LEWES, DE - The Lewes Fire Department has conducted an investigation into the use of a racial slur over the department’s radio.
The Fire Department says their investigation found that the member was in violation of their harassment and diversity policy and was given a 30-day suspension, removal from office, and is required to take diversity training.
The Fire Department says it is their policy not to release the member’s name.
Lewes Fire Department’s Board of Directors is currently reviewing the department’s policies, according to a press release shared Thursday, to ensure they are up-to-date with state and federal laws. Members are required to review the department’s harassment policy on an annual basis, and the department says they are currently considering mandated diversity and inclusion training.
“We hold our memberships to the highest level as we are public safety professionals,” the Lewes Fire Department said. “We are entrusted by the public to ensure that we serve them in the highest capacity and by the actions of one, we have lost trust that we must gain back."
But some are confronting the legacy of mistrust from this incident.
"One has to evaluate, have we moved this at all and if not, then the question is does he remain with the fire department?" says Charlotte King, a long time Lewes resident and leader with the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice. "He has to be evaluated in terms of, is he safe for the community. The whole community."
As a Black woman who may one day have to call on the fire department -- King says the incident is troubling.
"I would say, send somebody, but not him," says King. "They would say why not him? And I would say because he's a racist and I won't feel secure knowing that somebody who's bold enough to make that statement is coming to my house."
