Ethical Use of Resources in the Fire Service
Category: Fire
Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for my friends in the fire service. We’re going to talk about being good stewards of taxpayer funds.
The community needs to trust you to enter their homes to protect them and their property.
As first responders, you have access to resources that enable you to serve your community — resources such as money, facilities, apparatus, equipment, and even time.
Take, for instance, an engine company conducting a building inspection at a retail outlet. Inspections are essential to keeping your community safe. But what happens when you shift from inspecting to shopping? After all, you’re already in the store. Why not spend a few extra minutes to make a purchase on “company time”? Who is it hurting?
Public trust is essential for firefighters. The community needs to trust you to enter their homes to protect them and their property — sometimes when they aren’t even there. How can they trust you with their private spaces if they can’t trust you to use their time appropriately?
Yes, that’s right. I said, “their time.” Why? Because it’s not YOUR time or YOUR fire truck. It’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s because they’re paying for it.
Would it be appropriate to drive your department’s half-million-dollar apparatus to pick up Mr. Smith’s dry cleaning? Of course not, because that’s not what it’s for. In the same way, firefighters’ personal errands should never be run with a fire truck. That’s a resource paid for by taxpayers — not to take you shopping for cell phones or sporting goods.
In the fire service, it’s easy to consider time spent in the community as “free time.” Firefighters are often on duty for 24 or even 48 hours at a stretch, with a fair amount of flexibility while at work. But everything you do while on the clock should be related to the service you are sworn to provide. If it doesn’t benefit Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you shouldn’t be doing it.
Take pride in your service and in the trust of your community, and don’t ever do anything to jeopardize it.
And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Until next time, Gordon Graham signing off.
