There is an article in this morning’s Cincinnati Inquirer about a city firefighter who was arrested and charged Monday with theft and possession of drug abuse instruments. The story describes the activity leading to the arrest:
(Thomas) Mason, 26, is accused of trying to return $129 worth of drill bits that had just been stolen by another person, for which he got store credit. Once in custody, Mason consented to a search of his car, in which deputies found a spoon and syringe, both with heroin residue on them, the records show.
This pride of the department has been on the FD for three years and is now suspended without pay pending the legal proceedings.
But this item was just the hook for the main part of the story which details a continuing problem in the Cincinnati FD with firefighters committing criminal acts. In a 3-year span from Jan. 1, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2007, there were 66 firefighters who had either been arrested for a variety of crimes or had been disciplined for breaking FD rules such as failing to maintain vehicle insurance. While the numbers for 2008 are not available yet, the reporter used the newspaper archive to list several very serious offenses committed by CFD firefighters during the past year.
Once again (it has happened before), the city manager has sent a memo to Fire Chief Robert Wright asking him what is going on, is the department out of control, and what is he doing about it? Chief Wright, who doesn’t come across as being very effective in all this, has gone public asking the citizens to not judge the department “by a few bad apples.” Which exposes the seat of the problem right there. Why do they have bad apples in the first place?
When you have that much criminal activity going on within an employee group that is supposedly screened before they are hired, it is apparent that the employment standards are set too low to begin with. To put it bluntly, they’re hiring a bunch of crapheads in the first place. Asking the fire chief what he’s “going to do about it” is nothing more than an attempt to skirt responsibility for the seat of the problem, the hiring standards.
This attitude is brought to light in the fire chief’s statement after pointing out that in the last year they have implemented random drug testing and annual criminal background checks on all FF’s: “I have to be careful about treading on their personal lives as long as they are able, sober and capable of doing work citizens expect.”
Really? Why?? We’re talking about people who are being employed and given undisputed authority to roam unsupervised through citizens’ houses. And he claims that he can’t look into their character before and during their employment on the job? There’s the problem right in front of their face.
The whole country is going through an economic cycle now that is increasing the numbers of people who are out of work and looking for a job. I recall the last time we had this situation in the late 1970′s and we had people stopping by firehouses all the time wanting to know how they can get a job in the fire department. You’re going to see some of that again this year, especially when the job-seekers find out what the pay and benefits are in most FD’s. For places like Cincinnati, this is a good opportunity to raise the hiring standards, both physical and moral, and start replenishing the workforce with people who are less-likely to turn to crime as a part-time job. Do you think they will? I’m not holding my breath.
Alright, let’s get this equipment checked out. I’m going to make some coffee.
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