scale and anchor points at 1, 4 and 7 to mark unacceptable, acceptable and exemplary performance. The goal is to reduce variability across agencies and create consistent measures commissioners can rely on.

“By breaking tasks into smaller teachable skills and training instructors on how to teach and coach rather than just evaluate, we think we can close gaps that show up later in the field,” an agency official described in the briefing.

Commissioners pressed staff on whether the FTO program constitutes a state certification. Staff said the FTO materials derive from national standards and local policy; they acknowledged that Washington does not yet require a statewide, legislatively mandated FTO certification, and described steps to create a certification pathway tied to instructor development and recertification.

A central problem flagged in the briefing was instructor attrition after the Commission revised contracting and contractor-management rules: staff said available contracted instructors fell from roughly 26 to about 8, and some long-time instructors either retired or chose not to contract under the new terms. The agency raised registration fees (to $195 for a 40-hour course) to partially offset instructor costs, but staff said fees and current per-diem approaches do not fully cover instructor travel and compensation, and the program is not state-funded beyond registration receipts.

Commissioners and staff discussed practical recruitment steps: more active apprenticeship recruiting, 40-hour observation requirements for candidates, a staged contracting process and an instructor-certification queue that would issue state certification once instructors complete required steps and a final checkout. Staff emphasized that some items — notably high-quality training videos and scenario production — require additional funding.

Several commissioners urged exploring legislative funding requests and short-term stopgaps for instructor pay and travel. Staff said they have expanded review teams and are prioritizing regions with the greatest need, but added scheduling constraints (including major events) will complicate near-term course placement.

The Commission did not take a formal vote on policy changes during the session; staff said the model-policy materials and a list of prioritized funding and development tasks will return for future decision points.