Joined by several former female San Jose firefighters, a group of advocates are requesting the removal of San Jose fire Chief Robert Sapien following a string of recent scandals and the department’s slow progress bringing more women into its ranks. Hilda Gutierrez reports.
An advocacy organization with the goal of ending discrimination in the fire service is calling for the removal of San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien, pointing to a string of recent scandals and saying he’s failed to address the low number of women in the department’s ranks.
The non-profit group Equity on Fire, backed by several women who once worked for the department, voiced their concerns in a letter to San Jose Mayor Mahan that blasted Sapien’s leadership and called for reforms.
“We would like to see his removal,” said Lauren Andrade, an Orange County fire captain and the president of Equity on Fire. “We would like to regroup with city management and provide some solutions to help get them back on track.”
Equity on Fire also called for an independent investigation of “the SJFD workplace,” and an “actionable zero-tolerance policy for harassment and discrimination.”
The letter condemned the low number of women in the department and highlights recent controversies that the group contends are examples of the “untenable and unsafe workplace environment women firefighters experience within the SJFD.”
“What’s been going on at the San Jose Fire Department is so far beyond the pale,” Andrade said.
As NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit reported in May, women still make up fewer than 4% of San Jose firefighters, even after the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury called out the department for its low number of female firefighters nearly four years ago.
Since then, the department’s been at the center of several scandals, including the Pink Poodle incident, where a group of on-duty firefighters gave an adult dancer a ride in a fire truck, or last year’s lawsuit from former firefighter Cassie Loessberg, who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a male colleague and sexually or racially harassed by several other coworkers.
“That type of thing happens when there’s a lack of oversight, when there’s a lack of leadership,” Andrade said. “And it really starts at the top.”
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Earlier this year, there was also the arrest of San Jose Fire Captain Spencer Parker during a child sex trafficking sting in Sacramento. Parker pled not guilty to several charges, including attempted lewd acts with a minor.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who called the current number of women in the department “unacceptable.”
“I’ve sat down with the chief and had some one-on-one conversations with him and expressed my serious concerns,” Mahan said. “We have to do better.”
Mahan said he intends to meet with Equity on Fire in the near future to run through the group’s concerns and recommendations.
He also had a message for men in the department.
“This is not the department for you if you’re not working alongside women firefighters and creating an environment in which they are fully your equals, if not your superior,” Mahan said.
The Mayor said the city recently allocated funds in its budget to beef up recruitment efforts, and plans to consider a San Jose Fire 30x30 pledge, aimed at increasing the number of female recruits in the academy 30% by 2030. The San Jose Police Department, where women currently make up 13% of sworn officers, signed a similar pledge earlier this year, and Equity on Fire suggested in its letter that the fire department follow suit.
The San Jose Fire Department did not respond to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment, but in an interview earlier this year, Chief Sapien acknowledged the numbers were “unacceptable” and said recruiting women has been a challenge.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily because the department was unwilling to do so, I think we just haven’t overcome the challenges that are present in that process.”
Sapien said stricter hiring standards in the department have thinned out a field of potential recruits already thin on women, and said the department has made progress on some of the issues identified by the civil grand jury, such as concerns about ill-fitting gear and PPE for female firefighters.
Other issues, however, remain unresolved. The grand jury’s investigation found some San Jose fire stations lacked separate bathrooms, dorms and locker rooms, which remains the case today.
When asked whether he has confidence in Chief Sapien, Mahan said he expects to see results.
“He’s conveyed to me a very serious commitment to addressing these issues, but the proof is in the pudding,” Mahan said.
