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More on cadet program reinstated by department in September after long hiatus
Cadet program has troubled past: here & here
An exclusive ABC7 I-Team Investigation has learned that there is a looming sex scandal in the D.C. Fire Department involving female trainees.
Sources tell ABC7 numerous women are part of a formal complaint targeting the department. Two training academy instructors have been accused of harassing female cadets and sources say that harassment was sexual in nature.
Young cadets are trained by mentors who shepherd the recent high school graduates into the field of fire fighting.
But multiple sources tell ABC7 that two female cadets recently accused two training academy instructors of sexual harassment.
“A young lady was touched and told to by the official to call them daddy,” says the mother of a female cadet, who asked to not be identified for fear of retaliation. She says while her daughter was “not” harassed, other young women told her daughter about various sexual advances directed at them.
“It was alleged that they mentioned about shaking their behind, mentioning of their breasts to some of the young cadets,” she says. “These young girls, they are in a position where they have to look up to these people and they should be setting some kind of example and not preying on them.”
“There have been some allegations that have been brought forward,” Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe says to ABC7. “We have referred them to our Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor, which means that we can’t discuss it any further
Ellerbe says he takes the allegations very seriously, but believes the alleged inappropriate conduct was not sexual in nature.
“The matter made the young ladies uncomfortable and we’ve done everything we can to remove those members from the process in training them and we’ll take additional action if necessary,” Ellerbe says.
D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, as the chairman of the public safety committee, says he’s concerned that this is the first he’s hearing about these allegations.
“This is not something that I want to hear and it’s something that’s completely unacceptable, but I realize also they are allegations and there will be an investigation,” Wells says. “But in the event that it’s true it’s absolutely not acceptable. Not in our city.”
The chief says the reason his department didn’t release information about this investigation was the female cadets who brought these allegations forward asked the chief to keep the matter confidential.
But one parent told ABC7 that if these allegations prove true, some very public policy changes need to be made to make sure this never happens again.
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DC Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe now gets his say. His views on going to 12-hour shifts for firefighters. Plus the chief is getting a lot of heat. Read the comment cards.
33 commentsRead entire opinion by Chief Kenneth Ellerbe
Previous coverage of Chief Ellerbe's plan here, here, here and here
On November 30, DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe really stirred things up by officially telling DC City Council members he wanted firefighters to move from four platoons of 24/72 to three platoons on 12-hour rotations with three shifts of day work, followed by three shifts of night work, followed by three days off (3-3-3). Since then, there has been a lot written about this subject in the Washington Post.
It started with a Post editorial generally supporting the chief's plan. That was followed by an op ed piece by IAFF Local 36 President Ed Smith who supports the status quo of 24/72 and believes 12-hour shifts would not save the city money and would cause firefighter fatigue. Then Marcus Rosenbaum, the brother of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, had an op ed piece saying both the 24/72 and 3-3-3 shifts were not compatible with having alert firefighters, paramedics and EMTs working the streets of the Nation's Capital.
This weekend Chief Ellerbe gets his say in the Post. Here are excerpts:
Chief Ellerbe received a lot of positive reaction from members of the City Council when his plan was first presented. But many firefighters continue to criticize the chief in comments sections of various websites and on Facebook about the shift plan, his banning of outerwear with the DCFD logo and other issues.
One of the most recent criticisms came from the blog, Raising Ladders. Written by a DC firefighter and paramedic, the latest column focuses on comment cards that are to be handed to patients the department comes in contact with. Below is the real card and below that a modified version posted on Raising Ladders. Click here for the commentary that goes with the cards