Sgt. Doug Kazensky (ret.)
Sr. Solutions Engineer
Most agencies today are still running an FTO program built on a design from the 1970s — the San Jose Model. It’s been patched, updated, and “modernized” more times than anyone can count, but the core design hasn’t changed in 50 years. If this were SWAT or firearms training, agencies wouldn’t tolerate technology and technique standing still for five decades. So why has FTO been the exception?
In this session, Dan Greene (Executive Director, NAFTO), Jason Devlin (creator of the Nextgen FTO model), and Dr. Bob Jensen, Associate Professor at Point University, will make the case for rethinking field training from the ground up as a real developmental process for building the best officer possible. They’ll walk through what a 21st-century FTO model looks like, the research behind it, and what it takes to bring this kind of change back to your own agency.
You’ll Learn:
- Why the San Jose Model’s design hasn’t kept pace with how adults actually learn
- What a flexible, adult-learning-based FTO model looks like in practice
- How agencies using the NextGen model rate its impact on resilience, paperwork burden, and problem-solving compared to legacy programs
- Why ongoing outside training is critical to keep your program evolving
Presenters
Doug Kazensky is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Vector Solutions, as well as a former police training sergeant and officer of over two decades. After proudly serving in the United States Air Force as a member of the Security Police, he joined the Longview Police Department in Washington in December 1997. He served in patrol, as a School Resource Officer (SRO), and as a detective specializing in fraud and computer crimes.
Sgt. Dan Greene (ret.)
Executive Director, NAFTO
Sgt. Dan Greene (ret.) spent 30-years with the Chandler PD (AZ), is an International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) Nationally Certified Instructor, and is the Executive Director at the National Association of Field Training Officers (NAFTO).
Sgt. Jason Devlin
Owner and Developer, Nextgen Field Training
Sgt. Jason Devlin has served with the Scottsdale (AZ) Police Department for 23 years, where he worked patrol and a nighttime DUI and aggressive driving squad, was promoted to patrol sergeant, and spent the last ten years running the agency’s field training program. A former seventh grade math teacher with a degree in education, curriculum development, and mathematics, he brings his classroom and law enforcement backgrounds together as the owner and developer of NexGen Field Training.
Dr. Bob Jensen
Associate Professor, Point University
Dr. Bob Jensen is an associate professor at Point University and a 30-year law enforcement veteran who began his career as a patrol officer and field training officer with the Chattanooga (TN) Police Department. His interest in field training led him to study the Nextgen Field Training program for his doctoral dissertation, surveying agencies that adopted it to examine its impact on recruit retention, problem solving, and performance.