Sexually Explicit Material Banned in Fire Stations

The “knowing display” of sexually explicit material has been banned from Los Angeles Fire Department stations and work places by Chief Donald O. Manning.

The policy, outlined in a statement issued to department members on Tuesday, declared that all fire stations and work locations are public places of business that must maintain an environment promoting efficient and effective service.

“Sexually explicit material and harassment of any kind have no place in the department’s work environment,” the chief said.

Manning’s declaration came in the aftermath of a departmental investigation of a woman paramedic’s complaint last fall that sexually explicit material was being viewed on television at Fire Station 5 in Westchester.

The investigation uncovered charges by a woman firefighter that she had been sexually harassed by a veteran fireman while on duty. After a lengthy Board of Rights hearing, the fireman was found guilty of slapping the woman’s buttocks and trying to touch her breasts. He was suspended for five months without pay.

While holding all members of the department responsible for maintaining high standards of conduct, Manning twice advised ranking fire service officers that they bear the “highest responsibility” for assuring a harassment-free environment.

“The work environment cannot be intimidating, hostile, offensive or non-productive,” he said. “Consequently, the knowing display of any sexually explicit material is prohibited on all Fire Department property.”

As defined in the statement, “display” means “open to view by any other member of the department or any member of the public.”

And, it declared, “‘Sexually explicit material” means “any book, magazine, newspaper, video, television transmission or other publication containing photographs or pictorial representations of sexual organs or sexual acts, where such representation is reasonably likely to cause sexual harassment or has as its primary purpose or effect, sexual arousal, gratification or affront.”

The first vice president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Kenneth E. Buzzell, said Thursday he had talked to Manning about the policy and expects the union to meet with department officials to discuss it.

“I think we can all agree that a fire station probably is not a place to bring in hard-core pornography, either on video, in magazines or in any other media,” Buzzell said.

But as a union official, he said, he is concerned about what is meant by sexually explicit.

“When you come down to representation of a sexual act, does that mean showing a sexual act, or . . . if you have a movie where two people are in bed supposedly making love, does that fall in that category?

“What we are concerned about is if you take a very liberal interpretation, you can ban not only what’s shown on cable television, but in movies shown on television. You could carry this to an extreme,” Buzzell said.

He suggested that fire officers, particularly captains in station houses, will be caught “in the middle” if someone complains about what is on television and face potential discipline.