Department investigating allegation
By Frank Main
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
CHICAGO — A high-ranking Chicago Fire Department official vehemently denied allegations Thursday that he disgraced the department by inquiring about the race of a paramedic who asked to leave work to visit his child in a hospital.
“I’m a highly decorated chief. This whole allegation is nothing but lies. It’s deplorable,” said Donald W. Walsh, an assistant deputy chief paramedic and a winner of an International Association of Fire Chiefs award. “I have always treated department members, citizens and the public with respect and dignity.”
Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco Jr. confirmed Thursday that the department is investigating racial allegations against Walsh.
“It saddens me that anyone in a position of authority in this department would display this type of poor judgment,” Orozco said. “When I accepted this job, I promised the citizens of our city that I would not tolerate behavior of this kind at any level.”
John W. Chwarzynski, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local No. 2, said he is withholding judgment on Walsh until the investigation is complete. Chwarzynski said his dealings with Walsh have been “pleasant and professional.”
Chwarzynski said he does not think the department has a problem with racism. He pointed to the diverse group of firefighters who attended this week’s funeral for Firefighter William Grant.
“At that funeral we had white, black, Hispanic and Asian firefighters, a family,” Chwarzynski said. “By and large, the department has made great strides.”
The department has battled allegations of racism for years. A wave of racist transmissions over the department’s radio system hastened the appointment of Orozco’s predecessor, Cortez Trotter, as Chicago’s first black fire commissioner.
The allegations against Walsh stem from an early March conversation between Walsh and a field officer who supervises paramedics, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the department. The field officer, who is white, gave higher-ups a memo detailing the conversation, which was not recorded, Langford said.
Walsh was on the phone with the field officer, who asked Walsh if the paramedic could go to a South Side hospital because of an emergency involving his child, Langford said.
Walsh asked if the paramedic was white or black, according to what the field officer told department officials.
Told that the paramedic is black, Walsh, who is white, allegedly said the paramedic or the field officer would have to find a replacement before the paramedic could leave to see his child. In the end, the paramedic was able to go to the hospital without delay, Langford said.
Can’t inquire about race
Walsh, a 30-year veteran, is being investigated for unbecoming conduct. If the allegations are found to be true, he could be fired.
The key issue is that department officials are forbidden from inquiring about the race of department members when making decisions about them, Langford said. Walsh, 51, has been placed on administrative leave. He said he doesn’t know the identities of his accusers.
Walsh is known nationally for his fire-related research and his membership in fire-related organizations.
In 2002, he won the James O. Page Award from the International Association of Fire Chiefs “on the basis of his hard work and dedication to fire-based EMS both here in the United States and throughout the world.”
Walsh, who holds a doctorate, worked through the United Nations to help fashion an urban rescue program for Turkey following a 1999 earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people there, according to his citation for the award.