Efforts to boost diversity pay off

Feb. 10th, 2006

maryland news

Changes in recruitment, testing and publicity have moved city Fire

Department a long way since its all-white class of 2004

BYRONA MARECH

SUN REPORTER

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 10, 2006

At the Baltimore City Fire Department, they call it "the anomaly."

In 2004, the department hired an all-white class of recruits for its training academy,

sparking outrage and demands for change in an outdated hiring model. Two years, two

tests and two recruitment drives later, fire officials have turned around a public relations

disaster.

Today, the department's academy will graduate two classes in which minorities make up

61.9 percent and 47.4 percent. Since 2004, 60.4 percent of the students passing through

the academy have been minorities.

"Everyone knew the old system was broken and needed to be fixed. ... When the roof

caved in, we fixed it," said Baltimore Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. "People of all

races just need the opportunity. All we did was open the gates."

Under the new hiring plan - forged with help from City Hall, the NAACP, the Urban

League and a black firefighters' association, the Vulcan Blazers - fire administrators took

over management of hiring from the city and poured resources into recruitment.

Instead of simply posting a flier to announce a testing date or relying on word of mouth,

firefighters talked up the department at high schools, colleges, churches, community

centers, festivals and career fairs around Baltimore. They ran advertisements on

television and radio stations and put banners on city buildings.

In addition, an outside company revamped the admissions test, adding personality

questions and eliminating questions that favored people with firefighting experience. The

department offered study guides to applicants and set up coaching classes and a career

opportunity hot line.

It also increased the frequency of testing in response to complaints. In the past, testing

took place an average of once every four years. By comparison, the department offered a

test in June 2004 and another last month.

Of the 1,395 candidates who took this year's test, 734 were black, 597 were white, 26

were members of other races and 38 were of unknown ethnicity, according to the

department.

Rankings process

Candidates who pass the test are ranked according to their scores and are invited, in order

of rank, to take the next step, which involves interviews, physical-agility tests, medical

examinations, criminal background checks and drug testing. City residents and veterans

are given preference, but race is not a factor in academy admissions.

The new classes are more diverse than the department as a whole. The department, which

was integrated in the 1950s, is 32.9 percent black and 33.4 percent minority. Baltimore is

about 65 percent black.

One of the side benefits, fire officials said, is that their new recruitment efforts have

drawn more women to the profession. The two most recent classes are 19.1 and 21.1

percent female, while women make up 8 percent of the department.

"For lack of a better word, it's talent management," said Arnold L. Scher, the human

resources director who was hired after the all-white class was admitted. "The numbers

came in and all we had to do was go down the list. ... We got a smart, talented group of

individuals of all ethnicities and genders."

Lloyd Carter, then the president of the Vulcan Blazers, helped revamp the hiring process.

"It was a major problem. It was embarrassing. But people rolled their sleeves up and got

to work," he said. "There's a lot to be proud of in terms of the action taken to reach out to

the African-American community. ... It's an even playing field and that's all you can ask

for."

Higher quality

Some people were concerned that in an effort to diversify the force, the department's

standards would drop, but the quality of candidates rose, Carter said.

City Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who expressed alarm when the all-white

class came to light, said he is pleased with the progress.

"I think that's a great improvement over past hiring practices," he said. "Am I satisfied?

No. But I think they're doing a better job and will continue to do better."

Fatima Hawkins is the sort of person the department had in mind when they launched

their outreach campaign. A 27-year-old black woman from Baltimore, Hawkins heard

about the recruitment drive on the radio station 92-Q. She was an addictions counselor

who had always wanted to be a medic. She filled out an application, took a class with the

Vulcan Blazers to brush up on her math and went to the convention center for took the

test.

She is set to graduate from the academy today while her 4-year-old twins watch.

Her children constantly tell people, "'My mom works for the fire department,'" Hawkins

said. "They're very proud."

rona.marech@baltsun.com