Minority Deputies, Firefighters Seek Affirmative Action Officer

Reacting to recent allegations of racism, several minority firefighters and sheriff’s deputies will ask the Ventura County Board of Supervisors today to appoint an affirmative-action officer for their departments, a representative of the group said.

“We’re asking that it be cleared up, not just swept under the rug,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Charles Merricks said of alleged racism in the departments. “If there are problems, correct them.”

Merricks, the highest-ranking black officer in the Fire Department, said he was concerned about allegations of racism in the Sheriff’s Department. In addition, he said, he would like someone to address why the Fire Department has failed to meet affirmative-action goals set in 1986.

The county should appoint an affirmative-action officer devoted entirely to the two departments, he said. The Fire Department now has an internal affirmative-action officer, and the Sheriff’s Department has appointed an employee as an affirmative-action representative, officials said.

However, Merricks said the deputies and firefighters want an affirmative-action officer, preferably a minority, from outside the departments to handle incidents without worrying about pressure from department supervisors.

Merricks and John Hatcher, president of the NAACP’s Ventura County Chapter, said they question why there are not more minorities in both departments.

Of the 607 sworn employees in the Sheriff’s Department, 15, or 2.5%, are black. There are 62 Latino deputies, or 10.2%; 10 Asian-American deputies, or 1.6%, and one American Indian deputy, or 0.2%, records show. According to a countywide affirmative action plan, the Sheriff’s Department’s goal is to have 4.3% black deputies, 13.7% Latinos, 1.2% Asian Americans and 0.3% American Indians by December, 1991.

Similar figures for the Fire Department were not available.

Blacks make up 2.2% of the county’s population, Latinos, 26.5%; Asians, 4.9%, and American Indians 0.5%, according to census figures.

County Supervisor John K. Flynn, who has met with some of the sheriff’s deputies, said the problem of equal employment opportunities must be addressed.

“I don’t see very many ethnic minorities or racial minorities who are in management-type positions” in county government, he said.

Fire Chief George Lund said many of the black firefighters have not been with the department long enough to be promoted. He said he believed that the county could not afford to hire another affirmative action officer, but that he was reactivating a task force to make recommendations on discrimination issues.

Assistant Sheriff Richard S. Bryce said the number of blacks in the department reflects the percentage in the county. And he said that while the Sheriff’s Department is concerned by allegations of racism, the charges “aren’t necessarily founded.”

Deputies have described overhearing their peers using racial slurs, Hatcher said, and one department employee allegedly sold articles that bore Ku Klux Klan markings.