By Annie Linskey
Copyright 2007 The Baltimore Sun
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
BALTIMORE — Mayor Sheila Dixon asked the city’s inspector general yesterday to investigate allegations that members of the Fire Department cheated on recent captains’ and lieutenants’ promotion exams.
“I think that we need to have someone independent look into that,” Dixon said during her weekly news conference at City Hall. “Since the Human Resources [Department] administers the test, we should have someone independent of that.”
Leaders from both of the city’s fire unions have called for an investigation of the cheating allegations and quickly applauded the mayor’s decision.
“That is what we’re asking for, an impartial and fair assessment of what did or did not happen,” said Stephan G. Fugate, the president of the fire officers union.
The test is given by the city’s Human Resources Department, and the Fire Department administration had also told that agency about possible cheating. Yesterday, fire officials said they support the mayor’s decision.
Gladys B. Gaskins, the city’s human resources director, has not responded to repeated calls for comment this week.
The allegations of cheating, first reported in The Sun, have been the subject of conversations at firehouses since the test results were announced last week. They arose after two lieutenants, who are apparently related, scored unusually high on the captains’ promotion test, according to Fugate. In addition, the person who scored at the top of the lieutenants’ promotion test had previously failed that exam, Fugate said.
The tests are given every two years, and those who pass are ranked by their scores. Promotions within the department are based entirely on the rankings, and few senior slots become available every year, making competition fierce.
But the discussion of possible cheating has raised questions of race in the department. The top two scorers on the captains’ exam are African-Americans, and the top scorer on the lieutenants’ exam is also African-American, leading the president of the city’s black firefighters organization to dismiss the accusations as racially motivated.
Dixon addressed that issue yesterday, saying: “I hope that this is not a racist or bias argument that is being made.”
Anthony McCarthy, her spokesman, said later that Hilton Green, the city’s inspector general, will investigate and issue his report on the test as soon as possible. “The integrity of these officers is at stake,” McCarthy said. “With the specter of racism hanging over this, it is uncomfortable for everyone.”
Henry Burris, the president of the Vulcan Blazers, the black firefighters organization, repeated concerns yesterday that the accusations against the test-takers are racially motivated.
“What concerns me greatly is whenever there is an African-American on the top of the list and on the upper positions on the list, these accusations come up,” Burris said.
He also said that “vicious statements” directed toward the accused have been posted on bulletin boards. “There are various negative statements in several firehouses,” Burris said.
Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said that the administration has not received any complaints about inappropriate notes posted at firehouses but added that anything specific would be investigated.
About the mayor’s decision to investigate the test, he said: “If the city is worried about any irregularities along these lines, I think it makes a lot of sense to have an independent body look into it.”