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CITY OF ATLANTA
DEPARTMENT of FIRE
46 COURTLAND ST.,S. E.
Atlanta, Georgia
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; August 15, 1909
P.O. WILLIAMS
CHIEF
Honorable Ivan Allen, Jr.
Mayor, City of Atlanta
City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Dear Mayor Allen:
We have been dealing with Community Relations and have accepted some of their
Suggestions relative to climinating some problems. Various policies and facts
pertaining to this department are attached.
Tt ig intarastina ta note the following See from the Report of the United
States Commission on Civil Rigiits 1969, entitled For All the People...By All
the People which nas qust reached this office:
"Despite tne belated adnission of firemen into the Atlanta department
and the elaborate procedures which surrounded their introduction, the
Atlanta Fire Department fiad a larger proportion of Negroes in uniform
than any other central city in the survey and a higher degree of
integration than many."
We are in the process of re-writing the Rules and Regulations of the Atlanta Fire
Department to eliminate any inequities in the old Look, to eliminate any
possibility of discrimination or tue possibility of any officer over-reacting
with authority. As soon as this has been completed, it will be presented to tne
Board of Fire Masters for their approval and adoption.
We would like to stress taat any fireman who has grievances, has three methods by
which to air them in tuis office: by completing a Forn 52 (Special Request),
go through the Company Officers and Battalion Chief, or by use of a Suggestion
Form available in all stations. Any justifiable grievances will ve straigntened |
out.
Yours very truly,
G7e. LU LOL dvemed
WILLIAMS, Chief
Atlanta Fire Desartnent
POW: 11a
Enclosure
ec: Mr. W. T. Knight, Chairman Board of Fire Masters
“HELP SAVE LIFE AND PROPERTY BY PRE VENTING FIRES"
The Atlanta Fire Department's only interest is in the protection of lives and
property from fire. The citizens of Atlanta should have and deserve tne best
fire protection available. In order to accomplisn this, we must have tne best
trained, qualified, and exnerienced personnel in responsible positions
regardless of race, creed, or color.
Fire Department officership must have leadership. One cannot gain leadership
if standards have to be lowered so one can qualify. Subordinates will not look
upon such an officer as a leader. Life and property is at stake. Decisions
and actions of a fire officer are based on knowledge and experience of tne job.
Therefore, standards and qualifications must be kept high. Rather than lower
he standards, they should be raised.
PROMOTIONAL POLICIES:
Promotions in the Fire Departnent are made according to merit and fitness.
The promotional system of the Atlanta Fire Department is set by law.
Anyone meeting the qualifving standards as set forth by the
Promotional Board will be promoted regardless of race, creed, or
color. We will not and do not discriminate for or against anyone
meeting the qualifying standards of this system.
Promotional examinations for Fire Licutenants are held every tuo
years. To qualify, a man must have had five years service in the
Fire Department. After the examination, the applicants are listed
according to their scores from a combination of the written test,
training school average, and seniority points. This list is
divided into arcups of 20. The first 20 men are rated at oral
interviews, and this score is added to their grades from the above
three items. Promotions from this list are made in order of the
applicant's final score.
So far, the first 7 men have been promoted from the Lieutenant's
examination held in March of 1969. The first wlack firemen started to
work in April 1953, so that this is the first year (1969) any of them
have been eligible to apply for promotion to Lieutenant. There were 153
applicants, of whom 6 were black. The first black applicant is in the
6th group of 20 or approximately position 102 on the list.
Promotions to Fire Apparatus Operator are made by appointinent. The
Captain at each station makes these selections subject to the
approval of tne Battalion Chief.. The men must nave nad at least two
years service with the Fire Department and have passed the required
driving tests at the Training Sciool. Thére are nine black firemen
in these positions.
HIRING PRACTICES:
Eligible lists for Firemen are established every week after the weekly
interviews. (During March, April, and July of this year, interviews
were held every two weeks.) As vacancies occur, the Fire Department
calls the men on a list in tie order of their scores. Each person on
the list of a certain date is contacted and offered employment before
moving to the next chronological list. Once a man is on the eligible
list, he is not by-passed unless the Fire Department is unable to
contact him by telephone or letter.
Throtigh July 25, of this year, 60 white men were put on the eligible
list and 57 black men. Of these, 45 white men have been employed and
41 black men.
Of the 867 men in the extinguishing division, over 19% or 165 are black.
Nine of these are Fire Apparatus Operators and 25 are on Military
Leave. Firemen that leave the department for military service are
reinstated wien they return (this is a Federal Law) and are usually
returned to the same station from which tney left.
RECREATION CLUB:
9, a group of firemen leased a 5.7 acre tract of
land at Lake Allatoona from tne government and organized a ciud
which was calied Atlanta Firemen's Recreation Club. However, the
Fire Department nor the City of Atlanta has any jurisdiction over the
activities of this cluod. It is a private crganization controlled by
a Board of Trustees composed of eleven men, wio adhere to tie wishes
of the majority of the members, and is supported entirely by dues paid
by the members and maintained through volunteer services of tlie meibers.
In January of 195