Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2024-2025
Turning Up the Heat: Time for Recruitment and Culture Change in the San José Fire Department
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 5 findings
F1
The SJFD has made progress in some areas since the 2020 Civil Grand Jury Report, which the Civil Grand Jury commends.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The SJFD is still struggling to recruit and hire more women.
Related Recommendations (2)
R2a
The City should dedicate more resources to SJFD recruiting more women, including increasing the staffing resources currently dedicated to SJFD recruiting. This should be accomplished
R2b
The City should provide additional funding for the Women’s+ Boot Camp to host monthly drop- in work outs with the goal of creating a continuously building pipeline of potential applicants. This should be accomplished
F3
The SJFD has knowledgeable employees who could provide the administration and HR with ideas for ways to interest more members of underrepresented groups in attending paramedic school and/or pursuing careers in the fire service.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
While the SJFD has an internal racial equity action planning committee of staff to focus on recruiting and outreach strategies, the Fire Chief should ask the committee to provide specific recommendations on how to increase interest and pipeline among women, particularly in becoming paramedics. The committee should seek input from other sworn staff members who may have ideas. The SJFD should provide direction to the committee
F4
Five years after the first Civil Grand Jury report, the SJFD still does not have a detailed timeline beyond FY 25-26 for retrofitting or providing privacy barriers in the remaining stations that do not have dedicated dorms for women or individual sleeping quarters. The SJFD also does not provide regular public updates on its continuing efforts regarding properly fitting turnouts and uniforms for female firefighters.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The SJFD should add updates on installing privacy barriers in sleeping quarters and obtaining correctly fitting uniforms/turnouts to its regular monthly report for the City Council’s Public Safety, Finance, and Strategic Support Committee until it has achieved success. This should be added to the regular monthly report
F5
The City and the SJFD leadership need to acknowledge that transforming the fire service culture must happen on a daily basis and be reinforced by captains at all stations and leadership at all levels.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The City should provide specific annual training for captains on enforcing City and the SJFD policies related to a diverse workforce, promoting mentorship and professional development, modelling accountability, and encouraging open dialogue about the need for the SJFD staff to represent the community it serves. The first training should be created and completed by January 2026.