Chicago can build a world-class fire department and increase minorities in its ranks without lowering standards
Three city department heads, including Annette Nance-Holt, skipped Thursday’s City Council Police and Fire Committee hearing at the direction of Mayor Brandon Johnson. That gesture infuriated aldermen seated on the panel, many of whom continue to promote the narrative that the Chicago Fire Department discriminates against Black candidates in hiring and promotions. Their claim, however, is not backed by specific evidence — only by the assertion that the number of Black hires and promotions is not proportionate to the city’s demographics.
Every firefighters’ contract since 1980 has included language CFD must aim for a goal of 45 percent minority representation — 30 percent Black and 15 percent Hispanic — across all levels of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD). According to CFD’s data from last year, this target has been surpassed for Hispanic representation, which now stands at about 18.5 percent. Black representation, however, lags at 14.2 percent. Critics point to these numbers as evidence of racism. Yet the consent decree that previously mandated minority hiring in the department was abolished in 2022.
The reality is that the underrepresentation of Black hires stems largely from a combination of lack of interest and the inability of many applicants to meet even the lowered entry standards. In both hiring and promotion, the Chicago Fire Department has embraced a DEI-driven agenda that has led to political grandstanding and the dangerous erosion of standards. There is growing pressure on the Fire Academy to carry minority candidates who do not meet basic physical requirements. This is not only irresponsible — it is dangerous.
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) has faced similar challenges, with lowered standards and “merit” promotions increasingly used to elevate political appointees. The lack of diversity — especially in the Fire Department — is due at least as much to lack of interest among Black applicants as it is to institutional barriers. This is despite extensive outreach efforts targeted almost exclusively at the African American community, including recruitment and testing programs focused solely on Black candidates.
There is nothing more insulting to a community than to suggest it cannot compete on a level playing field. And there is nothing more demoralizing to a department than the ongoing pretense that the discriminatory practices of 50, 40, or even 20 years ago still persist today. The city’s current approach — rooted in historical grievance and race-based preference — is itself a form of discrimination. It punishes the innocent, undermines morale, and compromises the quality of new recruits. Race-baiting advocates and opportunistic lawyers are thrilled with the results.
Trying to correct the sins of the past by instituting new forms of discrimination and lowering standards is not bringing about greater diversity among CFD ranks. What it is doing is further dividing the department and increasing risks to its members. I’ve long believed the strongest argument against reducing the firefighter manning level is it is entirely possible many crews may have a member who is a liability due to lowered physical standards.
If the goal is to make CFD as well as CPD more reflective of the community while not lowering standards and deliberately discriminating against any one group, we must remove politics from the hiring and promotion process. Instead, we should focus on expanding the pool of qualified candidates while maintaining high standards and promote based on time in grade and training. There is a pathway to accomplishing such a task.
Create a pipeline that ensures that future fire and police candidates will be of high quality and reflect the community
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) made history by opening the nation’s first public military high school in the Bronzeville neighborhood. The city now has 11 such schools and 40 high schools with ROTC programs. These schools should be pressed into service to tutor future police officers, and all first responders. This includes firefighters, EMT, EMS, and TSA. Over 10,000 students, overwhelming Black and Latino, are annually enrolled in the academies and ROTC programs.
The Chicago (high school) Police and Fire Training Academy (CPFTA) also draws hundreds of students from all high schools, both public and private, who are interested in careers in public safety, law enforcement, criminal justice, and fire safety. The academy program could be upgraded and expanded, becoming a First Responder equivalent to the ROTC program, and would invite all Chicago high school students, both public and private, who are interested in such careers. CPFTA graduates are eligible to receive free tuition at the City Colleges of Chicago.
If the curriculum is aligned with City Colleges and local university courses, these schools and programs could feed the city’s first responder departments, similarly to how ROTC and JROTC programs serve the military. This is much preferable than the present program that discriminates against private school graduates and simply gives preferential police hiring to Chicago Public School graduates, with no real standards. Organizations like the Black Fire Brigade could play an active role in the training and education of all First Responders.
The Veterans and Line of Duty preference hiring would continue with increased efforts to recruit Veterans and preference awarded to children of Police Officers and Firefighters who have died in the line of duty. First responders should also be provided preference to switch occupations, or in the case of former police officers turned firefighters, participate in a “Chicago Police Reserve” such as that employed in Los Angeles for emergencies and special events.
With these pipelines in place, there would be no need for the current general CPS preference hiring which produces neither the numbers, quality candidates needed, or the need to lower general hiring standards. It will ensure a diverse group of high quality future police candidates who are well schooled in the areas critical to effective policing is being incubated in our city public and private high schools.
Promotions should be based on Time in Service, Time in Grade and Advanced Training
Chicago Firefighters as well as Police Police Officers should be promoted based on accumulated service time and time logged in a specific paygrade. Advanced training is not sufficient evidence worthy of promotion. Neither should promotions be based on a single, controversial, high-stakes test. In other words, promotions need to be clearly earned.
A combination of experience, accomplishments, and additional schooling and training are the best criteria to ensure that those most qualified for promotion are indeed promoted. This is the best practice promotion system the U.S. Military uses, with great success. Recruiting high quality candidates who reflect the community at the front end and promoting based on time in service and advanced training, will result in a high quality and diverse leadership corps.
It’s been a trying decade for Chicago Firefighters and Paramedics as well as Chicago Police Officers. If only the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee were focused on the critical health and safety issues facing both CFD and CPD personnel.
- CFD continues to ignore OSHA’s criticism that several line-of-duty deaths and serious injuries have resulted in no investigation, training, or corrective action.
- CFD’s fleet of trucks is aging, unreliable, and at times dangerous to operate. The acute shortage of ambulances and EMT personnel is exhausting staff and costing lives.
- CFD firehouses are crumbling. Personnel are forced to live in decaying, unsanitary, and polluted facilities, which are causing long-term health damage.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union receives its second consecutive $1.5 billion contract less than 10 months after the previous contract expired, while CFD members are in year four with no agreement. No outcry by the City Council, only crickets. It is time to focus on what matters. CFD and CPD, health, safety, and a strategy that ensures the community is well represented among the CFD the right way.
None of this is achieved by lowering standards or resorting to discriminatory practices.
