Coatesville Fire Department’s new assistant chief talks about Robert Tracey’s arrest and the issue of background checks
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Accused arsonist Robert Tracey Jr.
Read “Graham’s Rules For The Improvement of Background Investigations” from GordonGraham.com
It has been a tough week for the public image of a firefighter. In two very high-profile arson cases investigators didn’t have to go far to make an arrest. First was the tragedy on Long Island where a family of four died in a fire. Probationary firefighter Caleb Lacey is charged with the murders. Relatives of the victims are claiming the motive for the attack was jealousy.
In Coatesville, Pennsylvania it isn’t a new firefighter in trouble. It is a veteran. When the first stories came out on Monday evening about Robert Tracey there were quotes from an attorney who represented the firefighter in a previous legal matter. It was discovered that two-years-ago Tracey had entered a guilty plea and was on probation for writing bad checks.
Some noticed an Anne Arundel County Fire Department patch being worn by Robert Tracey in one picture. It turns out he was employed and then separated from Anne Arundel within a month of his guilty pleas.
A human-resources worker at the Anne Arundel County Fire Department in Maryland said Tracey was terminated from its department; however, she declined to give dates, referring the matter to a spokesman, Battalion Chief Matt Tobia. He said that Tracey worked for his department from April 2006 until April 2007 but that he could not discuss Tracey’s departure.
There are a lot of questions to ask about the bad check charge. Is it relevant? Should that have been a warning to the Coatesville Fire Department? Did the department know about it? If not, should they have known?
You may recall a story from November, 2008 that on the surface seems to have some parallels. It was about a career firefighter in Prince George’s County arrested for setting a fire on his way to work. We soon discovered that five-years-earlier Michael Murphy had been picked up for credit card misuse. Murphy was given probation for his guilty plea on a theft charge. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department fired Murphy but the firefighter won has job back through an appeals process.
Back to Coatesville. The man who recently replaced Robert Tracey as volunteer assistant chief spoke about some of these issues with reporters, including Jennifer Miller with the Daily Local News. Here are excerpts from the article:
After the arrest, Pacana said Tracey was immediately suspended from the company pending the outcome of the charges. Additionally, Pacana said the company intends to review its volunteer hiring policies and procedures in light of the arrest.
The company’s current policy does not include a criminal background check, but Pacana said the company may add the check to the screening process. At the same time, Pacana said the check may not have served as a preventative measure in Tracey’s case, who joined the department 21 years ago at age 16.
In February, Tracey shifted from volunteer to a paid city firefighter at which time the city should have conducted a background check.
City spokeswoman Kristin Geiger said Tuesday the city conducts background checks before hiring any employee. However, she declined to specifically discuss Tracey’s background check.
In 2007, Tracey pleaded guilty to writing back checks and was put on probation for one year, court records state.
(For some good rules on background checks for all firefighters check the link at the top of the page. It is from retired California Highway Patrol Commander and attorney, Gordon Graham. Many of you know Graham as Chief Billy Goldfeder’s partner on http://www.firefighterclosecalls/.)
