By Ken Robinson
FireRescue1 Associate Editor
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Reckless and inappropriate conduct by a small minority of the nation’s fire service is eroding the high moral ground occupied by firefighters, according to a new report.
Cheating, arson, theft, alcohol and substance abuse, harassment, discrimination, and misuse of departmental and personal information technology are among the ethical problems discussed in the white paper issued Wednesday.
“We want to create a discussion about poor behavior and how to address that poor behavior,” said Steve Austin, of Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association, which drafted the document.
Reducing firefighter misconduct has a practical application because funding, along with relations with officials and residents, depends on firefighters’ reputations as “the good guys,” according to Austin.
‘Code of Ethics’
The fire service faces a host of issues that threaten its “integrity and sterling public image,” according to the summary of the report. “This risk is increased by the lightning speed at which information, and sometimes misinformation, is transmitted and propagated,” it said.
— Jim Lukashuk
“We are a small department in a tiny Western Kentucky town where everyone knows every detail of our private lives and it magnifies the mistakes out of proportion, although most are inexcusable in the first place.”
— Victoria Jackson
“Moreover, because of the continuing advent of technology, no longer can any issue be considered truly ‘local’ as even the most isolated of matters affecting the most far-flung of departments can sully the reputation of the entire fires service.”
While Austin says the leaders behind the project aren’t advocating a specific code of conduct or a particular set of rules nationwide, he hopes fire departments and organizations will be inspired to tackle bad behavior, possibly creating their own guidelines.
Many groups can take the initiative to address issues directly relevant to them, he said.
For example, the IAFC could develop guidelines for leadership, while ISFSI instructors could put forth a code of conduct to prevent cheating on tests.
U.S. Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran praised the efforts, and said the paper “clearly identifies these individuals and behaviors in a clear and cogent manner, articulates some excellent solutions, and clamors for a Code of Ethics as the next logical step for our profession” in the report.
“We may never have the opportunity again, and I urge all fire service leaders to develop, establish, disseminate, abide and enforce a Fire Service Code of Ethics,” Cochran said.
Austin said he has received other positive feedback since the report was published, but acknowledges that some members in the fire service may be sensitive to the issue.
“This is tough, because it forces us to look within,” he said.
“We hope it’s going to be widely discussed — I don’t want to say accepted,” he said of the report, cautiously signaling the project leaders do not want to tell fire departments what to do.
“It’s for the fire service to decide,” he said.
Origins and future
The concept for the project came out of a 2007 spring meeting of mid-Atlantic fire service leaders, which had an open forum discussion about ethics in the fire service.
Because CVVFA was behind a 1999 project that aimed to promote scene safety on roadways culminating in the creation of respondersafety.com, fire service leaders began suggesting the organization create a similar initiative on ethics.
As a result, the CVVFA is launching firefighterbehavior.com, which will present incidents in the news of both good and poor behavior by firefighters, which can be used as a learning tool for discussion on how to solve behavior problems.
In this age, Austin said, there are ways to prevent problems like embezzlement and misuse of computers, such as accounting software and Internet regulation.
Firefighterbehavior.com would find actual instances of these incidents, and offer analysis on how to address them.