President's Message
Protecting the Firefighter Image
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| CPF President Lou Paulson |
If you’ve been around the fire service for any length of time, you’ve seen it … the unique bond that exists between firefighters and the people we serve. People cheer us at the high school football games, stuff money into our boots for MDA, and wave as we drive by in our engines.
Every now and then, a grateful senior citizen will even stop by with a plate of cookies.
The admiration and respect our profession receives from the public is one of the best things about our job. When you’ve been on the front lines for hours and days at a time, the smile of a kid whose house you just saved can make it all worthwhile. Nobody knows this better than the thousands upon thousands of firefighters who battled last fall’s devastating firestorm in Southern California, who were treated like conquering heroes.
The heroic image of firefighters is also something that can help us break through the political divisions in Sacramento and at the local level. In the recent legislative session, firefighter-friendly legislators on both sides of the aisle came through with landmark legislation – the Firefighters Bill of Rights. More than once, lawmakers broke with the orthodoxies of their own political parties to cast their lot with first responders.
But just as the fires of 2007 gave us an opportunity to be reminded of the public’s support for our efforts, they also gave an opportunity to those who would exploit or commercialize our efforts.
The power of the firefighter “brand” has, of course, attracted the interest of Madison Avenue. Firefighters – and actors portraying firefighters – show up hawking everything from smoke alarms to exercise equipment. And we are all familiar with dramatic portrayals in series such as “Rescue Me.”
Of even greater concern is the risk that our image would be appropriated by political or fund-raising outfits that may or may not have anything to do with our profession spring up every election cycle. In some cases, these shadowy groups are little more than post office boxes hiding slate-mail boiler rooms. And even some who support us may, with the best of intentions, step over the line from respect to exploitation.
In a free society, there is only so much we can do to stop our image from being distorted. But we are not without weapons.
As we did in the aftermath of 9/11, CPF this year sent a letter to every political consultant and candidate with which we have communicated in this election cycle. We told them that, while we’re honored at their wish to promote our involvement in their campaigns, we would not sanction any attempt to use the images from last year’s fires as fodder for a partisan message. As in the case of 9/11, we made it clear that we would not hesitate to withdraw our backing from any candidate who tried to make hay out of the human tragedy of last year’s fires.
Clearly, we as leaders must do everything we can to guard our image. But we must also take responsibility as individuals for the protection and preservation of the public’s trust.
Whether we like it or not, firefighters are role models … for kids and for adults. Our behavior on and off the job reflects not only on us, but on our brother and sister firefighters and on our profession. While CPF is proud of its role in winning the Firefighters Bill of Rights, we must also remember that it is not a “get out of jail free” card for bad behavior.
The relationship we share with the people we serve is not unbreakable or unshakable. If we keep this in mind as we go about our jobs, we will continue to earn the admiration and respect of the people we serve. Not to mention the occasional batch of cookies.