SPD Hero Field Training Officer LD Whitfield: Patrol Officers are Ambassadors for the Department

Here is another Hero the Smyrna Heroes Gala 9.8.12 supports: SPD Hero, Field Training Officer (FTO) LD Whitfield: Patrol Officers are Ambassadors for the Department

LD Whitfield (“Whit”) has a long history of public service.  In fact, he always wanted a career in public safety.  He began just out of high school at 18, joining the military where he trained in communications and radio encryption, among other specialties.  He served in Afghanistan during Enduring Freedom.  He is also an award-winning sharpshooter, and a real asset to the SPD.

With 14 years of police service now, 7 years in Smyrna, Whitfield carries a full load as a Field Training Officer (FTO).  He trains rookies in police procedures and safety.  He also teaches law at the Academy, instructing rookies how to apply the law.  It’s his chance, he said, to share his knowledge, to “give back to the new officers.”

The people he trains, the patrol officers, are “the backbone of the department,” he claims.  “They’re our first line to the community; patrol officers are the first to make contact with the victim.”  As such they are ambassadors for the Department, Whitfield believes, and he takes care in training these officers carefully and fully.

Like other police officers, Whitfield appreciates the camaraderie in the SPD.  They work out together in the same gym, they swap stories, they laugh.  Most of his friends belong to the force.  “They understand ‘this,’” says Whitfield.  The “this” to which he refers is what life is like for a police officer, that which cannot be easily explained to others and need not be explained among themselves.  

Whitfield would like to become a detective in narcotics.  Currently his responsibility in a case tends to end when the detectives take over.  “I’d like to see a case through,” he related.  “There’s nothing like starting a case file, investigating from start to finish, from top to bottom.”  In short, he wants to ‘own the case.”

He’s learned to “trust my instincts,” he reported.  “If something doesn’t feel right, stand by, ask for background, access the situation.”  His skill in reading body language is another tool he uses to “read” each situation, evaluate it, and proceed.

Thank you FTO Whitfield for using your skills for the betterment of our community.