Memphis Fire Dept. division chief booted over behavior toward recruits 1/9/2023

[mack]

Memphis Fire Dept. division chief booted over behavior toward recruits​

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The head of training at the Memphis Fire Department is off the job after being accused of inappropriate behavior toward new recruits.

Eric Shane Howell, a Memphis Fire division chief, is said to have violated five personnel policies, including harassment.

Recruits who reached out to WREG Investigators were too scared to give interviews but provided unnerving details that lined up with what we found in his employment file.



A letter addressed to Howell described what happened on Dec. 8, when he reportedly instructed a male recruit to put duct tape over a female recruit’s mouth, telling another instructor, “this is how we teach them to shut up.”

Howell, at the time, was the chief of training.

Memphis Fire Dept. division chief booted over behavior toward recruits

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The head of training at the Memphis Fire Department is off the job after being accused of inappropriate behavior toward new recruits. Eric Shane Howell, a Memphis Fire division chi…

wreg.com

 

[entropychaser]

Obviously, demonstrating leadership skills is not a requirement to become Training Chief in Memphis.

On the other hand, in Houston, the COD made a specific trip out to the Training Academy to tell the staff face to face that they would NOT be allowed to wash-out any candidates. Gosh, I wonder if that was followed up with a written, signed order.

 

[mack]

I have always believed that if training, or schools or programs are easy to pass, there is no challenge, little sense of accomplishment, minimal pride of completion, decreased bonding with classmates and decrease ability to identify students who might have serious problems. Dropping standards to match the lowest level of individual performance has serious impacts.

 

[entropychaser]

I have always believed that if training, or schools or programs are easy to pass, there is no challenge, little sense of accomplishment, minimal pride of completion, decreased bonding with classmates and decrease ability to identify students who might have serious problems. Dropping standards to match the lowest level of individual performance has serious impacts.

Lol! For decades I have been trying to convince my college-educated, intelligent, personable sister-in-law in Chicago that the more you work to earn something, the more you value it and when you give things to a person without them earning it, it will ultimately destroy their soul.

So far, this project has been a dismal failure. Sadly, such thinking rules the country nowadays.

 

[CFDMarshal]

I will see what I can find out. Interesting.