35% of Applicants
Minority Recruiting Up for Firefighters

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The Fire Department last week touted the success of its recent minority recruitment drive as the filing period for the upcoming Firefighter exam came to a close.

PAUL WASHINGTON: Mixed feelings about test.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told the City Council Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services that the department's "unprecedented outreach efforts" had generated an extraordinary response.

An Unintended Effect?

But Uniformed Firefighters' Association President Stephen J. Cassidy questioned whether the department's decision to grade its physical entrance exam as pass/fail would ultimately hurt minority hiring.

Of the 22,827 candidates who had applied as of Nov. 2, minus 364 who did not identify their race, 35.5 percent were minorities, said Commissioner Scoppetta. That's up from 23.2 percent during the last recruitment drive in 2002.

Approximately 18 percent were Hispanic, 15.5 percent were African American and 2.2 percent were Asian, he continued. Less than four percent of the applicants were women, however.

Capt. Paul Washington, president of the Vulcan Society and longtime critic of the FDNY's hiring practices, said the numbers were a positive start, but "now we need to get more minorities on the job."

The Chief-Leader/Ginger Adams Otis DIVERGENT VIEWS ON PHYSICAL: While Uniformed Firefighters' Association President Stephen J. Cassidy (left) believes making the physical test for Firefighter jobs pass/fail will hurt minority recruitment, Uniformed Fire Officers' Association President Peter L. Gorman calls it 'an exam that gives all candidates an equal opportunity to pass.'

More Women Qualifying?

Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Martha K. Hirst expressed hope that the switch to a nationally-accredited pass/fail physical exam would boost the number of future female recruits.

The city is considering additional changes to spur minority growth, she added, including the possibility of awarding a credit to applicants who graduated from a city high school.

"We've just begun talking about that," said Commissioner Hirst when a City Council Member asked whether DCAS had investigated the possibility of instituting programs in the city schools that would help qualify people for the job. "We're exploring it." Commissioner Scoppetta also said the FDNY had spoken to DCAS about expanding some recruitment activities to military bases.

That earned the approval of Mr. Cassidy, who has long advocated for more aggressive military recruitment from the FDNY, including giving the exam on military bases.

A 'Ludicrous' Leveling

But he expressed sharp disappointment with the city's decision to adopt the Candidate Physical Ability Test.

"With such a physically demanding job, it's ludicrous to have an exam that would give us the same grade if you, for example, were to finish this exam one full minute before me," Mr. Cassidy said to Council Member Miguel Martinez.

The CPAT is a time-trial exam that's similar in design to the one the FDNY uses now at its Training Academy. To pass it, candidates must successfully complete all the elements within 10 minutes and 20 seconds. The previous exam graded each element individually within a timed period.

Uniformed Fire Officers' Association President Peter L. Gorman has testified to the City Council many times about the benefits of the CPAT.

He noted the existence of a conciliation agreement between the International Association of Fire Fighters, which helped develop the test, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The agreement protects any municipality or jurisdiction that adopts CPAT - including its mandates for training and practice sessions - from any gender bias lawsuits for five years.

'Need More Females'

Since CPAT was adopted by Austin, Texas, a city that had been charged with gender discrimination in its firefighter hiring process, 85 percent of the female candidates have passed the physical, Mr. Gorman noted.

"While there is no guarantee that CPAT will result in more women and minority hiring, we believe it is an exam that gives all candidates an equal opportunity to pass," he said. "As a union, we exist to preserve the merit system, but we recognize the need to attract more female candidates. We believe CPAT does both."

Mr. Cassidy charged, however, that the pass/fail physical could hurt the FDNY's minority recruitments efforts.

"It means that your ranking on the list is determined solely by your written score," he said. "This change will not lead to more minority firefighters, and that means the department's efforts are a failure."

Captain Washington was also dismayed by the change. His complaint that the standardized written test unfairly impacts blacks, who historically don't test as well on those exams as other groups, is at the heart of a Department of Justice probe of FDNY hiring practices.