Fire Chief Urges Outside Look at Training System : Firefighters: Allegations of bias against women and minority recruits trigger recommendation. Interim department leader praises programs and staff.

Interim Los Angeles City Fire Chief Bill Bamattre said Thursday he will recommend that an outside agency review departmental training programs in the wake of widespread allegations of discrimination against women and minority recruits.

Bamattre, who plans to present his proposal to the City Council for approval, said he was taking advantage of an expected hiring freeze next year resulting from proposed budget cuts and the addition of 28 firefighters who will graduate from the Fire Academy in August. Under the mayor’s proposed budget, 57 staff assistants who serve as personal aides to the chiefs will be transferred to firehouses.

“We’re going to use that opportunity to make sure the training system is validated,” Bamattre said. “We’re always open to improvement.”

Still, Bamattre made it clear that he has confidence in the current training program. “We’ve got an excellent training staff that is very progressive,” he said.

The 3,100-member Fire Department--long considered one of the nation’s finest--came under intense scrutiny after the release of a stinging city audit in November. Among other things, the Personnel Department study found that the Fire Academy was the focal point of problems in a department that has had difficulty retaining women and minority trainees.

In the last seven years, the audit found, women and African American trainees have washed out at twice the rate of white male recruits.

Bamattre, 43, became the youngest chief in the department’s history when he was appointed to succeed Donald O. Manning on April 28. Since then, he has met with council members, minority and women firefighter organizations, and the union representing the rank and file.

*

As a result of input from those meetings, but primarily because of the proposed budget cuts, Bamattre said, he came up with the idea to review the training academy.

“This is not an independent action,” the chief stressed. “This is budget driven.”

Bamattre said he is waiting for a report from the council’s Personnel Committee, which is investigating alleged bias in the department, before deciding who will conduct the outside training review. The committee report is expected to be completed within two weeks.