such as they wrongfully arrest someone, don’t do their job, or some other police misbehavior and because you really don’t tolerate their misbehavior, can you lose your job?
In very few departments would a police chief be allowed to just fire officers. Most are under a civil service system and there is a process that has to be gone through.
But depending on the issues sure the chief could be fired.
Monroe’s fire chief talks to reporters about the fire that consumed a 62-foot statue of Jesus Christ.
Duration : 0:12:28
City of La Habra Heights Comes Full Circle for Firefighters
La Habra Heights — After nearly a decade City officials and residents here are celebrating the opening of a new dormitory unit that also serves as the living quarters for the City’s volunteer fire department. The previous modular housing unit was donated by the City of Santa Fe Springs to La Habra Heights under the administration of then Fire Chief Bob Wilson back in the ninety’s. The goal was to provide housing for non-resident volunteer firefighters
The replacement of the firefighters living quarters with another modest modular unit is in sharp contrast to what the La Habra Heights City Council proposed back in 2005. The lofty plan was to build a new Civic Center Complex that included a new fire station and required the City’s only fire station to move north to a City purchased parcel at Hacienda and West.
Various reports placed the cost of the project to exceed $7.8 million. Prompting residents to cry foul and question the lavish facility proposed by the City Council. While most residents agreed the firefighters deserved better living quarters many protested the attachment of a new City office building and Council Chambers. A number of residents, especially those who would see increased response times, questioned the logic of moving essential fire and rescue services further away from areas of the City already experiencing longer waits for emergency service. Particularly, due to the fact that the City operates only one fire station which serves the entire community.
Incoming La Habra Heights Fire Chief Gary Dominquez, who served as Battalion Chief for Fullerton Fire Department, was pleased to tour the new facilities for his future firefighters.
The City Council ultimately spent a reported $1.1 million on the fire station project, including the purchase of surplus land from Los Angeles County, several architects, numerous consultants and countless staff hours, only to come full circle and replace the living quarters onto the original site for an additional $400,000 in construction costs.
Duration : 0:1:5
I would like to find out why after only 11 months of service Howard Giles left his position as the Fire Chief of the Gainesville, Georgia Fire Department, please let me know if there are articles that have been published also! Thanks in advance for any help!
Giles took office in December 2004 after being hired by then-Mayor James McClinton, who said he had reviewed the Topeka department’s hiring and promotion practices shortly before he was elected in 1997 to his second term on the Topeka City Council.
McClinton said he found fire department hiring and promotion decisions were largely based on friendships, bloodlines and seniority in the department, which "was full of fathers, sons, grandsons and nephews."
Some firefighters defend that type of arrangement, saying relatives of current and former firefighters join the department knowing what to expect and feeling proud to follow in the footsteps of their relatives by serving their community.
But McClinton said when he was called upon to fill the fire chief’s position vacated by the retirement of Dennis Phillips in 2004, he sought someone who wouldn’t be under pressure from within as he or she implemented fair administrative policies based on firefighting science, managerial skills and merit.
McClinton chose Giles, who had been fire science program director since 2002 at Lanier Technical College in Oakwood, Ga.
Giles previously had spent 18 years with the Gwinnett County Fire Department in Lawrenceville, Ga., where he rose to the rank of deputy chief before leaving in March 2000; and from April 2000 to March 2001 as fire chief in Gainesville, Ga., where his employment application indicated he left due to "a change in the make up of the council."
McClinton said Giles brought substantial academic, theoretical and practical leadership and managerial skills to the department.
McClinton acknowledged he had expected Giles to face some resistance because he came from outside the department. He said he thought Giles has handled that resistance well.
McClinton — who left office five months after hiring Giles when Topeka put in place a city council-manager form of government that puts a city manager in charge of day-to-day operations instead of the mayor — hasn’t been in town during the recent developments involving Giles. He moved last month from Topeka to Dallas.
Fat Fire Chief slips and doesnt drop any coffee. Bunch of fire fighters are at the front door laughing.
Duration : 0:0:9
Eight year old citizen journalists Galil and Ronen Navo interview Cumberland BC Fire Chief Ken McClure about special extraction equipment used by firefighters.
Duration : 0:6:19
(From Star Tribune report – http://www.startribune.com/investigators/94636289.html?page=3&c=y)
May 24, 2010…The report, jointly prepared by Rocco Forté, director of regulatory services, and Fire Chief Alex Jackson, said the Fire Department was “behind schedule” in a plan to inspect all properties in five years, because it appeared to be repeating some inspections.
Debate on blame continues
Both Forté and Jackson declined to comment before Monday’s presentation of the report to a council committee.
Samuels said he is certain the proposal will pass. He said that the city had made “tremendous improvement” in inspections, noting that at one time, it inspected all buildings every 17 years, and that five years ago it developed a plan to complete all inspections using the firefighters as inspectors.
But there were indications that the report could lead to some sharp debates over who ultimately is at fault.
Although Forté, a former fire chief, proposed to the council more than five years ago that firefighters take responsibility for inspections, Council Member Schiff blamed Jackson for problems with inspections by the Fire Department. “I have ultimate confidence that the firefighters who are properly trained and properly scheduled can do this work,” he said. “I just don’t have confidence that the chief can be effective in administering the program.”
Told of those comments, Jackson said, “I have nothing to say until after the [Monday] meeting.”
Ron Edwards, who chaired a federal court-appointed committee that monitored the desegregation of the Minneapolis Fire Department for 20 years, beginning in the 1970s, said, “I think that the record will show that Alex Jackson has served both with competence and also with compassion.”
Elizabeth Glidden, chairwoman of the council’s Regulatory, Energy and Environment Committee, called the report “a strong recommendation for ensuring that we have consistent, properly done inspections.”
The council had evidence last fall that Fire Department inspections were yielding relatively few citations, and Glidden said the issue was discussed in one committee on which she served. But, she added, “Quite frankly, we did not have the kind of detail that’s in the report.”
Duration : 0:5:44
In early October 2009, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) conducted and filmed a deposition of Washington, D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin in relation to the lawsuit of former Fire Department General Counsel Theresa Cusick. Chief Rubins testimony about events as he sees them may be eye-opening to other D.C. government officials, the City Council and the public. For example, in his testimony, Chief Rubin refers to the actions of Councilmember Phil Mendelson as disrespectful, voices displeasure at a woman barking at me, and as a firefighter and officer with nearly 40 years experience, claims to be offended by profanities he alleges Cusick used.
Theresa Cusick was forced out of her position as General Counsel by Chief Rubin after speaking out about an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation of another D.C. fire official. GAP currently represents or is involved with the cases of multiple firefighter whistleblowers who have alleged misconduct by Rubin and other fire officials. Despite nine years with the D.C. Fire Department, Cusick was transferred by Chief Rubin only two months into his administration.
Highlights of the video include:
•Chief Rubins claims about threats made against him, as contradicted by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Detective: In the deposition video, Chief Rubin claims that a former firefighter/whistleblower threatened him during a City Counsel meeting a claim that wrongly prompted an investigation, at the behest of Fire Department officials, by the MPD. The detective in charge of the case found no evidence of any threats. This is reinforced by a video of the Council meeting in question, and the testimony of the detective.
•Chief Rubins labeling of Councilmember Phil Mendelsons actions as disrespectful: In response to these threats by the firefighter/whistleblower (which the MPD detective found nonexistent), Chief Rubin further retaliated against that person. Councilmember Phil Mendelson sent a letter of inquiry regarding these actions, asking Chief Rubin to explain himself. Mendelson stated that testimony and the manner in which one gives testimony should not be subject to punishment. Chief Rubin states in the deposition video that he will simply not respond to the letter, strongly stating that Mendelsons action of sending the letter was disrespectful. Mendelson is Chairman of the Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, which oversees the Fire Department.
•Chief Rubins problem with female employees: At one point of the deposition, Chief Rubin makes a questionable characterization of a conversation with GAP client Cusick, in which he described being overwhelmed that this was a woman barking at me.
•Unnecessary and excessive use of profanity in the deposition by Chief Rubin.
•Chief Rubins claims about meetings with GAP client Theresa Cusick, prior to her firing: Such claims are disputed by GAP, and disputed on the video by Cusick.
Duration : 0:10:32
Shawnee Fire Chief Jeff Hudson honors fallen firefighter John Glaser, remembering him as a good friend and a great dad to his two children. KMBC 9’s Marcus Moore reports.
Duration : 0:2:28
