MARCH 18, 2015
A number of Los Angeles County Fire Department employees
will face dismissal or lesser punishment as part of a crackdown on cheating in
the agency’s hiring process, fire Chief Daryl Osby said Wednesday.
Osby did not disclose the precise number of employees who
could be fired or otherwise disciplined, but said it was fewer than 50. An
inquiry by the county Auditor-Controller Department found that the
employees improperly accessed or shared confidential testing material used to
hire firefighters, Osby said.
The inquiry was triggered
by a Times investigation last year into nepotism and cheating in the
department. The Times reported that at least 13% of county firefighters on the
payroll as of 2012 were related to someone currently or previously on the
force, according to birth, marriage and other records. In addition, the
investigation determined that department insiders could easily get their hands
on questions and answers used in interviews of job applicants, material that
was supposed to be kept under lock and key.
Osby said employees implicated in the auditor’s probe will
be notified of impending discipline within two or three weeks.
“While the numbers show that cheating was far from endemic
or widespread, I absolutely will not tolerate any behavior that undermines the
integrity of our department,” Osby said in a statement.
He also announced that more than 4,500 people have applied
for firefighter positions under a new recruitment regimen that seeks to
eliminate nepotism and cheating. The applicants began taking a written
examination Wednesday at the Pomona Fairplex. The department also will soon
implement its first anti-nepotism policy, he said.
“Today we turn the page from our past and are beginning a
new era in the 92-year history of the department,” Osby said. “We’re
opening a chapter of test integrity with an exam process that is fair,
transparent and provides equal opportunities for people to work in one of the
county’s great public service agencies.”
The moral of the story: SOME OF THE BRAVEST ARE NOT
NECESSARILY THE SMARTEST, JUST WELL CONNECTED.
We always knew that they cheat.
We also always knew that they fake injuries so they can double dip. Life.