The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Pennsylvania Firefighter Suspended Over Locker Decoration
CHESTER, Pa. - A Pennsylvania firefighter has been suspended over a new rule to clear lockers of decorations - including his U.S. flag decal.
Chester Fire Commissioner James Johnson hopes to avoid controversies like a recent one over a racially tinged cartoon. He says the department's 61 firefighters can still decorate the inside of their lockers.
That doesn't please veteran James Krapf. He was suspended without pay Thursday for refusing to remove his flag sticker.
The 31-year-old Krapf says no one on the force should find the American flag offensive.
Flag images appear on their uniforms and trucks and a flag flies on a pole outside the station.
Krapf says he hopes to strike a compromise with the chief before he loses too much pay.
___
Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com
Related
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Chester Fire Commissioner James Johnson hopes to avoid controversies like a recent one over a racially tinged cartoon. He says the department's 61 firefighters can still decorate the inside of their lockers.
That doesn't please veteran James Krapf. He was suspended without pay Thursday for refusing to remove his flag sticker.
The 31-year-old Krapf says no one on the force should find the American flag offensive.
Flag images appear on their uniforms and trucks and a flag flies on a pole outside the station.
Krapf says he hopes to strike a compromise with the chief before he loses too much pay.
___
Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com
Related
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Robert T. Marchetti on
-
Is Fire Commissioner James Johnson AN AMERICAN? It doesn't sound like it to me if he objects to the display of AMERICAN FLAG DECALS!!!!!
-
Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
-
Lack of common sense by Fire Commission: One day pay for every duty day flag decal is on locker.
Displaying the US Flag and never being ashamed: Priceless
TCSS
-
Permalink Reply by Rick K. on
-
I agree is Commissioner Johnson an American ?Sounds to me like someone needs to get a life and worry about other things other than our countrys flag!!!!!!
-
Permalink Reply by David Nelson on
-
Thats Bull this still is the United States of America is it not.
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on
-
This Commissioner may technically be an American, but he is certainly not a patriotic one.
This knee jerk reaction to an offensive cartoon is very similar to one that hit home for me last month. A kid was suspended from school because he wore one of his dad's FD T-Shirts because a blue shirt might be used as gang colors. Just another example of failing to deal with the actual problem and instead punishing the masses. This kind of mentality would be the same as outlawing cookies because some kids don't listen to mommy and sneak a cookie from the jar before dinner. Better yet, lets outlaw jars, since some of them are used to store cookies.
Now I have too problems that are specific to this current flag issue. First I don't see how the American flag can ever be offensive, especially on our own soil. Grouping our national flag in with cartoons and even organizational stickers, is idiotic at best. Second, the article said that the department wears the very same flag on their uniforms, which would tend to imply that it has already been approved for display. Would they order someone to remove the department patch from the lockers because it might be offensive? If the United Flag is at risk of offending someone, I would expect it to be removed from their uniforms as well.
-
Permalink Reply by Andrew Dalgarno on
-
OK, I can see that the line needs to drawn somewhere. If one item is allowed, then what about this one...or this one...or this one...
But come on, the flag is on your turn-out gear, it's flying in front of your station, it's flying on your trucks, there are decals of it on your trucks, it may even be hung somewhere inside your station...that's OK, but don't put it on your locker????
I hope this firefighter sticks to his guns, fights this all the way and wins - and I'm not even an American!
Andrew
-
Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
-
I would hope that this is not a race based issue.
The cartoon that sparked this ban on decorating the exterior of lockers was racially offensive to the nine firefighters who complained.
So, instead of issuing a policy banning offensive materials on the outside of lockers, which by the way, are displayed outside as soon as you open your locker door again; the ruling was all or nothing.
If the chief and Fire Commission believes that an American flag should not be displayed on the outside of lockers and ONLY American flags by the way, then it's only a matter of time before the flags come off of uniforms, off of the rigs and taken down at the fire stations.
The argument that policy is policy will not fly here. The "policy" was enacted after a cartoon was deemed racially offensive. The policy was lacking common sense and poorly written and didn't address the issue at hand.
Based on what I have read and seen on the news channel, I have to say that there appears to be racial tensions on this fire department.
If there is someone close to this department and this situation, please let us know.
TCSS.
Art
-
Permalink Reply by jbwonfire on
-
Charlton Heston, a great American once said as he addressed the graduating class at Harvard, "Telling us what to say, has evolved into telling us what to think, then telling us what to do can't be far behind." He was talking about our government. Let me tell you something. Good, hard working, honest, God fearing people are only going to take so much and I am here to tell you its about at the brink. If you do not wish to pay reverence to the flag that stands for every man and women who has fought for your rights then so be it. But you have no right to take my beliefs from me or tell me what to say, think or do. As far as those of you who stand against what this country has done for you and the fact that this country was founded under God, I have one phrase I would like you to memorize. Seek life elsewhere!
God Bless you who fight the right battles every day,
Lt Barry Whitt
Engine Company 2
Grenada Fire & Rescue
-
Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
-
Once again OUR government takes great strides in proving that they, themselves, are the primary source of rampant human stupidity...
Did you ever get the feeling that you were not getting NEAR the government you are paying for?
TCSSolvent,
Reg
-
-
On further reflection, I had some additional thoughts.
In the past, asking a citizen to "strike his colors", to take down his flag, would mean that the citizen was surrending and the one giving the order would be considered an aggressor and treated accordingly.
On the issue of the offensive item posted on the locker. Instead of these 9 individuals reporting this offense to the chief, why not, as a group, go to the individual who posted the item and explain your argument. If one person finds the item offensive, that's a decision for the chief. If NINE people find it offensive, majority rules.
Is it just me, or does common sense seem to be a vanishing commodity? Here's a scenario that I don't believe is too extreme. A FF enters his house for a shift and goes to his locker to change. In order not to offend, he hangs his necklace(say...a cross/star-of-david/hammer-of-thor), in his locker. Later, while he is removing an item from his locker, another FF on his shift sees the religious symbol and runs to the Chief to report this display. In this day and age, there is a real possibility that this FF could be reprimanded...
I wonder if I could get any support for a Common Sense Conservation Society?
TCSS,
REG
-
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
-
I'm going to take the other side of the debate here, and while Art mentions this isn't about policy, it really is though. Do I agree with the decision here? No. Do I agree with the micromanagment here? No. That said, it was still the rule not to have anything displayed on the outside of the locker. Is it really worth giving up money? If it were me, I would say no, irregardless though, this does show insubordination. A prudent person would remove the sticker and fight the battle without disregarding orders. There are policies I also have to follow which I don't personally agree with, but if an order is given, it is also followed.
As for patriotism, sorry I see no reason to display a sticker (most likely made in China) on my locker to make me anymore patriotic. Patriotism is something within yourself, not because you have a sticker on the locker. This isn't about patriotism, or lack of, but that the rule was made not to have anything displayed on the outside of the locker. The rules are there to be followed, if you don't agree, look to change or mend the rules, but is it really worth being insubordinate?
-
-
Reg:
That was part of my point.
Chief says inside the locker is theirs'.
So, like you said, I put something up inside my locker that someone else happens to see.
Will the Chief then issue policy that says nothing INSIDE the locker can be considered offensive?
It is time for the babies to grow up, shed their thin skin and realize that it's all not about them.
Learn to live and work together, because you picked a really strange profession to display individual rights.
IMHO.
Art
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
