National Association of Field Training Officers

National Conference

Our annual conference for 2022 will be held at The Galt House Hotel in Louisville, KY, June 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Register Here

NAFTO is proud to offer some outstanding training at our 2022 3-Day National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  This year’s training is specifically designed for Field Trainers working in Patrol, Detention, Communications, and Emergency Medicine. NAFTO is working to prepare your Field Training Unit for the challenges of 21st Century Policing by providing comprehensive and client-oriented curriculum. This year, NAFTO presents course topics including De-escalation, 21st Century Policing, Communication, Remedial Training, Standardization, Interpersonal Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Instructor Development, Reducing Liability, and Program Defensibility. 

Jump to:  Registration | Lodging | Meet Your Instructors | What to Expect | Itinerary

Highlights

Keynote presentation by Roy Bethge

FTOs – Growing Courage to Lead – Roy Bethge 

Roy Bethge is a veteran police leader with more than 31 years of law enforcement experience. He currently serves as the Chief of Police in Cherry Valley, IL. Roy retired in May of 2017 as Deputy Chief of Operations for the Buffalo Grove Police Department in Northern Illinois. He has an extensive background as a trainer in the subject areas of leadership development, officer safety, use of force, and adult learning. He is a lead instructor for Louisiana State University’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training as well as a private consultant. Mr. Bethge is the chair of the Education and Training Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Mr. Bethge presents nationally on the topics of Leadership, Instructor Development, Personal Development, and Organizational Change.

Breakout Sessions Offered:

Breakout session topics will include Accurate Appraisal Writing, Providing Proper Feedback, Modifying Behavior, Leadership Concepts, Communication Techniques, Motivation, Adult Learning Concepts, Remedial Training, Reducing Agency Liability, and Program Structure and Development. 

Closing Presentation by Joe Willis 

“An Honorable Profession” – Joe Willis

Joe is the Director of Training at An Honorable Profession.  After more than 20-years of honorable service to the United States Army he retired as a Military Police First Sergeant.  His last few military assignments include Operations Sergeant Major for a Combined Arms Training Brigade, Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Department of Military Science at West Point, Equal Opportunity Program Manager for the United States Military Academy, and First Sergeant for a Military Police Initial Entry Training Company.  Since his retirement he’s worked as training and development consultant.  Learn more about Joe and the VennLeader Model at www.VennLeader.com.

Registration

Registration is $375.00 per non-NAFTO member attendees and $350.00 for current NAFTO members. This fee includes a 1-year NAFTO membership, 2 breakfasts, 2 catered lunches, and a banquet dinner (Thursday 06/9/2022).

Due to restriction from the venue, REGISTRATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED by May 15th, 2022. Seating limited to the 1st 100 applicants.

Early Conference Check-In Begins Tuesday, June 7th, at 1800 Hours in the event space area.

Questions can be e-mailed to director@nafto.org

Register Here

Lodging

galt hotel logo

140 North Fourth Street, Louisville, KY  40202

LODGING IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ATTENDEES. Galt House is offering an amazing, discounted room rate of $149.00/night for a Deluxe Room or $179.00/night for an Executive Suite, for Conference Attendees.


Group Rate Code:  NAF061322

Galt House is extending the conference room rate for 3 days before and 3 days after the conference, making this the perfect reason to come early, stay late, see Louisville, KY, and extend your training in to a vacation.

Reserve a Room

Cost savings considerations at this year’s conference:

  • The hotel is less than 10 minutes from the airport with rideshares and taxis available, and the conference is self-contained; no rental car required.
  • Minutes from international airport with many direct flight options.
  • 5 meals provided for reduced Per Diem.
  • Self-contained venue with numerous dining and entertainment options on property.
  • 14 class options over 3 days of training.

Meet Your Instructors

Chief Tim Christol

Ensuring Training Blends with the Mission, Vision,
and Values of your Organization

Tim Christol is principal owner of Edgeway Strategies Inc., a training and consulting service targeting public safety and corporate developmental strategies. He served six and one-half years as Chief of Police with the City of Red Bank, TN, and two years as Police Chief for the City of Fletcher, NC. He previously retired as an Assistant Chief Deputy, after thirty years of service with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Knoxville, TN. His law enforcement career spans over 40 years where he has served as a Patrol Officer, a Narcotics and Criminal Investigations Sergeant, Professional Standard’s Division Supervisor, Departmental Training Director, Administrative Division Commander and Chief of Police. 

 

Chief Christol has served on the National Institute of Justice, Small and Rural Agency Advisory Committee and presented at the first N.I.J./Home Office Scientific Development Branch, Law Enforcement Technology Symposium in the United Kingdom with the London Metropolitan Police. He has served as Director of the Knox County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy; Commander of the Critical Incident Negotiation Team; and Co-Chair of the Tennessee Public Safety Network’s Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team. He served on the Advisory Board for the Aegis Law Enforcement Foundation of Chattanooga, on the Executive Board of Directors of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, as Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Lift Center, a community services foundation.

 

Chief Christol served for 12 years as an Adjunct Faculty of Sociology at Tusculum College, and in Criminal Justice Administration at Walters State Community College. He continues to present at various Law Enforcement and Public Safety Training Academies as well as national and international conferences. He is a regular contributor to various law enforcement professional publications and many of his training concepts are presently taught both nationally and internationally.

 

He graduated from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1979, gained his Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate through the North Carolina, Justice Training and Standards Commission and was one of the first Chiefs awarded the Executive Leadership Certificate from the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Tusculum College, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Tennessee and is a graduate of the 221st Session of the F.B.I. National Academy. 

Training assumes change. Though one could argue that change isn’t happening with unprecedented speed today – the ride sure is bumpier!  And the ability to effectively ride this turbulence and lead others through it, is going to be a survival skill for the foreseeable future. As we move people from what they know to something new, we must consider how this behavior and paradigm change impacts not only our trainees but the culture of the organization. 

 

We must first understand the concepts of our organizational vision, mission, and values. In their basic context, they relate to the organization’s purpose, the map by which we will pursue our cause, and the behavioral standards by which we will operate.

 

Values are immensely influential in creating organizational dynamics, especially at a training/management level. Understanding that there are three different and often conflicting value systems in play, helps ensure our ability to blend them. These are identified as personal values – “what’s best for me”, Societal Values – “what’s best for the group”, and Organizational Values which tend to be more “Utilitarian” in nature. If that were not enough, each of these competing systems are evolutionary. 

 

As trainers and leaders, it is incumbent upon us to ensure each of these components remain strong. We must understand how these create the organizational culture… a sense of identity and belonging for employees and has importance in desired organizational behaviors by overlapping organizational values with individual values. On the other hand, the individual values, beliefs, anticipations, attitudes, behaviors, and actions that employees hold are considered important factors in shaping and adapting organizational culture. 

Corporal Martin Swanty

 

Understanding the Brain and Improving the FTO Learning Process

I am a third generation law enforcement officer. My grandfather, father, uncle, and cousin all worked for Arizona Highway Patrol in various capacities. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in sociology with an emphasis on criminal justice in 2007 from Colorado State University. After getting my degree I returned to get a second degree in English Education while I pursued a career in law enforcement. I was hired at Larimer County Sheriff’s Office in 2011 as a corrections officer. I transferred to the patrol division in 2013 where I have served with the SWAT team, Co-Responders, and FTO program. In 2020 I was promoted to the position of Corporal and in 2021 I was appointed to be the assistant coordinator for the FTO program.

When the human brain learns new information a neural pathway is created to recall that information at a later time. By understanding how the brain works to store information and what strengthens recall abilities it will improve the ability to teach. The course will cover brain anatomy, how learning occurs, and components that can strengthen or weaken the brain’s ability to function at the highest level. Training Officers will walk away with knowledge of how their trainee is processing and remembering information and a toolbox of ways to create and strengthen neural pathways for recall. This is important for teaching rote information such as criminal statute as well as skills and understanding how different approaches will create different outcomes. Every training officer should have a basic biological understanding of the brain.

Jason Devlin

Creating a Path

Sgt. Jason Devlin has been a police officer with the City of Scottsdale since 2003. He spent 3 years as an officer assigned to Patrol. While in patrol, Jason discovered he was drawn to self-initiated activities. In 2006, Jason became a member of the Nighttime Traffic Unit. In 2014, Jason was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and is now the Professional Development Unit Training Sergeant. Current duties include supervision of the Field Training Program, Decision-Making Training, and Emerging Leaders Program. Jason also writes a leadership blog and interacts with an international law enforcement community through Thin Blue Line of Leadership.

Creating a Path is about generating change and accountability within ourselves, our trainees, and our FTO programs. This leadership class explores how to overcome obstacles and adversity, learn from our mistakes, and come out better on the other side.

Deputy Chief James Dudley
and Dr. Janay Gasparini

Bringing University Level Training Pedagogies to Police Field Training

James Dudley served in all ranks in Patrol, Investigations and Special Operations at the San Francisco Police Department.  As an Officer, he was an FTO for 5 years and served as an FTO EVOC Instructor.  He retired as Deputy Chief and re-instituted the FTO Program in 1999 and taught “How to Start an FTO Program” for the DOJ Regional Community Policing Institute in California. He is in his 9th year of teaching at SF State University.  He has a BA from SFSU, a Masters from UC Irvine and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Janelle Gasparini is a former Police Officer from Virginia and teaches at a University in West Virginia.  Both have written articles for PoliceOne.com and Jim hosts the podcast “Policing Matters”

Prior Police Officers, now Professors, will give FTOs different learning pedagogies used to teach university students, and apply them to use in an FTO Environment. The course will give the FTO more tools to teach and help them understand the student and their learning styles.

Kevin Collucci

Adult and Active Learning

My name is Kevin Collucci and I am currently a detective with the Clifton, NJ police department assigned to the Community Policing Division. I was hired in February of 2001 after serving a short time as a Passaic County Sheriff’s officer. I have worked in the patrol division for most of my career. I was also a detective in the Internal Affairs division investigating civilian complaints and completing background investigations for new hires. My current position in Community Policing is to communicate with residents, business owners, civic associations, religious establishments and volunteer organizations to resolve ongoing issues within the city and participate in city events. Some examples of this include homeless outreach, Otto the Auto traffic safety, assisting at school functions, community foot patrol in business districts and attending city events run by city departments. My responsibilities also include investigating bias incidents reported to my agency. During my career I have been a FTO and have taught dozens of officers gaining the experience needed to successfully teach the information I would like to present.

This course will utilize the four learning styles and why they are important to a FTO’s teaching method. The attendee will learn techniques to improve critical thinking of the trainee. In addition, the five keys to active learning will be introduced and how these components apply to the learning styles. Various training techniques will also be shared to assist the FTO so they can maximize their trainee’s learning.  

What to Expect

John Bostain Speaks at Last Year’s Conference

Jason Devilin Speaks at the ILET Summit

Don’t forget, there’s still time to submit applications for Master Field Training Officer and nominations for Field Training Officer of the Year. All applications and nominations must be received by March 15th, 2022.  Master Field Training Officer certification costs your agency nothing and is a great way to recognize the hard work and dedication of your department’s Field Training Officers. 

2022 National Conference Itinerary

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