Hopes new cadet program attracts minorities
 
By Annysa Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Copyright 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
 
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — In his 10 years as chief, Dean Redman has had about 1,100 applicants apply to join the Wauwatosa Fire Department, 20 or fewer of them African-American.

He tried to hire two, but by the time those jobs came open, one had lost his certification, and the other had taken a job elsewhere.

Today, there are no black firefighters in Redman's 115-member department. He's aiming to change that.

Redman will return to the city's Personnel Committee tonight with a proposal to create a firefighter cadet program that he hopes will increase the number of minority applicants to his department.

The program's been criticized by the local firefighters union, which worries that adding part-time staff undermines a full-time department.

But other Milwaukee County chiefs are supportive, saying the suburban departments, which historically have had difficulty attracting minorities, have a responsibility to reflect the metro area from which they hire.

"It's a significant issue, and a disappointing one as a fire chief, that we can't be more representative of our community," said Dave Berousek, North Shore fire chief and president of the Milwaukee County Fire Chiefs Association.

Redman is proposing to create a part-time cadet program to give would-be candidates a taste of life in the firehouse. Without firefighter certification, cadets would be limited to support jobs, such as rolling up hoses after a fire or helping to change tanks on breathing masks.

While Redman can't exclude white applicants, he hopes to draw from so large a pool that the diversity will be greater than in the fire science programs at area technical schools.

At the end of the cadet program, candidates would enroll at Milwaukee Area Technical College or Waukesha County Technical College and - hopefully - return to Wauwatosa with their firefighter certifications in hand.

"We're looking at potentially students who are just finishing high school and haven't selected a career yet," Redman said. "We just want to have them take a look at the fire service."

Redman has been working to break down the barriers for women and minorities since becoming chief in 1996. He's increased the number of women. There are five today, and the department is just months away from promoting its first female officer.

But in its 107-year history, Wauwatosa has had only two black firefighters, both hired in 1981 when the city took over the county fire service.

Though reluctance of black applicants to move into an all-white workplace might be a factor, others include the lack of diversity in the fire science programs at the technical schools; suburban requirements that candidates come already certified; and competition from the Milwaukee Fire Department, which hires candidates with high school diplomas or the equivalent, trains them and pays them while they learn.

"You have to look at the recruiting practices," said Milwaukee Fire Lt. Lawrence Jenkins, who recruits candidates as vice president of the Milwaukee Brotherhood of Firefighters, the local chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters.

Jenkins acknowledged that African-American firefighters might be reluctant to be the first in an all-white suburban firehouse.

"But you have to go beyond that," Jenkins said. "There are adjustments that would have to be made, on both sides. But you have to understand what you're there for and never lose focus. You're there to save lives."