Federal government examines prejudice and corruption allegations in LA firefighters

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The US Department of Justice is carefully examining allegations by black and Latino member organizations of the Los Angeles Fire Department that the agency engaged in civil rights violations and other wrongdoing in the area. treatment of its employees.

Note that the civil rights section of the U.S. Lawyers Office in Los Angeles is examining allegations that arose as a group representing women firefighters joined calls from black and Latino organizations for a federal investigation.

The request for investigation follows a Times report last week on accusations that a senior white LAFD official received preferential treatment after being reported under the influence of alcohol or drugs while ‘he was on duty at the headquarters of the department.

In a letter to Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Fire Commission, Battalion Commander Kristine Larson, president of Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service, called to account.

Problems of race, gender and inequality cannot be solved until we trust our leaders to do what it takes to protect everyone equally, she said. writing.

Larson said in an interview on Tuesday that she suffered prejudice as a black woman in the department, including when a white firefighter challenged her decision to pursue the post of battalion commander.

There are things that don’t go well, and I’ve seen it time and time again throughout my career, she said. I just can’t see it changing without someone stepping in and enforcing monitoring.

Following the Times report, Deputy Chief Patrick Butler, chairman of the Los Bomberos Latino Fire Fighting Group, sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office requesting an investigation into the LAFD’s handling of allegations that Deputy Chief Fred Mathis was intoxicated while on duty. . Butler and the leader of the Stentorians, the black firefighting group, said the department gave Mathis, who is white, special treatment by trying to cover up reports that he was under the influence at LAFD headquarters in the town hall is downtown.

According to documents and interviews, the executive staff of Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas did not file a complaint against Mathis for three days, even though department policy calls for immediate action when a firefighter is suspected of being in condition. intoxicated. Additionally, a retroactive entry in Mathis’ timing records indicated him as being on sick leave on the day he was reported to be under the influence while at headquarters overseeing the operations center. of LAFD, according to documents obtained by The Times.

Mathis is the senior administrative officer of Terrazas. He was reportedly drunk on May 18 when the LAFD was fighting the fire in the palisades.

A spokesperson for Garcetti said in a statement Tuesday that the mayor is concerned about the Mathis episode and expects the full cooperation of members of his administration in any investigation.

A spokesperson for LAFD also released a statement: The fire department welcomes the review by the United States Attorneys Office and is committed to fully cooperating if the agency reaches out. We always respect and will respect all organizations affiliated with the ministry. Therefore, we respect the decision of women in the fire service to support the review.

Butler and Stentorians chairman Gerald Durant said the Mathis case illustrated a larger pattern under Terrazas of non-white firefighters held to a higher standard in the department, including discipline. They cited the case of a black firefighter who was forced to resign this year after being wrongly accused the firefighter claims to have missed a mandatory meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In a letter to Butler on Monday, officials from the U.S. Attorneys’ Office said they appreciate your concerns for the protection of civil rights and the community from wrongdoing by public officials, as expressed in your letter. Our office is carefully reviewing the allegations contained in your letter.

Butler said Tuesday: We are happy that at last an out of town government agency with oversight power is coming to investigate the matter. We are not convinced that the mayor’s office, the city attorney’s office or the fire department could do this. They don’t operate with integrity.

The US attorney’s office declined to comment.

Los Bomberos and the Stentorians first brought their complaints about the Mathis case to the Fire Commission, whose chairman forwarded the request for an investigation to City Atty. Office of Mike Feuers. Feuer then asked a Pasadena law firm to investigate.

Butler and Robert Hawkins, executive vice president of the Stentorians, said bringing in the private company would further shield city officials from public scrutiny.

In June, six black employees of the Office of Fire Prevention, which is responsible for safety inspections and investigating the causes of the fires, sued the city, alleging that the LAFD is governed by a good old white boys club that does evidence of discrimination in granting promotions.

And a Times report last month examined complaints that Garcetti broke promises to significantly expand the ranks of female firefighters and overhaul a department in which women and non-white firefighters say they felt. bully victims.

The LAFD has long been plagued by allegations of racial and gender bias. In 1974, a federal consent decree required that non-white people make up at least half of new hires by the department each year. At the time, they made up only 5% of the firefighting workforce.

The decree remained in effect until 2002, when the number of non-white employees reached 50%.

Today, a spokeswoman for the department said, about 54 percent of some 3,700 firefighters and civilian agency workers are not white. However, only 3.5% of the firefighters’ workforce are women, and complaints of racial bias beyond hiring numbers have persisted.

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