African-American Firefighters & Paramedics League of Chicago Ask Feds to Investigate Hiring Practices

Jan. 08--An organization representing African-American firefighters and paramedics on Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to expand its probe of the Chicago Police Department to include the Fire Department, saying hiring and disciplinary practices there are unfair.

The African-American Firefighters & Paramedics League of Chicago also demanded that Mayor Rahm Emanuel dismiss Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago, alleging that Santiago has failed to investigate claims that minority firefighters are disciplined and demoted unjustly.

"We have to address the fact that there have been so few minority hirings on the job," league President Gregory Boggs, a lieutenant emergency medical technician, said at a news conference. "We want the Justice Department to come in before any new hiring is done. African-Americans are being disciplined much more often than anyone else. We're calling on the mayor to do something about this."

When asked about the issue at an unrelated event, Emanuel said he supported Santiago's work and that there are already efforts to make the department reflect the diverse makeup of the city. The city has tried to widen the pool of candidates by giving city high school graduates greater access to public service jobs, he said.

Fire Departments across the country have long struggled with race and hiring. And although Chicago's department is led by a Hispanic, he has not addressed the discrimination and bias that still exists, the firefighters contend.

The Chicago department has been sued numerous times and has been ordered by judges to change hiring practices to be more inclusive.

Of the nearly 4,800 Chicago firefighters, 16.5 percent are African-American, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the department. About 13.5 percent of the firefighters are Hispanic, and the vast majority -- about 64.5 percent -- are white.

The department has sought a wider pool of applicants, Langford said. Not only did it widely advertise a December entrance exam, the age to sit for the exam was dropped to 17 to include students who had not yet graduated from high school but would finish by the time hiring started. The exam also was modified to a pass-fail grading system rather than a numerical score, Langford said.

"There are no restrictions on who can apply for this job," he said. "We aren't excluding anybody. What else can we change to be more inclusive?"

The written exam to apply to be a firefighter is given about once every decade.

More than 40,000 applicants sat for the test, even though only a few hundred will be hired. Those who pass the exam are issued a random number, placed on a waiting list and offered a chance to be hired if their number is called.

"The numbers reflect who applied for the job, who was called and who ultimately accepted," Langford said.

About three dozen black firefighters and paramedics attended the news conference to tell their personal stories.

James Winbush, a retired deputy commissioner and founding member of the league, said he has witnessed firsthand the demotion of ranking women and black firefighters that he believes was unfair.

"The hiring process is manipulated. ... We are not going to take this," Winbush said.

Capt. Carmelita Wiley-Earls said she joined the department to help the public and was able to rise to become an academy commander. But after complaining about sexist behavior in her firehouse, she said, she was moved from her administrative position.

"There's no one that held that position prior who had ever been demoted," she said. "I am sick of putting my uniform on every day, going to a firehouse to represent and serve the citizens of Chicago, only to be retaliated (against) on various fronts."

Chicago Tribune's John Byrne contributed.

lbowean@tribpub.com

Copyright 2016 - Chicago Tribune