In the latest report, specific examples of racism, homophobia and misogynistic behaviour were found in a quarter of England’s fire and rescue services, with such behaviour often dismissed as “banter”.

“The shocking behaviour we uncovered makes it clear the sector cannot wait another day before it acts,” he said. Wilsher said he was “shocked and appalled” by some of the findings, and said he had thought a lot of the behaviour was “from the dim, distant past”. Instead, we found trust and respect is too often replaced with derogatory, bullying behaviour, often excused as banter.” Unfortunately, our findings show this is not always the case. They should be able to trust each other implicitly, just as the public need to be able to trust them. “Firefighters can be called upon to do an incredibly difficult job. On Thursday, the inspector of fire and rescue services, Roy Wilsher, said: “Our findings shine a light on deeply troubling bullying and harassment in fire and rescue services across the country – and I fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg. That move was welcomed by the mother of a young firefighter who killed himself after becoming increasingly distressed about racism and bullying at his station in Wembley. It also follows the London fire brigade (LFB) being placed into special measures in December after a separate report revealed incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying. The report moves the spotlight on to the fire service a little more than a week after Scotland Yard was decried as guilty of institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia in a similarly condemnatory report that showed public confidence in the force at rock bottom.

Some staff being reluctant to speak up after being told it would be “career suicide” to do so. Two male firefighters mockingly told a female colleague they were “going to rape her”, before simulating it with her. The senior officer in question then threatened “to make his life hell”. These include:Ī senior officer accused of calling a black colleague the N-word dismissing it as simply “having a laugh”.Ī firefighter reporting a superior for making a racist comment, only to find his account dismissed because the alleged offender “wouldn’t behave in such a way”. Stark examples of abject conduct were revealed by His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services (HMICFRS) on Thursday.

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