Over the last several years, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) attempted to renovate itself to be more "equitable and inclusive" in region known for dire wildfire risk and vulnerable suburbs.
Should Kristin Crowley, the department's first openly LGBTQ chief, have paid more attention to firefighting preparation and fire prevention instead of promoting politicized social justice?
Vast swaths of LA are now burning.
Woke LAFD initiatives include a chart to track the race of every employee to ensure diversity — "engaging the voices and respecting the humanity," workshops on implicit bias to "advance equity," and a goal to double the percentage of female firefighters.
The LAFD desired to promote DEI even above technological innovation and disaster recovery capability, it is said.
Crowley is being criticized in the context of current wildfires.
Reports have circulated there is no water available in many LA fire hydrants.
In 2023, the LAFD launched a DEI Bureau, aimed at driving key DEI strategies and initiatives to enhance the department's work environment and performance.
The LAFD spent $1 million on DEI in 2022-2023. Allegedly, there was an operational request of $673,810 for "equity and inclusion staffing" within the same year.
Crowley said the bureau would, "develop and drive forward key diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and initiatives to enhance the LAFD’s work environment and performance."
Crowley and members of the LAFD cannot be blamed for the wildfires, which have far outstretched firefighting capacity, say analysts.