"Back in the saddle again," Cowboy Song

After a painfully long delay, I'm back.

This first post is an unpublished Op-Ed piece I wrote for submission to our local newspaper: The Gazette; they declined to publish it.

I brought this topic up for discussion in a Fire Science class at Pike's Peak Community College; the students are high school age.

The next day, I was admonished because one of the black students thought I was being racist.

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By Rod Bernsen

The Colorado Springs Civil Service Commission has voted to endanger your life or your loved ones.

The Commission has removed the long-standing requirement for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification for the upcoming Colorado Springs Fire Department firefighter applicant’s test. The commission’s stated goal is to, “…increase the diversity of applicants.” The commission took this drastic and dangerous action after hearing arguments that the EMT certification requirement causes a desperate impact on minorities.

The (former) requirement for EMT certification has always insured the prospective firefighters have clearly demonstrated their desire to become firefighters by completing a 160-hour course at either Memorial or St. Francis Penrose Hospital paying anywhere from $800 to $900 in fees.

Because the Civil Service Commission is putting social engineering above public safety by eliminating the EMT requirement, then some of the new graduates of the CSFD academy will not have life saving EMT training upon graduation from the fire academy.

Discipline, hard work and self-sacrifice are bedrock principals of the American foundation. Those who work hard to achieve usually succeed. In contrast, those who do not display these characteristics are either mediocre at best or failures at worst.

CSFD will not longer be in the envious position of placing both a morally and legal requirement in addition to physical, job related skill testing, intelligence and until recently the EMT certification.

The commission cannot point to any objective study ever completed that proves that by lowering qualifications or in this case removing a long respected requirement improves public safety.

Social engineers never answer questions: What about the minorities who met all the qualification, those who currently serve and excel on the CSFD? How did these men and women find the time or money for the EMT training? Social engineers never acknowledge that the ethereal goal of diversity does have a serious impact on minorities—all those qualified firefighters who worked hard to become CSFD firefighters are suspect—did they get the job just because of their race?

Members of the Civil Service Commission must have a very poor opinion of minorities, so lacking in confidence, that the only way for minority men or women to succeed is to give the minorities something for nothing: Which of course makes the commission’s action worth nothing, zero.

The Colorado Springs Civil Service Commission displayed a prima facie case of bigotry when they eliminated the EMT requirement in their belief that only way to recruit new minority CSFD firefighters is to expect and demand less qualification thereby hurting minorities and putting our lives at risk.

Rod Bernsen, a resident of Monument, is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant. Bernsen is also an Emmy Award winning former Los Angeles television reporter.