The department has long been stubbornly out of sync with Boston's demographics. For example, in 2022, his BFD recruiting class was 90 people and he was the only woman. Including the academy classes currently being held, 27 of the city's 1,556 firefighters are women. His 73% of Boston firefighters are white.
“Our city government is strongest when it reflects the talent and diversity of our community,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement. “I am grateful to the Director.” [Paul] We thank Mr. Burke and his team for their dedication to forging new paths for Boston residents to access these important jobs and removing barriers to access at all levels. ”
But for advocates like Sophia Hall, associate director of litigation at the Boston Civil Rights Bar Association, this fire class “continues to show that the city of Boston is not taking its efforts to diversify its public safety agencies seriously. There is.”
BFD jobs are among the highest-paying positions among the city's 19,000 employees. Eleven city fire department employees were taking home more than $300,000 a year, according to the most recent online payroll records. His more than 300 BFD employees earned more than $200,000. And last fall, the Boston City Council unanimously approved a new collective bargaining agreement between the city and firefighters union Local 718, resulting in a pay increase of about 10.6 percent.
Historically, officials have said civil service rules have handcuffed efforts to diversify the department. Critics say the current civil service law governing firefighter hiring is flawed and in need of reform, and some say that veteran benefits are a major obstacle to diversifying the fire service.
Sam Tyler, former director of the Boston Bureau of Investigation, said, “There's talk of veterans living in Boston applying for jobs because of veteran benefits, but how does that benefit the agency? I don't know,” he said. , local government oversight bodies.
“City jobs for city kids” is a common refrain among City Hall politicians, but it's unclear how many of the current employees grew up in Boston. The city residency requirement requires a candidate to reside in Boston for one year before taking the civil service exam. Boston residents have priority over out-of-town residents. City officials declined to provide documentation showing where each of the current recruits attended high school.
In 2020, then-Boston Fire Chief Joseph Finn, himself a Marine Corps veteran, wrote in a Globe editorial:[U]Under state civil service law, veteran status determines hiring order. ”
Disabled veterans receive additional benefits. State law on this matter clearly states that “disabled veterans must maintain employment in preference to all others, including veterans.”
This recruiting class is made up of mostly disabled veterans. Of the 46 current academy freshmen, all but nine fall into the disabled veteran category. In the past, some veterans advocates have dismissed the veterans-first focus as an oversimplification of why the Boston Fire failed to diversify.
still, Faculty composition and culture have come under scrutiny in recent years. In 2019, female firefighters and local officials criticized a city-commissioned report that cited a “male-dominated” culture that resisted change within the fire department. Critics of the report said it reused old recommendations and did not go far enough to address systemic problems.
The report was the result of an external lawyer's review of the department's response to allegations of harassment and discrimination brought by women in the force.
In January 2020, a Boston firefighter was found guilty of assaulting a female co-worker, an incident that was brought to light by the dwindling number of female firefighters in Boston and the challenges women have endured over the years. The Globe reported at the time that the incident highlighted what some say was animosity. The low number of women in the military remains a problem.
The department dates back to 1678 and has never had a non-white chief. In 2019, the city appointed the Boston Fire Department's first-ever Black operations chief, as well as the city's first female district chief.
Attempts have been made to diversify the city's firefighting force.Department adopted She became BFD's first diversity recruiter in 2016 and was recently recognized by state authorities. Fire Officer Candidate Program. The program, which began its first class last year, aims to recruit diverse candidates who may ultimately be hired as firefighters.
Fire Chief Burke said in a statement, “Our first class of cadets will be eligible for admission to the academy, and the 14 new students who speak other languages currently in the academy will join our ranks and advance our department. We look forward to strengthening and diversifying our business.” ”
“Along with Mayor Wu, our department is passionate about welcoming more Bostonians into the fire service by creating new pathways to becoming a firefighter,” Burke said in a statement. .
Under the cadet program, the fire chief can appoint “qualified citizens of Boston between the ages of 18 and 25” as firefighter cadets. Although this will exempt them from classification under the Civil Service Law, they will still need to take the civil service exam in order to become full-fledged firefighters.
Hall, an attorney with the Boston Civil Rights Bar Association, said cadet programs alone “are not a complete solution to increasing diversity.”
“The city must continue to utilize all options available to it,” Hall said.
Tyler, a former city supervisor, agreed: “I don't know if the city government did everything it could.”
Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com.follow him @Danny__McDonald.
