TITLE
Recommendation to respectfully request to receive and file the 2019 Long Beach Fire Department Recruitment Report; and
Request City Manager to identify the resources to establish a full-time, sworn Diversity Recruitment and Partnerships Manager position in the Fire Department to complete the strategic diversity recruitment plan and report back to City Council with the recommendations for sustainability in August 2020.
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach is well-known and celebrated for its diversity. As home to the largest Cambodian population outside of Cambodia, and a fast growing Latinx community, 72% of the nearly half a million people that reside in Long Beach are people of color, and more than half are women.
Context
Acknowledging Long Beach's diversity is extremely important when looking at the personnel demographics of our public safety services, such as the Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD). As the first responders to our communities, diversity within the sector is essential to enhancing cultural competency and improving community trust.
According to the City of Long Beach's 2018 Workforce Demographics Report, the Fire Department faces the greatest recruitment challenges to achieve ethnic and gender diversity. Data from the report shows that the Fire Department is comprised of 40% people of color and just 10% women, which is a significant underrepresentation of the City's diversity.
The 2019 Long Beach Fire Department Recruitment Report examines the Department's recruitment and selection processes and explores best practices employed by other agencies to recruit more diverse applicants. The data analysis shows a decrease in the number of Black applicants, between 2014 and 2019, by half and notes that female and black applicants score lower on the standardized tests for the Fire Service. Conversely, the number of Hispanic applicants has increased between 2014-2019, now at a rate comparable to White applicants at nearly 40%, while the numb...
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