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OEPARTMENT of FIRE 46 COURTLAND ST.,~. E. Atlanta, Georgia P.O. WILLIAMS CHIEF August 15, 1969 Honorabl e Ivan All en, Jr. Mayor, City of A.t l an ta City Hall Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Dear f-,iay or Allen: He have been dea ling iii t h Co1.1 mu nity Re l ati ans and have accepted so1·i1 e of t lle i r su ggestions re l ativ e to e li Din atin g some pro bl e~s. Various polici es and facts pertaining to this departmen t are attac hed. It is ir.ter-<?s t in~ to not ,., th ~ followin a exce r ot f r om the Rep ort of t he Un ite d St ates Co1i11n-is.,ion on Civil Ri ghts 196 9: entitl ed Fer /\11 th e Peopl e . . . By ./.\11 the Peopl e 1·1 hich has just r ea ched this off-ic e : 11 Despite t he be l at ed ad;n i ss ion of fi r em 2n in t o t he /l.t l anta de; artment and t he e l abor ate pro ce dur es 1·n i ch s urr0Ui1d2d t he ir i nt rodu cti on, t he Atlanta Fire Department had a l arge r pr oporti on of :·legroes i n unifo rm than any ot her ce:ntra l city in the survey and a hi gile r de gr ee of in teg r ation than many . 11 We are in th e proces s of ie-writi ng th e Rul es and Reg ul ations of the Atlanta Fire Depa rtment to e li Ji nat e any in equ i t i es in t he old boo k, to e li min ate any possibility of di s cri mi nat i on or t~ e possi ~ility of any office r over-reacting 1-1ith authority. As soon as this ll as been comp l eted, it ',<J ill be presented to t he Board of Fire Masters for their approv a l and adopt i on. We ~voul d 1i ke to stress t i1at any fireman ~-J ho has grie van ces , has three methods by which to air t hem in t iiis office: by comp l etin 0 a Form 52 (Spe ci al Request ) , go throu gh t he Company 0-ffi ce rs and Batt al ion Chi ef , or by use of a Sug ge stion Form availuble in all stations. Any justifiable gri e vances \<J ill oe strai ghten ed out. Yours ve ry truly , QO, (, /{J 'd'f-r.A " ~ pl_' O. HILLI AMS, Chief Atlanta Fire De;-;a rtr:ie nt POW: 11 a Enclosure cc: Mr . W. T. Kn i ght, Chai rman Bo ard of Fi re f·'i as t ers "HELP SA VE LIFE AND PROPERTY BY PREVENTING FIRES" �The Atlanta Fire Department's only interest is in t he protection of lives and property from fire. The citizens of Atlanta should have and deserve t he best fire protection available. In order to accomplish this, we nust have the best trained, qualified, and experienced personnel in responsible positions regardless of race, creed, or color. Fi re Department o ffi cershi p must have le ade rship. One cannot gain leade rship Subordinates will not look upon such an officer as a l eader. Life and property is at stake . Decisions and act..ions of a fire officer are bused on knowl edge and experience of the job. Therefore, standards and qualifications must be kept high. Rather than lower the standards, they should be rais ed. if standards have to be lov-1e red so one can qua"lify. PROMOTIONAL POLICIES: Promotions in the Fire Deµartnent are made according to merit and fitness. The promotional system of the Atlanta Fire Department is set by law. Anyone r.ieetin'.J t,1e qualifying standards as set fort h Liy the Promotion al Board will be promoted regar dl ess of race, creed, or color. We 1,1ill not and do not discriminate for or against anyone meeting the qualifying standards of this system. Promot ion ai examin ations for Fire Lieuten&i'its ar.:: h::1d ::very t \·:o years. To qualify , a i~an must have had f ive years service in the Fire D2pa rtm2nt . After t he examin ation, t he app licants are li st ed according to their scores from a combination of th2 written test , training school aver age , and sen iority points . This list is divided into gr.oups of 20 . The first 20 me n are rated at oral intervi e\vs , and t hi s score is added to their grades fror.i the above three items. Promotions from t his list are made in order of t he applicant's fin al score. So far , the first 7 men have been promoted from the Li eutenant's examin ation he ld in March of 1969 . The first bl ack f iremen started to work in April 1963, so that this is t he first year (1 969 ) any of them have been eli gibl e to ap ply f or promotion to Lieutenan t. There we re 153 applicants, of whom 6 we re bl ack. The first bl ack app licant is in the 6th group of 20 or approxir.1ate ly position 102 on t iie li st. Promoti ons to Fi re Apparatus Ope r ator are made by appointment. The Captai n at each station makes these sel ections s ubj ect to t he approval of the Battali on Chi ef. The men must have i1ad at l east two years servi ce with t he Fi re De partm2n t and have passed ti1e required dri ving tests at the Training School. There are nine black firemen in these pos itions. �. ~- · -·-- ·- .. HIRING PRACTICES: Eligible lists for Firemen are established every week after the weekly intervie\·1s. ·(During 0·larc h, Ap ril, and July of this year, interviews were held every t vw v,eeks.) As vacancies occur, the Fi re Depart ment calls the men on a list in t he order of their scores. Each person on the list of a certain dat e is contacted and offered emp loyme nt be fore movin g to the next chro nological li s t. O~ce a man is on t he eligi ble list , he is not by-p assed unless the Fire De partment is unabl e to contact him by tele phone or letter. Through July 25, of this ye ar) 60 white men were put on the eli ~i ble list and 57 black men. Of these, 45 wf1ite men have been employe d and 41 black men. Of the 86 7 men in t he extinguishing division, over 19% or 165 are black. Nine of t hese are Fi re Ar,pa ratus Operators and 25 are on Military Leave. Fireme n that l eave the departn1ent for military service are reinstate d when they return (this is a Fede r al Law ) and are usually returned to t he sam2 station from vihich ti iey l eft. RECRE.D.TIOi'~ CLUB: In J an uary of 1959, a grou p of firemen lease d a 5. 7 acre tract of l and at Lake ! 11 atoona fro:,1 tne JOver nrnen t and organized a cluo wh ic h ~as call ed Atl anta Firene n 1 s Re creation Club. However, the Fir2 Depa r tr,12nt nor th e City of At l anta has any j uris diction over the activiti es of tr1is club. It i s a private organ i zat i on controll ed oy a Board of Trustees composed of e l even men, 1·1ho adhere to tr1e i'li s '1es of the majority of t he m2mbe rs, and i s sup ported entirel y by dues pai d by the membe rs and ma in tai ned througi1 voluntee r services of t he membe rs. �