Read list of arrests of Memphis firefighters (names redacted)
Read and watch the WTAE-TV story on Pittsburgh firefighter arrest records
Watch WLMT-TV series of reports on the Memphis Fire Department: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
We told you the other day that there was more to the story of the recent arrest of Memphis Fire Department Firefighter Lawrence Batiste on burglary, assault and drug charges. Batiste had been hired by Memphis despite being fired as a Shelby County firefighter because of a felony conviction he failed to disclose (Watch Parts 1 & 2 above from WLMT-TV).
WLMT-TV has been looking closely at the Batiste case, but reporter Jeni DiPrizio has widened her investigation. In a follow-up report (Part 3 & 4) she shows how more than 80 firefighters have been arrested in the last five years and that many have stayed on the department despite some serious charges.
DiPrizio showed a list of those arrested, the charges and any administrative actions taken. STATter911.com received a copy of the same information that we are told was released under a Freedom of Information Act request. I have attached the document in the form it was provided with the exception of the names of the employees. Since I am not doing the original reporting on this issue, I did not feel comfortable as being the source for those names (some names are in the report by the TV station).
One great irony in all of this comes in Part 5 and Part 6 of the series by reporter DiPrizio. It is the story of Michael Todd Highfill. Highfill is suing the Memphis Fire Department for discrimination, saying he was fired for failing to pass a test in a timely manner (he was one point off). Highfill claims others have been given many more chances when having the same problem and more serious problems (like arrests).
Highfill was hired by the Shelby County Fire Department, the very same department that fired current Memphis Firefighter Lawrence Batiste because of his felony conviction. Seems the departments made an unintentional swap of firefighters.
Memphis Fire Department Director Alvin Benson has been quiet throughout the TV station’s week-long coverage. He apparently is planning to sit down for an interview next week.
By contrast, Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones has been quite vocal about the number of arrests involving his firefighters. As we previously mentioned WTAE-TV “ran a criminal background check on all 630 Pittsburgh firefighters and found that, in addition to recent criminal cases that have made news, there are many others that have not.”
Here ‘s what reporter Jim Parsons found in Pittsburgh:
Court records reveal that a total of 53 Pittsburgh firefighters have faced criminal charges. Half of those cases — 26 in all — were drug or alcohol related. Some of those cases go back years. But Team 4 found 14 criminal cases against firefighters that are less than three years old, and 11 of those 14 cases are drug or alcohol related.
That pattern seems to hold very true in Memphis where drugs and alcohol seem to be behind many of the arrests.
Where Lawrence Batiste has been the face of the story in Memphis, Captain Frank Becker Jr. has played a somewhat similar role in Pittsburgh. Becker was arrested on DUI and cocaine charges in December and had another alcohol arrest last summer.
Becker’s brother, who is also a Pittsburgh firefighter, was involved in a serious alcohol related crash a-year-ago.
