I have been in the FTO program for just under 5 months of what should have been a 3 month process. I was struggling a little in phase 3, so my FTO told me he recommended I stayed with him for 2 more weeks since he was seeing a vast improvement and just wanted to make sure it stayed before releasing me to go solo. However, the department thought differently and put me down for a full month with a new FTO for a remedial phase.
during this remedial phase, my FTO and I did not “click” at all. Over the course of the month he referred to me as “lazy”, “incapable of policing”, and “argumentative”. At one point half way through my month he pulled me aside and told me he would recommend I be dropped from the department. (Important to note this FTO is a Department Golden Boy i.e. he finds a lot of drugs and has been working here for 20+ years, so his recommendation carries some weight in the eyes of upper brass.) after he told me he would recommend I be dropped, he drove the rest of the phase and didn’t allow me to try and improve.
At the end of the month I was given one final chance at FTO, and was told I needed to improve my scores greatly or face termination. I did just that. I got a new FTO and it’s like a switch finally flipped. I made almost no mistakes and was operating on a mostly solo level. My FTO repeatedly told me he didn’t know why I was in remedial and that he would recommend me for going solo after his month. Not once did he refer to me as lazy or argumentative.
Near the end of the month, with just one day left in my final phase, I got pulled into the training captains office and was handed a termination notice. This came completely out of the blue and my only excuse given was “my scores were still too low” which was completely false as my scores were near perfect at that point. After I had some time to think things over and finished panicking as I was now unemployed with no warning I requested a meeting with my police chief to get some clarity on the decision to fire me.
During the meeting the chief told me that he personally spoke with all 5 of my FTOs and they all said that I was “unsavable” “lazy” and “not cut out for this department”. I brought up that I was operating almost completely by myself in my last phase, and he told me that my FTO must have had a communication issue with me because he personally told the chief that I wouldn’t make it.
After leaving the meeting I messaged my FTOs and asked them to clarify what issues they told the chief I was having, and was met with confusion. Turns out the chief never asked them about me at all. They all thought I was ready for eval, and had no idea I was facing termination. The only excuse the chief gave for firing me was almost word for word what one FTO told him, and he took that as gospel and lied to my face.
I know I should say something to someone about what happened, but I don’t want to be blacklisted for other departments I apply at. Any advice?
during this remedial phase, my FTO and I did not “click” at all. Over the course of the month he referred to me as “lazy”, “incapable of policing”, and “argumentative”. At one point half way through my month he pulled me aside and told me he would recommend I be dropped from the department. (Important to note this FTO is a Department Golden Boy i.e. he finds a lot of drugs and has been working here for 20+ years, so his recommendation carries some weight in the eyes of upper brass.) after he told me he would recommend I be dropped, he drove the rest of the phase and didn’t allow me to try and improve.
At the end of the month I was given one final chance at FTO, and was told I needed to improve my scores greatly or face termination. I did just that. I got a new FTO and it’s like a switch finally flipped. I made almost no mistakes and was operating on a mostly solo level. My FTO repeatedly told me he didn’t know why I was in remedial and that he would recommend me for going solo after his month. Not once did he refer to me as lazy or argumentative.
Near the end of the month, with just one day left in my final phase, I got pulled into the training captains office and was handed a termination notice. This came completely out of the blue and my only excuse given was “my scores were still too low” which was completely false as my scores were near perfect at that point. After I had some time to think things over and finished panicking as I was now unemployed with no warning I requested a meeting with my police chief to get some clarity on the decision to fire me.
During the meeting the chief told me that he personally spoke with all 5 of my FTOs and they all said that I was “unsavable” “lazy” and “not cut out for this department”. I brought up that I was operating almost completely by myself in my last phase, and he told me that my FTO must have had a communication issue with me because he personally told the chief that I wouldn’t make it.
After leaving the meeting I messaged my FTOs and asked them to clarify what issues they told the chief I was having, and was met with confusion. Turns out the chief never asked them about me at all. They all thought I was ready for eval, and had no idea I was facing termination. The only excuse the chief gave for firing me was almost word for word what one FTO told him, and he took that as gospel and lied to my face.
I know I should say something to someone about what happened, but I don’t want to be blacklisted for other departments I apply at. Any advice?
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