New Chief of Department
- Thread starter alycidon
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Also Congrats to Chief Moore on his promotion to Chief of SOC!
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Highly likely set in place
Good question
Congrats to all Chiefs promoted all great Officers, I had pleasure to work with during my career.
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It seems to me that the COD deals with the uniformed operations while the FC navigates the political arena such as other commissioners, city council and the mayor. A good COD may not be a political animal, a good commissioner may not be good at tactics, but they compliment each other in their respective roles.
Maybe I can answer your question. Over the years the Chief of Dept was a test - promotion. Today the job has become an appointment of any chief at the deputy chief level or higher. The Chief of Dept is responsible for long range planning in the operations end of the department. The Chief of Operations is responsible for the daily operations of the department. While the Fire Commissioner has the overall responsibility of the entire department & handles the administration needs. The Commissioner is assisted by Deputy Commissioners & Assistant Commissioners who head different bureaus within the department. FDNY is too large to have one person totally knowledgeable about the entire department. In order to maintain the proper span of control, they have established several levels of management. Its done in the Fire Operations where there are companies who report to a Battalion Chief. Several Battalions then report to a Deputy (Division) Chief. The Divisions report to their Borough Chiefs. The Boro Commanders report to the Chief of Operation's Office. Chief of Ops report to the Chief of Dept who is responsible to the Fire Commissioner who is the overall boss.
Bulldog
Bulldog
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Great description, I basically knew the hierarchy among the different chiefs etc. but this is a great explanation top to bottom. It sort of explains the need for a Commissioner but....
It's similar to how the armed forces operate. For example the Army has a civilian, the Secretary of the Army at its head, she isn't in charge of operations (that's the job for the Chief of Staff of the Army), but is responsible for budgets, policy, civilian oversight and implementing the administration's goals on the service. These are things that are highly political and usually best handled by a career administrator and not a General. Back in FDNY occasionally a former Chief becomes Commissioner, but usually they are lawyers and politicians for have more experience in such matters.
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I may be mistaken, but I believe Deputy Chiefs are still considered as part of the union/s that firefighters, lieutenants, captains, and battalion chiefs are in. The chiefs who are appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Commissioner and/or Chief of Department are the staff chiefs (Deputy Assistant Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs). Correct me if I’m wrong.
There is an even great significance to civilian control of the military in government in order to preserve democratic governments and societies. The establishment of a civilian head-of-state or government leader as the military commander-in-chief within the chain-of-command is a legal construct for the propagation of civilian control of the military, and dates back to the founding of our country. Similarly, states and cities have governors and mayors with specific legal and managerial oversight responsibilities for fire chiefs and police chiefs who run their organizations operationally and administratively.