More troulbe for Bridgeport Ct fire Dept

City of Bridgeport Fire Dept is set to hire minority Firefighter candidate spent time in jail for murder with full backing of International Association of Black Firefighters and Mayor John Fabrizi’s office.


.The City of Bridgeport Civil Service Commission granted 9 convicted Felons who were all minorities’ Firefighter candidates’ appeals on the 2002 to present Firefighter exam at there June 1,2004 Meeting.

. The 9 convicted Felons Firefighter candidates are set to be hire November / January Firefighter recruit class.

. One of convicted Felons Firefighter candidates Number # 10 on the hiring list Earl King Jr. was getaway drive of the murder of Karren Clarke and her son BJ Brown who was brutally murder by heads of green top gang the Peelers brothers. The Peelers brothers brutally murder young mother and her son with two City of Bridgeport CT police officers Parked in front of her house.

. Karren Clarke and her son BJ Brown was set to testify against Russel Peeler JR for murder of Karren Clarke Finance Rudy Snead .Green top gang then killed Karren Clarke and her son BJ Brown execution style.

. The heads of International Association of Black Firefighters Northeast Donald Day, Ron Mackey and a member of Mayor John Fabrizi’s office spoke on Earl King JR behalf.

. City of Bridgeport Civil Service Commission voted 4 votes to 0 granting Earl King jr appeal for Firefighter job with City of Bridgeport Fire Dept.

.4 minority’s and one white male make up the City of Bridgeport Civil Service Commission.

.City of Bridgeport personnel Director John C. Colligan put his retirement papers in the next day and is set to retire on July 1 ,2004

.City of Bridgeport charter states no candidate with a felon will be appointed to Bridgeport Fire Dept.

. City of Bridgeport Civil Service Commission refused to hear 19 white Firefighter candidates who were appealing the whole City of Bridgeport Civil Service Firefighter test process at the same June 1,2004 meeting .


. The testing for 2002 to present City of Bridgeport Firefighter has been screw up from the start.

. City of Bridgeport Fire Chief Michael Magloine used a all minority recruit team run by International Association of Black Firefighters Northeast Donald Day, Ron Mackey.

. The all minority recruit team reused to recruit White males and also denied white male applications to take Firefighter exam.

. The city of Bridgeport used Dr James Outtzs a government approved firm which specializes in manipulating Fire oral exam results in order to grant passing grades to the largest number of non white.

. All of white candidates who scored high on written exam all received low oral scores and are bottom of hiring list.

.All of minority candidates who scored very low on the written scored high on oral exam and is on the top of the hiring list.

. Dr James Outtzs a black male stated in court he graded the oral exam for City of Bridgeport firefighter by the person color. He used three score sheets.

. 19 White Firefighter candidates filed two Federal lawsuits against City of Bridgeport and City of Bridgeport Fire Dept seeking total of 100 million dollars.

. 19 White Firefighter candidates hired high power law firm Williams and Pattis out of New Haven CT.

. The law firm Williams and Pattis is known for winning 3.2 Million dollar reverse reverse-discrimination lawsuit against City of Hartford Fire Dept and Chief Robert Dobson.

. Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim who was the mayor during most of test process was was convicted on 16 of 21 counts in the largest corruption case in recent state history.

. Mayor Joseph Ganim was convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, bribery conspiracy, mail fraud and filing a false tax return. Racketeering is the most serious charges and is now serving 20 years in Jail.

. 15 white candidates filed lawsuit in 1997 against last test giving by City of Bridgeport for same reason. City of Bridgeport settled that suite all 15 white candidates were hired.

.Its shame City of Bridgeport CT wills never learn. I feel for guys who work in Bridgeport Fire Dept .They put there lives on line every day for peanuts and now they have to worry about getting killed and robbed by convicted Felons and murders who they work with.

Is this the direction of the fire service? Hiring ex-convicts so that they can fulfill the quota of minorities? Just when we thought that running into burning buildings was dangerous... this is going to create an even more unsafe/hostile environment for firefighters. Before this is misinterpreted as being a racially motivated message... I do not condone any hiring of persons regardless of raced, creed, or gender if they are not suitable for the job of a firefighter. Each day we rely on each other with our lives, why would we lower our standards to appease a certain percentage? Long-term we are going to suffer the consequences of our current management's actions if this hiring pratice continues. A plead to the IAFF, NFPA... let's create a standard that allows fire department's to focus on hiring qualified candidates that are reliable, and want to be firefighters regardless of their race or gender.

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International Association of Black Firefighters

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Hmmm, does this seem a little discriminatory to anyone else? Imagine the howls of protest if there was a white firefighter association....

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Originally posted by SPFDRum


Hmmm, does this seem a little discriminatory to anyone else? Imagine the howls of protest if there was a white firefighter association....

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There is at least 1 white firefighter association that I know of and the organization can be found here http://www.cfdcaffa.com/ There is a story published by firehouse.com on this group and the story was on the website May 7, 2004 (Cleveland Fire Dept. Riddled With Racial Strife)

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There is at least 1 white firefighter association that I know of and the organization can be found here http://www.cfdcaffa.com/

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According to the site "The Concerned American Fire Fighters Association was started by Fire Fighters for ALL Fire Fighters regardless of race or gender to act as a "watch dog" group to attain "Fair Testing" for ALL fire fighters nationwide", I don't see how that makes it a white firefighter association.

Race need not be a factor, hire the most qualified candidate(s).

asnyder you have to read the article about what this group said and did. They go all the way back when the group formed in Chicago and mentioned instances. It is very interesting what goes on.

. Fire Chief Michael Maglione City of Bridgeport needs to learn from real Fire Chief like Houston Fire Chief Phil Boriske. Please see below
Staff

PEGGY O'HARE

Fire Chief Phil Boriskie will consider whether the Houston Fire Department's hiring procedures should be revamped after veteran firefighters raised concerns about the quality of cadets swelling the ranks in recent years.
For the past nine months, the city Inspector General's Office has been investigating the guidelines and practices of HFD's recruiting division.
At issue is whether applicants with questionable criminal histories are being allowed into the training academy as the department grapples with mass numbers of retirements and tries to keep four firefighters on each truck.
HFD veterans have raised questions about some firefighters they say shouldn't have been hired because of troubled backgrounds.

The scope of the perceived problem is unclear, however. The department, so far, has not released rosters and employment applications of cadets who passed through the training academy in the past year.
Longtime firefighters concerned with the issue could not provide the Chronicle with names of any cadets or recent hires with felony histories.
They did point out several who had been arrested for misdemeanors - such as Class A assault-bodily injury, unlawfully carrying a weapon and making a false report to police - and later received deferred adjudication, a form of community supervision that, if successfully completed, keeps a final conviction from appearing on record.
Boriskie, who was named fire chief in May, emphasized the issue is important.
"For obvious public safety reasons, we must have individuals of high quality and integrity in the Houston Fire Department," Boriskie said recently.
"As Houston firefighters, they intervene with citizens at the very worst moment of their lives. They're going into their homes. . . . So integrity plays an extremely important part of being with the Houston Fire Department."
Boriskie said he was told of the inquiry's initial findings Tuesday and expects to receive a formal report in four to six weeks. He declined to be specific, saying it would not be appropriate while the investigation is ongoing.
"Any problems that are uncovered will be dealt with in an expedient fashion," he said.
Boriskie will consider whether applicants' polygraphs and background investigations should continue being done by private companies outside the department or moved under the control of arson investigators, who handled such checks in years past.
Recruiters inside HFD inspect applicants' criminal histories based on fingerprint checks with law enforcement agencies. But outside companies investigate the applicants' character, employment history and living habits and administer polygraphs that touch on criminal history.
The latter tasks were outsourced two years ago as a cost-saving measure.
The shift occurred as HFD's hiring rate increased to a brisk pace of nearly 300 firefighters per year early this decade. The trend has gained momentum - last year, HFD hired more than 500 people. That many background checks and polygraphs would have overwhelmed the arson investigators, recruiting officials said.
Boriskie acknowledged the fire department loses a measure of control when it refers such duties to outside companies.
"We feel better policing ourselves," he said.
HFD has complete control, however, over who is hired and may choose to accept or overlook negative information supplied about a job candidate, according to the company that gives polygraphs to HFD applicants.
"We don't police the fire department," said Sidney Smith, general partner of Boyd, Smith and Associates, which administers the polygraphs. "We don't make hiring decisions for the fire department; they make their own decisions."
Last September, HFD District Chief and Training Officer Stephen Cichon claimed the city was hiring fire trainees with a history of criminal behavior and convictions.
"It appears that the criminal and character background checks have either not been conducted thoroughly by the recruiting division or have not been acted upon after negative findings were made," Cichon wrote then in a letter to the Inspector General's Office.
Keeping such employees, Cichon added, "could unknowingly expose our citizens and employees to unsafe individuals during vulnerable and sensitive situations."
Cichon's letter is not entirely accurate, some HFD officials contend. Assistant Fire Chief Raul Reyes said he was largely satisfied with the present system of screening applicants, although he acknowledged that there is room for improvement.
Those with criminal histories are the exception rather than the rule, he said.
Paul Prado, manager of HFD's human resources division, said Cichon's letter is an "overreaction."
"It's all identified and looked at upfront," Prado said of an applicant's criminal history. " . . . I have seldom seen any approved that would alarm me. Most of these were minor things that happened years ago."
Cichon was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached.
Prado acknowledged that the volume of hirings can allow some people to slip through.
"It's like mass production," he said.
A criminal history does not automatically prevent someone from becoming a firefighter.
HFD's recruiting guidelines prohibit hiring any applicants convicted of or admitting to the worst felonies - including murder, aggravated sexual abuse and arson. Those convicted of or admitting to lesser felony offenses are rejected until five years after their sentence is finished.
Misdemeanors are considered on a case-by-case basis. The department looks at how long ago the offenses occurred, whether there was a pattern of criminal acts, whether the offense presented a danger to people or property, whether the offense could affect an applicant's ability to do the job.
To disqualify an applicant, a misdemeanor conviction must reflect upon his or her moral character, HFD's guidelines stipulate.
Cichon and other veterans have alleged that some cadets were allowed to enter the academy before their background checks were complete.
Previously, applicants' criminal histories were not always ready for review by the time that person started the academy, said Gracia Rosslow, HFD's deputy director of finance, administration and human resources.
Prado said he was aware of only two cadets whose criminal histories surfaced after they were hired - including one with a history of arson. Both had been untruthful during the hiring process and were later terminated while still at the academy, he said.
After the inspector general's investigation began, HFD - hoping to eliminate the potential for any more undesirable hires - changed its policy so that fingerprinting and background checks of applicants are done first, immediately after the civil service exam.
Previously, a physical ability test was done first because 40 percent to 50 percent of candidates failed it, and the department didn't want to incur unnecessary costs for fingerprinting and investigating.
Despite the criticisms, HFD administrators say they continue to have faith in their hiring system.
"From what is taking place right now, I'm pretty satisfied with it," Reyes said. "Rarely is somebody going to get through there with the safeguards and the procedures that we have - actually get through the whole thing and go to a fire station."

Firefighting felons?

2 on Bridgeport hiring list

By AARON LEO aleo@ctpost.com

BRIDGEPORT — Two convicted felons are on the Fire Department's hiring list, sparking criticism from a firefighter group and several firefighter candidates.

But the Civil Service Commission, which allowed the men to be listed, could reconsider this move at a special meeting July 27 because new information about the two candidates recently surfaced, said John C. Colligan, the city's recently retired civil service director.

Colligan would not identify the two felons, but said he opposed their addition to the hiring list. The notice for the 2002 firefighter entrance exam had stated no one with felony convictions would be appointed.

Barring felons has been a city Civil Service standard since 1936, but is not required by an ordinance or the city charter, Colligan said. However, felons cannot be police officers because state law prohibits convicted felons from carrying guns, he said.




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The firefighter issue arose when nine people, including the two felons, appealed to the Civil Service Commission after Colligan refused to place them on the list.

The commission overrode him at its June 8 meeting, voting to place the felons on the hiring list out of sympathy, Colligan said.

The city has not yet hired any new firefighters from the list, which expires two years after the date of the first hire.

Richard Albrecht, lawyer for the Bridgeport Firefighters for Merit Employment, is also asking the commission to reconsider its decision. The BFME's stated goal is to ensure Civil Service rules are followed in hiring and promotion.

In a June 22 appeal filed with the Civil Service Office, Albrecht said the firefighter candidates with felonies are untrustworthy and not qualified for the job.

"Trust between firefighters is an integral and necessary part of the job," he said.

They also cannot be trusted to protect personal property in buildings, and the job requires they sometimes must enter while the owners are not there, he contended.

"Although the Civil Service Commission may feel compassion for certain individuals, or feel that they want to give them a chance, such laudable motives should not be involved in appointments to agencies in the public safety sector," the BFME appeal states.

Albrecht said he also filed a request June 10 for the candidates' identities to be revealed under the Freedom of Information Act. The City Attorney's office is considering it, Colligan said.

John Bolton and 18 other white firefighter candidates are also protesting the decision.

Bolton complained to the City Council about the issue at its meeting Tuesday.

The 19 have already filed two federal lawsuits against numerous city officials and panels alleging violations of their civil rights by reverse discrimination.

Lawyer Norman Pattis represents them in both suits, which name a total of about 130 defendants.

The plaintiffs seek millions of dollars in damages and want the list of more than 600 candidates thrown out.

They contend a prejudicial oral exam prevented them from ranking higher in the 2002 entrance testing process, among other allegations.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.