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Wish My FTO Had Told Me
Skip the political correctness.
William Harvey has served as chief of police for 12 years in Pennsylvania and 22 years with the Savannah (Ga.) Police Department. He is an Advisory Board member of the International Law Enforcement Trainers and Educators Association (
ileeta.org).
By William Harvey
advice, chats or training scenarios. It is not the ‘war story’ but the moral of the lesson that needs to be retained. Tell them at the be- ginning to avoid the ‘nobody told me about this’ excuse. Your retention numbers and budget should be rewarded for your efforts. We all know that police departments do not run off of electricity and petrol but
Every year chiefs and sheriffs across the nation are faced with stretching their budgets and making ends meet. Let me offer you some insights that potentially can save you several thousands of dollars. When you research how much it costs to hire, equip and train an offi cer to solo status, hiring is a huge investment for any department. Stop the madness and waste of money, perform a reality check and review your last terminations or 11:59 resignations (you will be fi red at noon but it is 11:59 so you can resign). Not preparing your youngest offi cers to face the realities of the job can be draining your budget, not counting public humiliation and loss of creditability. I would start reviewing the Field Training Offi cer (FTO) program. Through the years, we have placed more topics and demands on our FTOs and some important topics have been diluted or eliminated. In years past, we had sage FTOs who could spend time offering warnings regarding the pitfalls and perils of law en- forcement. Through time, some of these pearls of wisdom have been passed over to human resources or removed by the HR or legal department. Due to the sensitive nature of our litigious society, some topics are not mentioned in fear of reprisals. Most offi cers of my era received ‘the talk’ from somebody up the chain of command. Now it would be deemed inappro- priate for today’s standards. Due to this, some chiefs/sheriffs prefer to issue written welcome letters to each new offi cer with their expectations of the offi cer’s ethical behavior and standards for him/her to achieve success.
Now, these letters and HR staff presentations are docu- mented and used as legal ammunition when bad behavior and performance occur. Fact check: Most new offi cers never read these letters despite making them sign that they have read and understand them.
My additional recommendation is for staff members to offer 54 LAW and ORDER I June 2015
rather rumor and epic locker room stories. There is a story for every one of the following situations; only the names change, but the results are still tragic career enders. My recommendation is that if your department has not had one of these scenarios yet, then you are fortunate. Give it some time and one or more will eventually arrive upon your doorstep.
Use these scenarios to teach and hopefully prevent a career collapse of a young offi cer. I have mentioned why we need to have these conversations, for there is a direct correlation be- tween budget and departmental integrity. So let’s start with some vignettes for ‘the talk’ or the short list of what your FTO should have warned you about.
Lying and Brady Disclosure Everyone has heard of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and the Federal Rule of Giglio v. U.S., 450 (1972). In a nut- shell, it consists of exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant. The prosecutor must disclose evidence or information that would prove the innocence of the defendant or would enable the defense to more effec- tively impeach the credibility of government witnesses. If an offi cer has ever lost his/her credibility in the court and/or committed past sins that cast a shadow on his/her personal integrity, then your dirty laundry must be disclosed. In many states, it is as simple as this: If you lie, you will lose certifi cation and your job. We are professionals; we don’t lie to get the job done. Omissions and liability are a close kin as well.
When we as supervisors are allowing inappropriate and/ or improper actions to occur in our presence or have the knowledge of and failed to correct, we are then culpable. In cases regarding departmental conduct, institutional practices and discipline, the leadership will be on the stand as well. The entire department’s integrity and public opinion can be
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