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No felony firefighters
On another board I'm on there was a discussion about prisoners out west fighting fires. Everyone was saying what a good job they were doing. But we won't let people with felonies in the fire service. Delaware recently passed a law concerning this. If it's okay for hard core prisoners to go out and fight fires why can't someone who made a mistake 5-10-15 years okay and has been clean ever since do it?
Am I the only one with a issue about this?
Am I the only one with a issue about this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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Let me put this in a different way....(By the way I work in a Correctional Facility now) A mistake is just that....A "Felony" is a CRIME....It wasn't a misjudgement on their part, and yes, they knew it was wrong to do...BUT...They did it none-the-less...the only thing they were sorry for at the time was NOT the victim but rather they got caught.....No, leave things the way they are...we have enough honest people applying....Convicts need not apply.....Stay safe.....Paul
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Permalink Reply by Reggie Anglin on
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No not at all buddie, Im battling with the same issue. I want to better my career and famliy. However, you get the doors slamed on ya, be it your 45 years old or have record for something that happen years ago- a mistake. It does feel like your the only one with this issue.
this site is very good, Im not the only one!!
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hey brother, I do agree with you to some degree. Your comment, "I personaly wouldnt be comfortalbe having a murderer being next to me" I agree to that statement hands down!!!!! but for one time offence well we all makes mistake of different issue. For a person that love's the job and will risk their life, famliy for another bother in the fire service and EMS. Well that person isnt all that bad.
stay safe.
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Permalink Reply by Jake Fireman on
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Paul
Im with you 100%. Why should we bother to have backgrounds and polygraphs etc if we are going to hire felons?
Also, back about 20 something years ago when I woeked in law enforcement. it was a national statistic that for every arrest you made, that person you just arrested had commited 10-15 previous crimes without being caught. Usually the first time, the crime was pled out, probation given or the charges dropped. At that time, it was pretty widely accepted that by the time anyone got any "real" felony time they had commited 50-75 crimes of the same type. NOT just a mistake.
Obviously there are "those" exceptions, and I know that the people we are talking about are all "really good guys". But they commited those crimes which do and should preclude them from working as firefighters, police officers etc.
And i again I come down to this. We are turning away candidates because they have too many traffic tickets in a given time frame, but we want to hire inmates coming out of jail?
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Permalink Reply by Larry Bailey on
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You should hire the most qualified person for the job.If I was trapped or better yet if one of my kids were trapped I would want the strongest person there to rescue us! We are all human and make mistakes..I know a lot of you on this board walk on water so whatever.being in law enforcement and a firefighter for over 20 years I know they have different test so women can qualify or you get hired based on race so save all of the bs,I think we have more to worry about than a one time offender that screwed up paid thousands in fines and was punished. If you can do the job and your not a screw up now your ok in my book..And god bless you for even wanting to deal with the political crap you have to go through to help others..
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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I don't understand why people aren't getting that point. Of course everyone makes mistakes, but NOT everyone commits felonies. There's a big difference between something like public intoxication and murder.
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There are PLENTY of qualified people that won't get this job because there aren't many spots.(If we're talking professional firemen) So why make it even harder for them if they have everything needed to give the spot to a murderer? Can you honestly say that that felon is more qualified? No one said we "walk on water". Like I said, we all make mistakes. However, not all of us have committed murder, rape, robbery, etc. Those aren't mistakes.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Larry,
Not getting hired because of something you have no control over, e.g. color of your skin or gender, as opposed to actual abilitity is the reason for some of the hiring accomodations.
Not getting hired because one is a felon is a result of a choice that person made sometime back.
So long as people continue to apply that are qualified NON-felons, then I think we should probably be hiring non-felons first. Even IF a felon were to score high enough, that one poor choice they made should continue to haunt them. In other words, I'd taken a person slightly less qualified but who had never made the felon mistake.
Let's not think of it as (further) punishing a person for a mistake they made but rather,
REWARDING those people who did NOT make that mistake. Does that make any more sense to you?
(I'd write more but, I've walked too far out on the water from my wireless and may soon lose my connection.)
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My point is that we have to hire some many women and so many minoritys and we are worried about someone that can do the job but bounced a check in college..I had to do twice the stuff to get hired as the women that got hired..I am not saying to hire a felon over a more qualified person I am just saying don't hire a person less qualified because they have a clean criminal record..
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Permalink Reply by Charles McCall on
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Chain Gangs coming back???
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Permalink Reply by Coty Shoemaker on
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I believe that people with non-violent felonies should be allowed, especially if it was something 20 years ago if they have been clean since release from prison, I mean if they've really turned their life around. We all make mistakes when we're young. I know people who have felonies on their record due to a few bad checks when they were in their teens. not all felons are murders/rapists. If they are willing to do the job, and they are willing to work to gain your trust, why not?
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