Performance
Evaluation
Report
Evaluation
Report
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| Copyright © 2006 - 2008 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
From the beginning to the end of your police career, your work
performance will be continually evaluated through some form of written
evaluation procedure. Today, most police departments are beginning
that evaluation of your actual work performance before the end of your
academy training with a Field Training Officer program.
Let's say your academy training is six months in duration. During the
second half of that time, you may be assigned to an FTO (Field Training
Officer) where part of your training will consist of actual police work
where you'll be performing as a fully functional police officer. Here's
where you'll first become familiar with performance evaluation reports.
Some police departments will do a much better job at creating and
maintaining standards for their performance evaluation reports than
others. However, no matter how objective performance evaluations are
purported to be, it usually comes down to one individual rating the work
performance of another individual.
Early in my career a young officer approached me seeking advice. The
officer, in the middle of his first year probationary period, had received
an unsatisfactory quarterly performance evaluation from his sergeant.
A second consecutive unsatisfactory evaluation would mean
termination, so he was obviously concerned. While I didn't work with
the officer, I'd never heard anyone speak negatively about him. His
sergeant, on the other hand, was a different story. The sergeant had, on
several occasions, asked me to transfer to his squad. While the offers
were complimentary, I wasn't about to accept the invitation since I
personally viewed the sergeant as a sadist.
That sergeant's high regard for me ended abruptly one day after I
became involved in a deadly force situation. While I would have been
perfectly justified in shooting a suspect, things happened rapidly, and I
ended up apprehending the suspect without using deadly force. After
learning the details of my incident, the sergeant promptly confronted
me, and, with a plethora of insulting comments, he dis-invited me from
joining his squad. I simply made notes documenting the sergeant's rude
and sadistic comments and tucked them away just in case, sometime in
the future, someone would try to put me under that sergeant's
supervision. In contrast, my sergeant was extremely pleased that I was
able to resolve the situation without using deadly force, and his opinion
was the one that counted.
Back to that young officer. I advised him to seek a meeting with his
lieutenant, via the chain of command, and ask to be supervised by
another sergeant for his next quarterly evaluation. He followed my
advice. His lieutenant denied his request, and he subsequently received
his next evaluation from the same sergeant. Not surprisingly, he
received the second unsatisfactory evaluation, and his employment was
terminated. I don't know what ever happened to that officer. If he ever
did apply to another police agency, those unsatisfactory evaluations
would have dimmed his prospects for employment considerably.
It would be nice if a truly objective performance evaluation report
existed. Now, I'd get plenty of arguments from some people who
contend they do exist, but that view would just be the subjective opinion
of those people. Do you get my point? Where ever a person's
objectivity is a primary factor for any procedure, the objectivity of that
procedure becomes questionable.
The only real importance of the performance evaluation report lies in
addressing unsatisfactory performance. If the goal is truly objectivity,
there should only be two categories for performance... satisfactory and
unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory should be easy to address since verifiable
facts and circumstances should exist to easily articulate the basis for a
rating of unsatisfactory performance. When negative facts and
circumstances are absent, the satisfactory rating leaves no room for
subjective opinion.
Oh, well, there's nothing simple in life... or police work. It's more than
likely that your performance evaluation report will have some
complexity. While a written directive should exist to describe how to
interpret and apply different categories, it's a given that the more
categories which exist to rate performance will dictate the variations in
interpretation and application exercised by individual raters.
As should be expected, your performance evaluation will enjoy a fairly
high level of confidentiality. While the subject material should have
restricted access for a variety of reasons, can you imagine the
displeasure and pure dissension that would be created within your squad
if everyone could compare their performance evaluations?
Fortunately, your performance evaluations will have little, if any,
impact on your career as long as you remain satisfactory or above. In
fact, you could well work for a supervisor who has never supervised
anyone who he or she believes excels beyond the satisfactory, or
average, level. Most of the time, supervisors who consistently rate
people low are themselves recipients of performance evaluations on the
low end of the scale.
You might ask that since performance evaluations are so seemingly
unreliable, why have them at all? It's simply a matter of discipline and
control. For any supervisor who takes the performance evaluation
seriously, it can be a valuable tool to address your deficiencies as well as
show recognition for your strengths. Even though you'll be a prejudiced
reviewer of your evaluation, as long as your supervisor makes a real
effort to fairly, objectively, and accurately rate your performance,
negative or positive, you'll be able to instantly recognize that your
supervisor has a pretty good understanding of your strengths and
weaknesses. When this circumstance exists, the performance
evaluation can have a real and positive effect on your personal
development.
performance will be continually evaluated through some form of written
evaluation procedure. Today, most police departments are beginning
that evaluation of your actual work performance before the end of your
academy training with a Field Training Officer program.
Let's say your academy training is six months in duration. During the
second half of that time, you may be assigned to an FTO (Field Training
Officer) where part of your training will consist of actual police work
where you'll be performing as a fully functional police officer. Here's
where you'll first become familiar with performance evaluation reports.
Some police departments will do a much better job at creating and
maintaining standards for their performance evaluation reports than
others. However, no matter how objective performance evaluations are
purported to be, it usually comes down to one individual rating the work
performance of another individual.
Early in my career a young officer approached me seeking advice. The
officer, in the middle of his first year probationary period, had received
an unsatisfactory quarterly performance evaluation from his sergeant.
A second consecutive unsatisfactory evaluation would mean
termination, so he was obviously concerned. While I didn't work with
the officer, I'd never heard anyone speak negatively about him. His
sergeant, on the other hand, was a different story. The sergeant had, on
several occasions, asked me to transfer to his squad. While the offers
were complimentary, I wasn't about to accept the invitation since I
personally viewed the sergeant as a sadist.
That sergeant's high regard for me ended abruptly one day after I
became involved in a deadly force situation. While I would have been
perfectly justified in shooting a suspect, things happened rapidly, and I
ended up apprehending the suspect without using deadly force. After
learning the details of my incident, the sergeant promptly confronted
me, and, with a plethora of insulting comments, he dis-invited me from
joining his squad. I simply made notes documenting the sergeant's rude
and sadistic comments and tucked them away just in case, sometime in
the future, someone would try to put me under that sergeant's
supervision. In contrast, my sergeant was extremely pleased that I was
able to resolve the situation without using deadly force, and his opinion
was the one that counted.
Back to that young officer. I advised him to seek a meeting with his
lieutenant, via the chain of command, and ask to be supervised by
another sergeant for his next quarterly evaluation. He followed my
advice. His lieutenant denied his request, and he subsequently received
his next evaluation from the same sergeant. Not surprisingly, he
received the second unsatisfactory evaluation, and his employment was
terminated. I don't know what ever happened to that officer. If he ever
did apply to another police agency, those unsatisfactory evaluations
would have dimmed his prospects for employment considerably.
It would be nice if a truly objective performance evaluation report
existed. Now, I'd get plenty of arguments from some people who
contend they do exist, but that view would just be the subjective opinion
of those people. Do you get my point? Where ever a person's
objectivity is a primary factor for any procedure, the objectivity of that
procedure becomes questionable.
The only real importance of the performance evaluation report lies in
addressing unsatisfactory performance. If the goal is truly objectivity,
there should only be two categories for performance... satisfactory and
unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory should be easy to address since verifiable
facts and circumstances should exist to easily articulate the basis for a
rating of unsatisfactory performance. When negative facts and
circumstances are absent, the satisfactory rating leaves no room for
subjective opinion.
Oh, well, there's nothing simple in life... or police work. It's more than
likely that your performance evaluation report will have some
complexity. While a written directive should exist to describe how to
interpret and apply different categories, it's a given that the more
categories which exist to rate performance will dictate the variations in
interpretation and application exercised by individual raters.
As should be expected, your performance evaluation will enjoy a fairly
high level of confidentiality. While the subject material should have
restricted access for a variety of reasons, can you imagine the
displeasure and pure dissension that would be created within your squad
if everyone could compare their performance evaluations?
Fortunately, your performance evaluations will have little, if any,
impact on your career as long as you remain satisfactory or above. In
fact, you could well work for a supervisor who has never supervised
anyone who he or she believes excels beyond the satisfactory, or
average, level. Most of the time, supervisors who consistently rate
people low are themselves recipients of performance evaluations on the
low end of the scale.
You might ask that since performance evaluations are so seemingly
unreliable, why have them at all? It's simply a matter of discipline and
control. For any supervisor who takes the performance evaluation
seriously, it can be a valuable tool to address your deficiencies as well as
show recognition for your strengths. Even though you'll be a prejudiced
reviewer of your evaluation, as long as your supervisor makes a real
effort to fairly, objectively, and accurately rate your performance,
negative or positive, you'll be able to instantly recognize that your
supervisor has a pretty good understanding of your strengths and
weaknesses. When this circumstance exists, the performance
evaluation can have a real and positive effect on your personal
development.