Posted on 12/18/2018 3:08:22 PM PST by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
Picture a typical firefighter. Who comes to mind? If you imagined a white man, that’s understandable: 96% of U.S. career firefighters are men, and 82% are white. This homogeneity is striking, especially when you compare it to the U.S. military, which is 85% men and 60% white, and local police forces, which are 88% men and 73% white.
Many fire departments recognize that their lack of diversity as a problem and say they’re committed to increasing racial and gender diversity. “We have to diversify, because it actually improves our organization. It helps us address the needs of the public better,” says Derek Alkonis, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) assistant chief. Ralph Terrazas, chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD), agrees: “[We] will provide a higher level of service to the communities we serve when the people of that department respect the culture, language and beliefs of the people within that community.”
But what’s the actual path for departments achieving more diversity? And if they do so, will their members embrace how it improves their organization?
Answering these questions requires a closer look at two factors: what firefighters’ work actually consists of and what departments are currently doing to address diversity in their ranks. The answers suggest we need a new model for leaders.
Ha! It’s triggered lady!
When my home is on fire, I certainly hope the first responders will include a transsexual, at least one trans-species, small women, the disabled, one or two elderly firefighters, and a whole rainbow of black and brown people of color. Worrying about skills, muscle mass, and training is so last century.
Same as gender... Give me the best!!
#9. I assume that Allred was rescued from a fire and dragged by her feet out of the building. DeBump, DeBump, DeBump!
That would account for her being a nasty ambulance-chasing wackojob, the female equivalent of the Creepy Porn Lawyer.
How many women can handle a 1 1/2 inch fire hose? Or carry an adult (or teenager) out of a burning building?
Damm few.
as long as they hire paraplegics and the blind ONLY for ‘liberal’ and ‘socialist’ neighborhoods.
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