equityonfire.org

ACTIONS FOR WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3

BACKGROUND        1

PROMOTE NOW AND SOCIAL STORM
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 11 AM - 1 PM (PT)        2

CALL MAYOR GARCETTI 213-978-0600
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 11 AM - 1 PM PT        2

PERSONAL STORIES AND INFORMATION        3

BACKGROUND

No one should have to put their life on the line each day and still have to deal with harassment and hate from their co-workers and supervisors. It’s time that we all speak up and collectively work to make the changes necessary to reflect our values and support our frontline workers.

Equity On Fire (EOF) is a coalition of firefighters, civil rights leaders, and grassroots community organizers united to address systemic discrimination within the fire services.

We provide support and resources for underrepresented firefighters who have experienced workplace discrimination, harassment, and abuse.

We are a not-for-profit organization based in Los Angeles, CA. We are volunteer organized. Our goal is to end harassment, discrimination, and abuse for firefighters as well as end the historically skewed professional archetype of the role of firefighters to be more inclusive of all races, genders, and sexualities.

The mission of EOF is to create a safe, inclusive work environment for all who serve in the fire service and to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

PROMOTE NOW AND SOCIAL STORM
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 11 AM - 1 PM (PT)

on social media using our easy to use, point and click to social media toolkit at https://bit.ly/equityonfire . Once you choose the platform you want to share on you will see two options at the top; one is #RaiseTheAlarm and the other is Promo - Please use the promo tab to help us promote the social storm and encourage others to join us. Under the #RaiseTheAlarm header, use those premade posts for the social storm. You can pre schedule these which is a big timesaver. Then get three of your friends to do the same. We cannot let this be swept under the rug. Social media toolkit: https://bit.ly/equityonfire

We will be doing a social storm on Wednesday, November 3 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (PT) using this toolkit so if you’d like, you can pre-schedule your posts for that timeframe. While we aren’t hiding these posts until then, you may share anytime, but

please make sure you also post in the specified timeframe on Wednesday, November 3 from 11 am - 1 pm for optimal collective impact.

CALL MAYOR GARCETTI 213-978-0600
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 11 AM - 1 PM PT

on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 between 11:00 am - 1:00 pm PT (you can call anytime if you can’t call between these hours), to demand that los angeles fire department chief terrazas resign immediately using the call script below. 213-978-0600

Feel free to make this your own using your own words. This is to help provide context but you can certainly use it if you’d like.

“Hello, my name is ____________ and I live in ___________, my zip code is ___________. I am calling to demand that Los Angeles Fire Chief Terrazas resign immediately. I am horrified by the recent reporting about the rampant sexism and racism that goes on in this fire department under his watch and he does nothing. He says nothing. I have always thought so highly of the fire department, until now. You’ve lost my confidence. In order to restore confidence he must resign and the perpetrators must be held responsible. This juvenile behavior cannot stand.”

PERSONAL STORIES AND INFORMATION

Below you will find information and stories of what’s been happening for way too long in the LA Fire Department. Help us get these stories out to hold them accountable.

1. In Los Angeles, a city praised for progressive politics, the LAFD still harbors a racist, misogynistic culture. In 2018, White firefighters made up nearly half the firefighters in LAFD in a city where white people make up less than 30% of the population. Black men make up only 11.13% of LAFD and Black women make up only 0.21% of the LAFD force. There are 109 women in LAFD, while the total number of firefighters is almost 3,500 Nationwide, 96% of career firefighters are men and 92% are white men. It is clear based on LA’s statistics that we are not a leader when it comes to women and people of color in the fire service. We are very much indicative of the larger racist, misogynistic culture that engulfs fire departments around the country.

These numbers are an embarrassment to a city that claims to have progressive politics. Despite promises from elected officials to increase diversity within LAFD, there has been no measurable progress. In addition, putting more BIPOC and women in a toxic work environment puts the people who keep us safe on our worst days at further risk. It’s time for us as LA residents to protect those who protect us.

2. While the human impact of a frat house culture in LAFD is alarming, it is necessary to also discuss the financial impact on LA residents. Between 2006 and 2018, lawsuits for discrimination and sexual harassment filed against LAFD by former firefighters have cost LA taxpayers almost $30 million, and an internal audit of LAFD concluded that harassment and hazing based on race and gender were more rampant than LAFD had communicated to the public.

Think of what $30 million could be used for. Think of the improvements we could make to our communities and our cities. When those in charge are willing to

spend millions of dollars of the city’s money on lawsuits rather than address the reasons why these lawsuits happen, then this demonstrates a massive failure of leadership.

Is this really the best way for taxpayer money to be spent? We live in a city where natural disasters are a regular occurence. Our infrastructure is crumbling.

And money is being hemorrhaged by the city to cover for sexist, racist people who refuse to be accountable and change the toxic culture of LAFD. We demand full accountability for those that perpetrate harm within the fire department, whether they are in leadership or not. We demand that LAFD stop using our taxpayer money to bail themselves out.

3. Recently an article in the LA times detailed the failure of leadership in LAFD and city government to address the toxic sexist, racist culture within LAFD. I’m going to read an excerpt from an open letter that was written by Katie Becker, a former LAFD firefighter who resigned because of the harassment and discrimination she experienced:

“I have heard on maybe 10 separate occasions from rookies that they "wanted to

drive their car into a tree while coming into work" - not to die, but to be just

injured enough that they wouldn't have to go to work that day. I've heard of two

occasions where men have exposed themselves to women in locker rooms

saying some variation of "this is what a real fireman looks like". Is this the type of department that you would label the “greatest department in the world”? Is this the environment waiting for any who is not white and not a man who wants to join the fire department?

It is 2021. The fact that workers within LAFD are not able to feel safe around their own coworkers is damning. Everyone deserves the right to a safe and equitable workplace. LAFD has proven itself to be far below the acceptable standards of a healthy work environment.

This represents a failure to protect the people who protect us when we need them the most. If our firefighters are unprotected at work, then we are failing them. If female firefighters are subjected to sexual harassment and violence on the job, then LAFD failed them. If Black firefighters are subjected to racist violence such as stuffed monkeys being left in their lockers, then LAFD has failed them. These employees deserve better and it’s time for us to protect the people who protect us.

4. I am here to talk about the experiences of harassment and abuse that former BIPOC and female LAFD firefighters have shared. LAFD frequently boasts that the department is the “best in the world”. However, the narratives of former LAFD employees tell a dramatically different story.

Former LAFD firefighter Melissa Kelley experienced frequent sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination. One night, a male coworker got into her bed and put his hands under her clothes.

Former firefighter Brenda Lee, a Black, gay woman, experienced racist abuse and sexual harassment on the job as well. Her mouthwash was filled with urine. Her locker was burglarized. Her male coworkers made racist comments to her, comparing her to feces.

All this gets swept under the rug by a culture of toxicity that stems from a failure of leadership and a lack of accountability. This is why simply hiring more BIPOC & women isn’t enough. If the culture of misogyny and racism is allowed to stand, we risk putting more people in dangerous employment situations. The culture of misogyny and racism runs rampant in not just LA but many fire departments across the country, and it should have no place in public safety. We demand better for the people who protect us.

5. Recently an article in the LA times detailed the failure of leadership in LAFD and city government to address the toxic sexist, racist culture within LAFD. I’m going to read an excerpt from an open letter that was written by Katie Becker, a former LAFD firefighter who resigned because of the harassment and discrimination she experienced:

I had "Junk" written on my helmet and another member had it spray painted on her brush coat.

I've been detailed from overtime stations on the basis of "no way are we working with a chick today".

Seconds after I completed an interview with PSD investigating whether or not I've ever been sexually harassed, the male Captain said "Are you an athlete? Your body looks really athletic".’  

LAFD creates an atmosphere of fear and toxicity that heavily impacts the mental health of their own rookies. These are their teammates and coworkers that they are so willing to tear down. By failing to take care of their own coworkers, how are we supposed to trust that LAFD has our, the public, a complete stranger’s, best interest at heart?

6. With all the worrying accusations of sexism and racism coming to light, where is the accountability? Where is the punishment to those who would rather bully and intimidate their own peers, instead of leading them to success? Without proper accountability, LAFD are not only allowing this culture of negativity to continue, but showing the community that they do not care. Los Angeles consists of communities that desperately want to trust and believe in LAFD and they are disappointing them at every opportunity.  According to people previously employed at LAFD, “There is no confidentiality nor trust between members of LAFD and the fear of the retaliation they would experience keeps their mouths shut.”  

Speaking up and speaking out is being punished within a department that claims to be the greatest in the world. The public has seen LAFD and Fire Chief Terrazas apply dramatically skewed standards to white male colleagues and has publicly shown that they are willing to manipulate the disciplinary matrix to favor white men in the department. If white men in LAFD are held to different standards than the rest of their female coworkers and co-workers of color, then the department has a racism and sexism problem. It is as plain as that.

History has proven that silencing and oppressing never work. Now that the truth is coming to light, we demand that all perpetrators of toxic conditions answer for their wrongdoings. We demand full accountability and an end to the manipulation of disciplinary practices within LAFD.

7. We demand accountability for the mistreatment of Black and female firefighters. Katie Becker, former LAFD firefighter, wrote a detailed letter to her chief in which she outlined the disccrmination harassment she faced while at work. The Mayor and Fire Chief were made aware of the Becker Letter and failed to act in order to address the worrying and degrading conditions she and others were made to work in.  Leaders are meant to inspire and encourage others, to create a visionary future worth working towards. So what happens when our leaders turn a blind eye to bigots, misogynists, and racists? What futures are they trying to grow?  Their silence speaks volumes to the public.

8. ​​LAFD continues to claim that they are “the greatest department in the world,” yet they seem to be caught in a rut.  They claim that by accommodating women, they would be “lowering their standards.”  IF these standards don’t even encompass a group of people who represent 50% of the world’s population, then how high can

they really be?  People, societies, programs, are constantly changing and evolving, it’s what makes them better.  The ability to innovate, adapt, and grow, is what makes a department, not only great, but the best.  LAFD has shown that they would rather stick with what works for them, not anyone else, just them.  Without the willingness to change and learn, one cannot believe or claim to be “the best.”

9. According to LAFD’s website, their vision is to “provide exceptional Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services by being metric driven, technologically sophisticated and community focused while reflecting the people we serve.”  In an article with the Harvard Business Review, Chief Ralph Terrazas is quoted saying, “[We] will provide a higher level of service to the communities we serve when the people of that department respect the culture, language and beliefs of the people within that community.”  This department can’t even respect that work for it.  

The accounts of sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination that have come from firefighters are chilling. In 2021 in a city that markets itself as a progressive haven, the fire departments hold on to the racist, misogynistic culture of the past century. It would be an embarrassment to the department and everyone involved in its leadership if not for the fact that those in charge have clearly demonstrated that maintaining the racist, sexist status quo is more important than anything else.  

Was LAFD reflecting the community when they were exposing themselves to their female coworkers?  What about when they were smearing feces on an Black firefighter’s equipment? Or putting urine into a woman’s mouthwash?  This behavior is abhorrent and has been swept under the rug.  Denying this, gaslighting the victims, and staying silent is cowardice. If you’re going to lean on identity politics then the bare minimum you can do is support minorities within your ranks. If you’re not going to care about the victims, I hope you at least care about what message this sends to bystanders and how you have painted the entirety of LAFD leadership, especially yourself, as discriminatory hypocrites.

10. The fire department is meant to consist of people who Angelenos can trust to handle the worst days of their lives. Since its inception, fire departments have enjoyed the reputation of heroes and saviors. Such an image allows individuals

within departments to fly under the public’s radar when it comes to harassment and discrimination amongst colleagues.

Firefighters are meant to be people we can count on when our lives are on the line and our families are in danger. But what happens if the people who are meant to protect us are themselves unprotected by their fellow coworkers, their supervisors, and their leadership? What happens when minority firefighters are subjected to discrimination, harassment, and assault, all while they are trying to do their jobs?

It is time for us as community members to step up for the people who protect us. It’s time for LAFD leadership to address the harmful, racist posts on social media by LAFD firefighters. It’s time for the organization to be accountable to the communities it serves. It’s time for us as LA residents to demand better for the people who put their lives at risk for us and also face discrimination and harassment from their own coworkers while doing it.