Abcarian: The Los Angeles Fire Department's sexism problem (via latimesopinion)
“Of course,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m not stupid.”Larson has been publicly critical of the department’s complaint tracking system, implemented by Chief Ralph Terrazas. It’s a big improvement over the previous scattershot approach, in which complaints were handled at the discretion of each of 14 battalion chiefs overseeing the city’s 109 fire houses.
“If I put in a complaint, especially as a female, I am going to be labeled a complainer,” she told the Fire Commission in September. “I will be ostracized and criticized.”In the city of Los Angeles, only 3.5% of the sworn force is female — 115 of 3,300 — despite outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti’s vow to raise that figure to 5%. Unfortunately, that goal seems out of reach.
The LAFD is not just woefully behind on recruiting and hiring women. It is also woefully behind on an organizational study that Larson’s group asked for four years ago.