Vision – Bring community partners together to
develop a comprehensive plan to address Police
and Fire recruiting. Create the kind of Public
Safety departments that are needed now and for
the future – ethical, culturally competent,
health-infused, responsive, adaptive and resilient.
Efforts
● Public Safety Academy (PSA)
● Targeted Recruiting
● Training in Ethics, Cultural Competency
● Diversity
● City Affinity (candidates with a relationship with the
City i.e. schooling, residency, family)
● Early introduction to careers
Partnerships- Establish partnerships with
community stakeholders that are interested in
creating a diverse public safety force.
Public Safety Future
The Vision
Bring community partners together to develop a comprehensive plan to address Police and Fire recruiting. Our mission is to develop the kind of Public Safety departments the community needs: ethical, culturally competent,health-infused, responsive, adaptive, and resilient.
Efforts
Establish partnerships with community stakeholders interested in creating a diverse public safety force.
- Public Safety Academy
- Targeted Recruiting
- Training in Ethics, Cultural Competency
- Diversity
- City Affinity (candidates with a relationship with the City i.e. schooling, residency, family)
- Early introduction to careers
.
Background Information (Firefighters)
After all the efforts to raise the percentage of Black firefighters, from the founding of the Watchmen to the implementation of the Consent Decree, we are now faced with a drastic decline from an equitable level. This decline began with the revoking of the consent decree in 1996.
The Consent Decree (The Youngblood Lawsuit) was signed on May 7th, 1974. At that time, there were 14 blacks on the CFD. The consent decree required each recruiting class to comprise 40% African Americans. Although the Consent Decree only required that the department obtain 18% minority persons, it remained in place until 1995. The CFD would reach approximately 33%, or 270 African Americans at its peak.
The information in the chart is based on data obtained from the CFD in 2018. The black line represents the number of Black firefighters if the consent decree had stayed in place. The blue line represents the number of Black firefighters hired from 2008 to 2018. The chart projects the number of Black firefighters on the CFD in 2030 (factoring in retirements) if hiring remains at the same rate.
That is not acceptable! We must act! We are building this Public Safety Future collaboration to include voices and expertise from the community.
CAFA’s constant effort of recruiting and preparing potential fire recruits has allowed the CFD to have more Blacks than any other city in Ohio with a population of at least 200,000; nevertheless, we cannot fill the void of the consent decree, and we need help. In 2017, we published Public Safety Future’s Diversity Plan and presented it to all candidates running for the Mayor, city council, and the CPS School Board.
Issue 15
November 2018 – Issue 15 overwhelmingly passes, receiving over 80,000 votes from the citizens of Cincinnati!
| CHARTER AMENDMENTA majority vote is necessary for passage | |
| YES | Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to provide that graduates of the Public Safety Academy established by Cincinnati Public Schools in collaboration with the City of Cincinnati be provided an incentive to serve the City in the fire and police departments through an award of five (5) points in examination credits, on departmental entry level examinations, by amending Section 3 of Article V, “Civil Service,” of the Charter of the City of Cincinnati? |
| NO | |
The Existing Diversity Efforts are Ineffective
There is no evidence of a CFD strategic recruiting plan, nor does there appear to be any written recruiting metrics or desired outcomes. Earnest recruiting typically occurs when a fire recruit class has been allocated and approved by the city administration. There is only one full-time recruiter.
Actions
- PSA – (main effort) shaping, developing, and mentoring CPS students to become firefighters and police officers
- Collaboration – we must solicit diverse community stakeholders, which benefits them too!
- Data – collection, and analysis of information such as Black candidate rejection from the selection process
- CFD and CPD Strategic Plan Development
- Targeted Recruitment- recruiting the ” kind” candidate who will be an asset to Public Safety Future.
- Women: any diversity plan must include strategies to recruit and hire more women.
- Enduring and sustainable
Establish a Cincinnati Public Safety Academy
Establish a formal Public Safety Career Tech Pathway within Cincinnati Public Schools.
Ohio State Funding – There are several types of AFS weighted funding: standard educational funding all schools receive for students attending school.
The Second type of funding is Career Technical Education funding (State) is set by categories (1-5)- 1 is the top tier of funding 5 is the lowest.
The third type of funding is the Carl Perkins (Federal). This is funding that Cincinnati Public Schools is already receiving but can be reallocated at the discretion of the District. Carl Perkins funding may be increased with the creation of a career tech program.
City Funding – how much will be allocated to the PSA?
CPS outside funding – Career Tech funds
Private funding, such as the Fire or Police Foundations?
Other funding streams?
Curriculum development – There are nearly 100 Public Safety High School Programs throughout the State of Ohio recognized by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). These programs should be used, through best practices, to help create the PSA.
ODE offers several options in Law and Public Safety Career Pathways. Many of these provide credentialing, such as EMT, Firefighter I &11, Emergency Communications, Ohio Peace Officer Training, Private Security Certification, etc.
ODE provides flexibility in career tech public safety pathways to tailor or customize a program to meet specific needs. Examples include police work and practice in public safety, the American criminal justice system, security and protective services, and law and public safety capstone.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The PSA partnership must be resolved through a MOU between the City and CPS. The MOU should detail who is responsible for providing essential resources and should be flexible to provide room for growth
Bridge for CPD and CFD
Both departments will need to establish Bridge Programs for graduates of the PSA. The program goal should be to ensure the PSA graduate becomes a viable fire and/or police recruit candidate. This will require deliberated career planning for each PSA graduate. Each department’s recruiting staff may be best suited to manage PSA graduates’ career planning. PSA law enforcement graduates will require greater career planning, given the 21 age requirement (3 gap years). Nevertheless, both departments should use external and internal resources to create successful PSA graduate career plans.
Sample of external resources: Attending college, trade/certification programs, the military, entering the workforce in a related job such as correction officer, EMT for a private service, security for public or private agencies, health care provider, etc.
Sample of internal resources: Emergency dispatching, records clerks, and other internal-related positions.
The cadet program is a great avenue to maintain direct contact with the PSA graduate.
CAFA and the Sentinels should be part of the PSA graduate’s career plan. They will serve as mentors, coaches, and sponsors. Ultimately, a successful bridge program will be critical to accomplishing the mission and realizing the vision of diversifying the CFD and CPD.
A current Cost Analysis must be conducted!
