Issue: Minority Recruitment Still Lacking at LAFD

Date: Jan 23, 2015 

More outreach is needed to increase the number of women and minority firefighters in the Los Angeles Fire Department, according to a report released Thursday by a Santa Monica-Based think tank. 

Female athletes and recent military veterans belonging to a minority racial group, such as Hispanic, Asian and black, should be targeted for recruitment, Rand Corp. researchers recommended in the 150-page report. 

Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered the $270,000 study from Rand last year in an effort to improve the city’s firefighter hiring process amid criticism that the LAFD’s recruitment tends to favor relatives of existing employees, resulting in less diversity. 

The Rand report also suggests that city leaders increase the fire department’s budget for recruitment efforts, which are currently being carried out by four individuals. (Read more here.) 

-cw