Britain | Gruesome details emerged from London’s fire department

in Britain London Fire Brigade (LFB) has promised to take “immediate action” after an independent review found the department to be institutionally misogynistic and racist. The institution has promised zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment and bullying.

LFB says that it has received a former prosecutor By Nazir Afzal twenty recommendations from the investigation conducted by the management, on the basis of which, among other things, it is planned to establish an external complaints system and to test the use of body cameras during home visits.

LFB openly admits that the report reveals shockingly bad behavior and painful experiences over many years.

The report is due to be published shortly, but the Sunday Times publishedsi I will talk about the contents of the report on Friday after receiving a copy of it. The newspaper writes that a toxic culture was revealed inside Britain’s largest fire department. In addition, they have at least reported on the topic Sky News and BBC.

Last Afzal, who started the investigation in March of this year, is said to have heard dozens of examples of racism, bullying and misogyny. In one case, a female rescuer’s helmet was filled with urine, and in another case, a black worker had found a noose above his locker.

After the information became public, Afzal has confirmed the leaked content of the report both in the media and on Twitter.

“The staff deserves better,” he writes on Twitter.

Head of the London Fire Brigade Andy Roe deeply regrets all the damage caused in the institution’s statement. He promises to take full responsibility for improving the culture and says he accepts all the report’s recommendations.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan invites in his statement report as a turning point and its findings as chilling. He is pushing for significant and necessary changes to support staff who report abuse and weed out those who are guilty of sexism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, bullying or harassment.

of LFB Roe asked Afzal to conduct an independent review of the entire organization. The background was the suicide of an intern in August 2020, which, according to the LFB, revealed “strict questions” about the institution’s culture in the subsequent internal investigation.

In the investigation, Afzal and his team interviewed more than 2,000 current and former employees and members of the public, including people from west London, where the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire caused major destruction. According to Roe’s statement, the report also revealed completely inappropriate behavior of some employees towards citizens.

With the report, LFB intends to move any employee, regardless of their position, aside pending an investigation if allegations of bullying, harassment or discrimination come to light. If the charges prove to be true, the person will be fired.

In addition, the fire department plans to outsource confidential complaints and investigation processes and ensure that employees have faster and easier access to mental health services.

Fresh the report is reminiscent of the 1999 Macpherson inquiry into London police. In the report of the investigation, the police were found to be institutionally racist.

Almost a quarter of a century later, the police still have serious problems with both racism and gender discrimination. Recently, the police have been accused of both discrimination and sexual misconduct.