New on here and have a question!

[King4904]

This is my first post here so go easy everyone!
I understand the situation I am about to unveil has probably already been addressed/discussed but I feel that my situation may be different than those. Sorry it is so long!!!

I was promoted to officer by a medium sized department in June 2007. I passed FTO with only a few very minor discrepancies, (paperwork issues, they were soon corrected after getting out on my own). The day before the end of my probation in June 2008, I was told that I had the choice to resign or be terminated! The reason was supposedly because my self initiation numbers (citations, warrant arrests, etc) were not as high as they wanted. They were in the middle and I guess they wanted me on the top the list. I made A LOT of traffic stops and did my share of investigating during those stops sometime with success and sometime with none. I AM NOT OR HAVE NEVER BEEN A LAZY GUY!!! But I am afraid that is the way it sounds. Thats the way it goes!! During my probationary period I was told that I performed in an excellent fashion in ALL OTHER AREAS (report writing, time management, tactics, officer safety, geography, suspect/subject control, etc) except just that one.

I was caught off guard and it truthfully destroyed me! I KNOW I am a good officer (as told by fellow co-workers and even management/supervisors) but I guess it was just a conflict of interest. I departed with an excellent rapport with everyone in the dept, from the Chief all the way down. Management told me they take care of me and "make sure I would get another job somewhere."

Currently, I am in the process of filling out countless applications and taking dept tests. I have not had that much luck thus far but I hope it comes soon. Basically, I am kind of getting discouraged! But then I think to myself that I was born to be a Police Officer, and I will not give up. Also, it makes it a little difficult because I am a bit "confined" in where I can apply. I live in the Twin Cities area and unfortunately that is where the most competition is. I recently won joint custody of my daughter (after nearly $14,000 in attorney fees and court costs... and its still not completely over), so that is the reason why I cannot take a job that is terribly far from home.

I just wanted to share my story with the forum. To show some that it does even happen to officers that are done with FTO. If anyone has any questions, criticism (positive, negative or constructive) words of encouragement, please feel free to share them.

[chiefcop]

King4904,
Well, don't let it get you down. I as well have had a similar expereince a long time ago. I am aware that some agencies, for whatever reason, LIKE officers to fail out of FTO. Not sure of the reasoning for dumping a good officer.
The department spent a lot of time and money in to recruiting, testing,interviewing, medical exam, pshcy, poly, uniform, academy, and training you then say bye. Does not make a lot of sense does it?

You seem to know what you want and how to get it. As said in other posts, maybe this is not the right place for you and for some unknown reason now, you will be picked up on another dept. Keep up a good attitued and move on.

I have gone from a tough time at the beginning of my career to becoming a chief of police.......keep your chin up and fill out those applications.

[jsc0288]

Doesn't sound right. They could of just gave you another week or two of training if that's what you needed. It must be something else that you did. When your a rookie in training, you are hesitent becuase your're still leaning. Either your FTO didn't like you, or that department is messed up.

[King4904]

Thanks for the replies JSC and Chiefcop.

JSC, I know it doesnt seem right but that is all there is too it! Trust me, it does not make sense to me at all either, I am still trying to figure it out. Although I have already washed my hands of the situation and moved on. Even though I do not agree with their decision, I respect their decision and the department. I am not "bitter" towards them in any respect. I finished FTO approximately 6 months before this happened so I doubt that my FTO not liking me had anything to do with what happened, although anything is possible. I just want to rely on my experience and what I learned and move on.

Thanks again for the words guys!

[LA DEP]

It could be that you dont 'fit the mold' for that agency......there are more than a few agencies here in the LA area that are notorious for doing exactly what you described.....

[jsc0288]

Thanks for the replies JSC and Chiefcop.

JSC, I know it doesnt seem right but that is all there is too it! Trust me, it does not make sense to me at all either, I am still trying to figure it out. Although I have already washed my hands of the situation and moved on. Even though I do not agree with their decision, I respect their decision and the department. I am not "bitter" towards them in any respect. I finished FTO approximately 6 months before this happened so I doubt that my FTO not liking me had anything to do with what happened, although anything is possible. I just want to rely on my experience and what I learned and move on.

Thanks again for the words guys!

Either way good luck to you and don't give up. I've only been on for 7 years, but trust me upper managment is screwed up everywhere. The grass is never greener.

[L223]

WOW...I have heard of guys getting transfered to crappy areas, put on different squads, have counseling sessions, put into busy "rookie" beats, for low productivity, but fired!?!?!?!?!?! And what you are describing doesnt even sound like low productivity. Sounds to me like you ran your calls, wrote some "stats", and did your job. Good luck to you bro, I will tell the guys at my station complaining about stats that it could be alot worse.

[WTPD3534]

King4904,

I know it sucks to be going through the situation you are in right now. It may not be much comfort, but you aren't the only person that has had to go through this kind of thing. I have been through nearly the exact same deal except it was for the opposite reason.

I was hired on my home town police department back in 2004. It was a small town dept with only 23 officers, most of whom were not big into proactive police work and wanted to do as little as possible.

Like you I made it through my FTO with no problems, I was released early as a matter of fact. I even had a new officer right out of the academy put to ride with me for training. When it comes to one week before my year probation was to be over, I get called into the chief's office and am told my probation is being terminated "because it just didn't work out."

I was devastated, I couldn't believe what had just happened. No official answers or reasons were given to me. I was told by my Sgt. later on that certain people in the administration felt I was too aggressive as I had higher stats than the rest of the department. How is that for a kick in the pants!?

After I had gathered myself back together I ended up going into the Army to fulfill a great regret I always had about my life. I graduated MP School as the Distinguished Leadership Graduate and did 2 years stateside in Georgia.

Fast forward to today I got out of the Army last week and just picked up my equipment and badge for one of the largest and most progressive Sheriff's Dept's in South Carolina. I go to a 3 week lateral academy next week and then I'm back on the street.

The moral of the story is don't give up, and just because you don't fit in at one department doesn't mean you're not cut out of being a police officer. Keep your head up and keep applying, it will take time but you will manage to get back on your feet. Sometimes you end up in a better position as well.