By Tony Plohetski and Kate Alexander
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2007 The Austin American-Statesman
All Rights Reserved
AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities are investigating an incident in which a recently promoted Austin firefighter found human excrement smeared on her locker at a Duval Road fire station.
Firefighter Rebecca Farris discovered the waste when she showed up to work Dec. 21, about four months after being promoted to drive the fire engine at Station 25 in Northwest Austin, fire officials said Tuesday. Officials said she also found urine in a shampoo bottle.
Assistant City Manager Mike McDonald said police investigators might require the 15 firefighters assigned to the station to provide DNA and fingerprint samples to determine who was responsible. He said criminal charges are possible.
“We’re going to do everything we can to the fullest extent of the law and everything we can administratively to get to the bottom of it,” McDonald said.
Farris, who joined the department in 1993, declined to comment.
Stephen Truesdell, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, said that the incident was sad and unfortunate and that he hoped it would be resolved quickly.
“Our members should be able to enjoy a harassment-free workplace,” Truesdell said.
The incident raises new questions about the acceptance of women and minorities into a profession that in Austin has historically drawn white males.
Women make up about 4 percent of firefighters in the Austin Fire Department. Farris is the lone woman at Station 25.
In 2005, city officials made diversity a focus of contract negotiations with the firefighters union and attracted a current cadet class that is 17 percent female.
The working environment has improved over the years, but problems still exist, said Jan Wesson, past president of the Austin Women Firefighters.
The problems are exacerbated by the department’s lack of a strong policy to prevent discrimination and hostility in the workplace, said Wesson, who has almost 23 years of experience. She was not speaking for the organization, whose current leaders declined to comment.
Firefighters who have learned about the incident have been appalled, Wesson said, and the perpetrators are the exception.
McDonald said, “This is a sick act by one or two individuals and is certainly not something that takes place in the culture of this organization.”
Fire Department spokeswoman Michelle DeCrane said that supervisors alerted Chief J.J. Adame about the incident the day it happened and that he immediately began an investigation.
Officers in the department’s professional standards unit initially investigated and gave their findings to Austin police.
Austin police said they could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
“The Austin Fire Department prides itself on creating a culture of freedom and personal responsibility,” Adame said in a statement. “Those in the department who go against that philosophy are not only a personal disappointment to me but to every citizen who entrusts us with their lives, their property and their tax dollars.
“The bottom line is that we won’t and don’t put up with this sort of behavior.”