Author: Sonja Bennett-Bellamy, Communications Officer
Curriculum restructure improves officer safety, retention, and job satisfaction
North Carolina is changing the way it trains new correctional officers so they are better prepared for the roles they play inside the state’s prisons.
New hires will undergo seven weeks of basic training that includes four weeks of classroom curriculum and three weeks in the field. This curriculum improvement places mandatory basic training at the beginning of a correctional officer’s employment, raising officers’ situational awareness on the job daily and teaching them how to effectively manage various aspects of a prison environment with safety and security always a top priority.
“We see this as a good opportunity for our agency,” said Correctional Officer Field Training Program Manager Zachary Kendall. “By implementing this training program early in a CO’s career, we prepare a well-trained officer. This pays off in the way of safety, security, retention and overall job satisfaction.”
In February, facility managers, supervisors and training specialists from 15 prisons in the Central region of the state received the critical instruction they needed in order to select and prepare field training officers who will then train new correctional officers, commonly called OITs (Officers in Training).
“These supervisors are imperative to the successful implementation of the new training program at their base facilities,” said Kendall. “They are the ones who personally interact with correctional officers on the grounds of our facilities daily. We need them in order to prepare our officers.”
This month the first class of field training officers completed the course that covered topics such as leadership, diversity, effective communications, team-building, ethics and teaching principles.
The FTOs will now report back to their assigned posts at facilities throughout the state. Trainings continue to be implemented statewide. This training is just one component of a sweeping initiative designed by DPS Secretary Erik A. Hooks to better prepare prison employees and keep them safe in the work environment.