Rite & wrong: FDNY revamps hazing ban
Stricter rules amid complaints
Embarrassed by a series of shocking hazing complaints — including one in which a rookie claimed he was sexually abused — the FDNY has quietly overhauled its anti-hazing policy, The Post has learned.
Without any public announcement, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro on March 21 issued a new five-page policy. The internal document, obtained by The Post, lists 17 prohibited behaviors, including several recently exposed in a series of Post reports.
The tougher policy comes amid a rising number of “pending” investigations of Equal Employment Opportunity complaints against the FDNY. Of the ongoing probes, eight complaints were filed in the first two months of this year, topping the seven filed for all of 2016.
The FDNY would not discuss the accusations, which could entail gender or race discrimination, as well as hazing and bullying.
For the first time, the FDNY says it will refer any conduct considered a “possible crime” to the city Department of Investigation. It also says every officer and employee has an “obligation” to report such acts.
The FDNY has been criticized for sweeping hazing incidents under the rug and not swiftly calling in criminal investigators.
The new rules prohibit “any inappropriate physical contact” and “performing degrading, crude or humiliating acts.”
In January, The Post reported on a firefighter who allegedly dangled his genitals onto the face of probie Gordon Springs in a first-day hazing ritual at Midtown’s Ladder Co. 35/Engine Co. 40.
In February, The Post reported on Michael Troina, who claimed members of Ladder Co. 1/Engine Co. 7 in Tribeca stomped on his bunker gear, smeared peanut butter on his car, and superimposed his face on a picture of a crying baby.
The new rules prohibit “creating or posting demeaning signs or photo-shopped faces.”
Both Springs and Troina say they were harassed further after reporting the alleged abuse. The new policy warns in bold print that the FDNY “will not tolerate any such retaliation.”
The old guidelines, issued in 2013 and covering two pages, never mentioned “bullying.”
Even well-worn firehouse high jinks — such as dousing a colleague with a bucket of water — are prohibited under the new policy.
The old policy said offenders “will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination.” The new rules add other possible measures, including immediate transfers of accused members, up to 30 days’ suspension, and loss of overtime.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, noted the new rules address hazing allegations but added that they seem like common sense.
“How do you put those on paper with a straight face?” he said. “It sounds like what Sister Rosemary read to us in the sixth grade: Don’t put cherry bombs in the sink. The sad part is we’re talking about grown men.”
Paul Liggieri, the attorney for both Springs and Troina, called the policy “a day late and a dollar short.”
“It should not have taken this many victims of sexual harassment and discrimination for the FDNY to make a change,” he said.