KANSAS CITY, Mo. — City Manager Brian Platt on Friday said a report released this week on racism and sexism in the Kansas City Fire Department again showed the pressing need for city leaders to take immediate action to change the department’s culture.
“We’ve taken significant steps to address and mitigate a number of challenging cultural issues within KCFD over the last two years,” Platt told The Star. “This report confirms our urgent need to continue to push for changes to better serve our employees and our residents.”
The 163-page report delivered to the Kansas City Council Wednesday revealed that some firefighters said they have been grabbed in sexually inappropriate ways and subjected to racial slurs in the city’s fire stations.
It also found that firefighters were more careless about damaging homes in poorer neighborhoods and celebrated dangerous driving that caused crashes.
Several council members who responded to The Star Thursday and Friday said they have not read the report. Some said they have been busy this week attending council committee meetings, attending public events and making preparations for the release of the city’s annual budget.
“We take all reports of discrimination and harassment seriously, and will look to implement the recommendations,” said Andrea Bough, who represents the 6th District, which includes the southern portion of the city.
“I am pleased that the city finally has a Chief Equity Officer in place that can address and help correct issues of this nature throughout the city,” Bough said.
Council members Teresa Loar, Eric Bunch and Lee Barnes said they have not read the report and declined to comment.
Mayor Quinton Lucas could not immediately be reached for comment.
Second District Council member Dan Fowler, who represents a portion of the Northland, said he had not read the report but felt that improvements to the city’s fire service were critical and long overdue.
“It was pretty clear that there needs to be some massive changes,” Fowler said. “Part of it is culture and part of it is attitude and those are really hard things to change. But without seeing it (the report) that’s as much as I can tell you.”
The city ordered the report after a 2020 investigation by The Star found Black firefighters and women faced systemic discrimination in the city’s fire service. The Star’s investigation named more than 20 current and former Black and women firefighters who went on the record either with reporters or in lawsuits.
Within days of publication, city officials said they were taking action by hiring two law firms to further investigate the findings of The Star’s series. The city also hired LaDonna McCullough, its first chief equity officer, who is tasked with rooting out discrimination.
The responses from Platt and others Friday come a day after Black civil rights activists and faith leaders said city officials must be held accountable for the ongoing problems in the fire department, with some saying a new chief should be brought in from outside the department.
“This report substantiates claims of a racist culture in the KCFD that is perpetuated by union control over all aspects of KCFD’s operations,” said Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City.
“The city manager and city council must be held accountable for allowing this dysfunctional system to persist,” Grant said. “The search for a new Fire Chief is an opportunity to bring someone in from the outside and empower that person with the tools and support needed to transform the culture.
“However, this will be impossible if the mayor and city council lack the courage to stand up to the union that has had a stronghold on the department for decades,” she said.
In January, Donna Lake retired as the city’s fire chief and accepted a job as an assistant city manager in Lee’s Summit. Ross Grundyson, an assistant fire chief at the time, was named interim fire chief.
On Thursday, McCullough, the city’s chief equity officer, said the assessment report illustrates an immediate need for reform inside the fire department.
“Unfortunately, it highlights an extremely negative workplace climate that is impacting personnel safety, mental health, physiological health, physical health and overall morale,” McCullough said.
“This impact also has an adverse effect on community relations and service delivery to (minority) communities.”
The assessment report was produced by third-party consultant Debra J. Jarvis Associates Consulting & Training LLC after a yearlong review that the authors said included 231 KCFD employees from different ranks and positions.
The names and identities of the participants were not included in the report.
Among the report’s key findings:
— Firefighters treated fire scenes in low-income neighborhoods differently from those located in more affluent areas of Kansas City. Crews will sometimes tear up houses more than necessary in poorer neighborhoods, while firefighters put plastic over couches and may not chop a hole in the roof while battling fires in more expensive homes.
— The report said workplace safety was not stressed enough. Erratic driving that resulted in wrecks is commemorated in fire stations with plaques or pieces of wreckage on display. The department is not strict in requiring firefighters to wear protective breathing gear at fire scenes.
— Department members with higher seniority are recruited to block unwanted firefighters from being given assignments to specific fire stations.
— Female and minority firefighters believe they are required to “conform to standards of whiteness.” Black male firefighters are hesitant to say anything for fear of being labeled “an angry Black man.”
— Study participants complained that the two firefighter unions had too much power and influence in how the department operates.
Most department personnel are represented by International Association of Fire Fighters Local 42 and those above the rank of captain but not in upper management are represented by IAFF Local 3808.
Union members dominate the joint labor management committee that makes many of the department’s decisions, the report said.
“The over-arching perceptions and opinions of KCFD participants in this culture study are that the two IAFF Unions prevent KCFD Management from holding personnel accountable for compliance with policies and practices because they have more power and influence in daily operations practices, as well as City politics that KCFD Management,” the report said.
The Star sought comment Friday from Local 42 president Dan Heizman and Clay Calvin, president of Local 3808, but neither union has issued a statement.
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