Sacramento, California Firefighter Resigns after Sex Scandal

[x648eng119 2]

Fromm Firehouse.com

One Sacramento, California Firefighter Resigns, Three Others Asked to Leave After Sex Scandal

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- One Sacramento firefighter has resigned and three others have been sent termination letters, five weeks after they were accused of having group sex at their station house, Fire Chief Julius ''Joe'' Cherry said.  

The lone woman accused of participating in consensual sex at Station 12 resigned, ending the city's attempt to discipline her, Cherry said. She was a 10-year veteran of the department.  

She and three male firefighters have been on paid administrative leave since January, when the department began an investigation into at least three incidents of consensual group sex, in Station 12 and on a fire engine.  

The termination letters sent to the three men, a captain and two firefighters, are the first steps in what could be a lengthy disciplinary process, Cherry said.  

''A notice of intent is not, in fact, a termination but rather a procedural step in the process of discipline,'' Cherry said. ''They now have to go through the civil service process. We will go through the process and keep the public informed of what takes place.''  

The accusations of on-duty group sex were the latest in a string of scandals for Sacramento firefighters, who have been disciplined for drinking on duty, giving joy rides to women on fire trucks and attending a ''p*** Star Costume Ball.''  

Before Monday's events, 24 city firefighters and senior officers had been disciplined. Two resigned before they were terminated; two captains were fired; and five others were placed on five years' probation.  

After eight months of investigations, Cherry said he hopes this latest round of discipline is the last.  

[LCFD968 10]

Is it a big deal? If its consensual and its not in public then its not as bad as they are making it.whats up with the month of investigations. I can understand that Chief doesn't like(upset she said NO!!! hahaha),but tell them to keep it out of the firehouse and on there own time.

[LCFD994 8]

sounds like someone had a bug up there you know what about her. Maybe becasue they werent part of the group.

I agree with Shawn if it is consensual and not in public and there not delaying there duties whats the big deal. Everyone is so friging up tight these days its not funny.

Im sure if you look into the pasts of the people doing the investigations, that they arent perfect people as well. So lighten up.

[Remember585 815]

Job perk?

Fringe Benefit?

Any other opinions?

[CAM502 6]

Hey guys R U SERIOUS?

Ok if they were off-duty then fine tell them to get a room and get past it. But (and I am qouting the article) these were "accusations of on-duty group sex....in Station 12 and on a fire engine". Now I'm sorry but if you are on-duty don't u think being naked and in some wierd position would delay your response? :-k Even if it is just by two minutes, that is unacceptable. You are being paid to protect people's lives and property. Now I'm not saying that they should be fired on a first offense but they should be disciplined.

[LCFD968 10]

Or at least a warning for the first offence. The chief should issue a warning and chalk it up to a story he could tell his buddys at the bar. Why spend time investigating. If they were warned and they continued doing it then further disipline is required. Or if you can't beat them join them!

[JBE 328]

I have to disagree with you guys. They got caught shtupping on a rig, they get a rip or lose their job. Consensual or not, there is a time and place for it. Although the idea of doing it in the hose bed of a fire truck is a fantasy many have had since Billy Baldwin did it in 1991, you don't want to go doing it. It's all about that public image and perception, folks. I can only imagine the $%&*Storm that came out of this.

[LCFD994 8]

Now I'm sorry but if you are on-duty don't u think being naked and in some wierd position would delay your response?

So I guess when they hit the racks for the night they are sleeping in full uniform and bunkers on and everything..

[CAM502 6]

Now I'm sorry but if you are on-duty don't u think being naked and in some wierd position would delay your response?

So I guess when they hit the racks for the night they are sleeping in full uniform and bunkers on and everything..

Nicholas,

Big difference than if you are having an orgie or whatever you would like to call it. When you hit the racks your gear should be staged so you get up, jump in your clothes and go. Not to mention in a paid department the Stationhouse is city property aka public property. What if a civilian came running up to bang on the door because the place down the block is on fire, should they have to see a bunch of naked firefighters doin it on the apparatus floor?? Listen man if you can't go to a office job and do this, why should our office be any different? There is a time and place for everything and not to mention common sense.

[BIGRED1 71]

well i think that it is all a bunch of crap. who knows what they were doing. maybe it was all her "giving" then a "job" and they were all just standing around. maybe it is a slow station. i think that ya it is bad and not cool but if it is 3am slim chance someone is gonna run up on the house and say there is a fire. it could happen, but how many times has it happened to anyone on this site? i think that it should have been delt with inhouse and not publicly. it was consensual. there is not investigating. ya I did them and they did me. this is not some girl who comes to the fire house off the street and then all hell breaks loose. everyone was cool with it.

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

Giving them a "job".. Nice touch... Yea. unlike the getting out the ther bunk from the sleeping position to respond. You also have to deak with e the "nut" factor. And YOU know... That is prime cause for delay. Enough said.

[DOC22 1]

I have to disagree with you guys. They got caught shtupping on a rig, they get a rip or lose their job. Consensual or not, there is a time and place for it. Although the idea of doing it in the hose bed of a fire truck is a fantasy many have had since Billy Baldwin did it in 1991, you don't want to go doing it. It's all about that public image and perception, folks.  I can only imagine the $%&*Storm that came out of this.

I agree 100% with you JBE!!! Public image and perception is a major factor. In the firehouse or on a FD vehicle is DEFINITELY NOT the place!!!! It makes NO difference how they (the public) finds out, but they most generally do so there is NO excuse!

[Guest]

Like DOC22 said, public perception is a major factor in this. It's bad enough that a segment of the public (our clients) sees us as drunks racing to the scene on our POVs after our party at the FH serving booze to minors and fondling 14-yr old girls........... The LAST thing we need is a widespread belief that we also do the old :pelvic_thrust: whenever we feel like it, at the FH AND with our sister FFs.Consensual or not, it is just not the right place !!

[ny10570 745]

You couldn't get away with this S**T at an any other job. I can't believe only one other person has brought this up? Why is it that firefighters have come to this level where they think that when they're in "their" house that they're really in a house they own. You can't screw, drink, or show up high to work no matter what you do.

[Guest]

I’m amazed that anyone is defending this group of people. I’m also not naïve enough after 20 years in the fire service to think that this doesn’t go on. That being said, it still is out of bounds. As has already been posted; there is the problem of public perception, but there is also the problem of our own perception of ourselves. Like it or not the fire service (both career and volunteer) is a quasi-military organization. We are taught that all depends on our actions and thoughts as part of the team, when we perceive ourselves to be more important than the team (drug use, alcohol on duty, sex on duty etc.), the team begins to unravel.

It was stated that people today are to “uptightâ€, I don’t think that today’s people are to uptight , the problem in my opinion is that there are groups today that think that their loose morals and public behavior should be accepted because it’s “their thingâ€. What you do in your own bedroom, fairplay to you; what you do when you leave your own home, accept society’s standards or be prepared to accept the consequences

[LCFD968 10]

I am not saying what they were doing was a good thing. It's just that it could have been handled a little differently. The Chief has the reputation of the Sacramento Fd sitting on his shoulders and to let something like this to get out is insane. They had group sex in the Fire house and in house disipline is what is called for. If its a warning or suspention then handle it don't air the dirty laundry. Its not like some was gang raped after they got stoned with the money they stole from the pimp daddy on the corner.

ny10570 said "you can't get away with at any other job." Its been happening for as long as there has been jobs. It just doesn't come out in publics eye. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean its not there.

Unfortunately we are in public eye and there are things that should or could be dealt with in house to protect the image that most of us work for.

They didn't hurt anybody, nor did they effect there job(as far as the report says). If they sat there and watched them for months in an investigation it was a waste of manpower, time and money, city money that is.

[EJS1810 7]

The Chief did what he had to do. Yes, it does go on in other occupations but unfortunatly a stockbroker or mail clerk is not held in the same standards that we are by nature of our chosen profession (both career or volunteer).

Look at the FDNY 75/33 Scandal and read the NYC DOI report. The sex was consensual but it still was wrong because it happened in a place that had regulations against such action. I'm sure the it is the same in Sacremento.

[Guest chief865]

The fire service should be no different than any private company. If you get caught doing something wrong, sex in this case, then its definitely grounds to get fired. Is it going to continue to happen all over the country/world? Of course. People are going to take their chances to get the thrill out of it. They just were caught and caught by the wrong person. It can happen anywhere. Sadly enough or good for the common working person, the city needs to make sure they have grounds for firing before then can actually follow through. Lawyers! Enough said.

[JBE 328]

I am not saying what they were doing was a good thing. It's just that it could have been handled a little differently. The Chief has the reputation of the Sacramento Fd sitting on his shoulders and to let something like this to get out is insane. They had group sex in the Fire house and in house disipline is what is called for. If its a warning or suspention then handle it don't air the dirty laundry. Its not like some was gang raped after they got stoned with the money they stole from the pimp daddy on the corner.  

ny10570 said "you can't get away with at any other job." Its been happening for as long as there has been jobs. It just doesn't come out in publics eye. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean its not there.  

Unfortunately we are in public eye and there are things that should or could be dealt with in house to protect the image that most of us work for.  

They didn't hurt anybody, nor did they effect there job(as far as the report says). If they sat there and watched them for months in an investigation it was a waste of manpower, time and money, city money that is.

Sometimes certain things go beyond the point of settling it in house. This is something that could have, and obviously did go beyond the big red door. In house discipline may not have been enough. Especially in light of what went on on Cameron Place and Walton Avenue. Nobody is taking any chances. The chief in Sacramento did what he had to do. Because if he did nothing than a slap on the wrist, and the activities came out, he would be facing a raging $hitstorm of why he didn't do more. By ripping those involved with a penalty such as this, he is not only sprucing up the image of his own department, he is, in effect, saving his own @$$.