I taught my first Advanced FTO course at the Montgomery County, MD, Police Department in the mid 1990s. The course began at 7 a.m. About 6:45, to my surprise, the "brass" started arriving. My "contact person" soon came over and explained that the chief always begins their internal FTO course by taking fifteen minutes or so to congratulate them for completing the FTO selection process and thank them for becoming FTOs. With two deputy chiefs standing behind her, she went on to talk about their importance and how much they are appreciated.
I had never heard a chief speak so eloquently about the significance of FTOs. She ended with the topic of role-modeling; stressing that FTOs have the ability to mold the culture of the patrol division into a cynical, bitter group of people or be a major force in shaping a culture in which everyone benefits. The last thing I actually wrote down. It was "You are a dominate force for creating the culture of our department today, and you are the leaders of our agency tomorrow. It would be impossible for me to value you more than I do. I will never forget those fifteen minutes because as the years have rolled by the importance of top administrators openly demonstrating their commitment to something has become more and more apparent. So have the consequences of not doing so.
I am fully aware that a chief or sheriff is bombarded with a multitude of daily issues and challenges. To raise attention to a true need and garner support to improvement it is necessary for a memo to be concise, direct and clear on how the department will benefit from what you recommend. What follows is my view of what a memorandum urging the FTO program receive enhanced support should say.
To: Chief or Sheriff
From: FTO Coordinator Trautman
Subject: Solution to Major Problems
This memo recommends the immediate approval of a countermeasure that will improve or prevent several significant problems; poor morale, misconduct, negligence and the potential for civil suits. The countermeasure is a well-developed, multifaceted plan to use the FTO program to address and enhance the following significant concerns.
Poor Morale
As you know, poor morale is a nationwide law enforcement problem. While most departments simply tolerate and endure the consequences, our department can gain the commitment of our FTOs to actively counteract morale and support the administration.
Misconduct
Because role-modeling is the most influential way to alter behavior, enhancing both respect for the program and the FTO selection procedures will provide the agency with a valuable tool for offsetting a culture of the lack of self-accountability. In addition, FTOs can begin teaching ethics to new officers.
Negligence
Several of the proposed revisions to the program will result in having the best of our patrol officers replacing FTOs who should not be in such a powerful position. This will result in more effective instruction and higher quality daily evaluations.
Preventing Civil Suits
It is unlikely that our current program would meet national training standards if a civil lawsuit alleged failure to train or improper training. This would be financially and politically devastating to the department. Our program will exceed these standards after the recommended improvements are made.
Additional benefits of enhancing the program include:
- Daily evaluations provide the documentation required for terminating poor officers, so we do not hire a 20-year problem.
- FTOs develop more productive new officers in a shorter time period.
- The program is the most effective way to teach and ensure "buy in" for departmental goals, regulations and other important aspects of employment.
- The program is the most effective way to identify and counteract the undesirable work ethic some new officers now have.
Lastly, I recommend our department set the goal of having the best FTO program in the state by this time next year. Doing so would bring about several value achievements that would please elected officials and citizens, as they can be equated as a sizeable savings of funding. These include:
- Improving officer retention by enhancing morale,
- Preventing and defending civil suits by meeting and exceeding national training standards.
In addition, setting the goal to have the state's best FTO program will put us in the enviable position of being able to acquire positive local publicity and notoriety among other law enforcement agencies, statewide.
The recommended program changes will focus on enhancing FTO selection, improving respect toward the program, meeting the national standard for FTO compensation, establishing standards for FTO performance and having monthly meetings. There will only be two costs involved: ensuring that FTOs receive a 5% increased compensation when they are training recruits, and any overtime expense from monthly FTO meetings.
These costs are relatively minor when compared to the benefits, as the majority of required resources are simply hard work, which I am willing to provide without cost.
Respectfully submitted,
