Day 22 of 30: Terminate or Remediate?
At Harbor Point Residences, a 30-day field training program pairs each new officer with a certified Field Training Officer (FTO) who writes a Daily Observation Report (DOR). Officer D., a nine-year veteran from another state, is on day 22. His DORs show three 'needs improvement' entries for report writing and one for radio procedure, but no remediation plan, no signed counseling entry, and no mid-program review. The FTO recommends termination, writing that D. is 'not getting it' and 'has a bad attitude.' D. says no one told him he was at risk and that the FTO spent most of two shifts on personal phone calls. The client's property manager has separately asked that D. be removed after a tenant complaint about a parking dispute. The company's field training policy allows one 10-day extension and requires documented remediation before any termination recommendation.
1. Is termination defensible on this file? Identify what the record supports and what is missing, and what you would do before any decision.
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On this file, termination is not defensible. The DORs document four 'needs improvement' entries, which is evidence of deficiency but not of fair process. Missing: a remediation plan, a signed counseling entry, a mid-program review, measurable criteria for each DOR item, and any response from the trainee. 'Not getting it' and 'bad attitude' are conclusions, not observable behaviors. If D. grieves, the company would have to explain why a nine-year veteran was terminated at day 22 without ever being told in writing that his job was at risk.
Before deciding:
- Read every DOR against the task list. Are the same tasks repeated? Were they rated on a scale with defined anchors?
- Check signatures and dates - did D. see and sign each report?
- Interview the FTO and D. separately. Ask the FTO for specific examples of the report failures and the attitude issue; ask D. what feedback he received and when.
- Review the actual reports and radio recordings rather than the ratings alone.
- Check whether the FTO's phone use is corroborated - it affects the FTO's credibility and the reliability of the reports.
The file supports a decision point, not a termination. You have grounds to extend with remediation, and possibly grounds to investigate the FTO.
2. Choose among termination, remediation with extension, or reassignment, and build a 10-day remediation plan with measurable exit criteria.
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Choose the 10-day extension with a written remediation plan. Policy allows one, and the record does not yet support termination. Reassignment to another site would not solve the performance problem and would look like a way to avoid process.
- Days 1–3: report writing. One report per shift on a real incident, reviewed against a checklist (elements, times, names, actions taken, disposition, grammar). Target: three consecutive reports meeting every checklist item.
- Days 4–6: radio procedure. Ten scripted transmissions per shift, scored for identification, brevity, and protocol. Target: 9 of 10 correct.
- Days 7–8: integrated scenarios combining report and radio (a tenant dispute), observed by a different FTO to reduce single-rater bias.
- Days 9–10: final evaluation on the same DOR scale plus a written knowledge check.
Requirements: daily written feedback signed by D. and the FTO; a midpoint review at day 5; clearly stated consequences; and a different FTO or co-FTO for at least half the shifts, because the current ratings may be compromised.
Exit criteria are behavioral and dated. If D. meets them, he completes the program. If not, termination is now defensible because the file shows notice, support, opportunity, and a measured outcome.
3. How do you handle the client's request that D. be removed, and what does the FTO issue tell you about the program?
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Client: do not promise removal and do not ignore the request. Tell the property manager that D. is in a structured field training program, that his assignment is supervised, and that you will confirm the outcome in writing by a specific date. Offer an interim measure - pairing him with a senior officer on that post, or keeping him off it - if it does not undermine the training plan. Then deliver on the date. A client who feels heard is less likely to escalate to your account manager or the contract.
FTO issue: one FTO's unsupported ratings and possible phone use is a program-level warning. Three actions:
- Audit a sample of DORs from every FTO for specificity, anchored ratings, and signature.
- Recalibrate: a workshop using recorded scenarios so FTOs rate the same behavior consistently, then compare scores.
- Add a mid-program review and a second-rater check to policy, so no trainee reaches day 22 without a documented conversation about standing.
Also review FTO selection and compensation. If FTO duty is unpaid extra work, phone use and thin documentation are predictable, and the program will keep producing indefensible files.