The fallout over the catastrophic southern California wildfires continues to pile up. In the latest, a group of active and retired Los Angeles chief officers have released a letter to LA Fire Chief Kristen Crowley, the first LGBTQ+ Fire Chief in Los Angeles, blasting her for the failed preparation for and response to the ongoing wildfires.
NEW: Retired and Active LAFD Chief Officers write scathing letter to LAFD Chief Kristen Crowley https://t.co/eexTZxOXKV pic.twitter.com/2eAGF0Vg2Y
— Rich McHugh (@RichMcHugh) January 17, 2025
The letter reads in part:
You have been the Fire Chief since March 25, 2022. You have been aware of the budget issues of the LAFD prior to your appointment, yet now you publicly proclaim that you have been sounding the alarm about the LAFD budget to no avail? Please do not be disingenuous as we know better. You went along with the budget cuts and now that they have come back to haunt you, you appear to be in CYA mode.
How many meetings have you had with the Mayor regarding our budget crisis? How many meetings have you had with City Council personnel regarding our budget crisis? Have you appeared before the Public Safety Committee or the Budget and Finance Committee and informed them that the LAFD is in crisis mode?
The letter goes on to describe a lack of mechanics to maintain equipment, a lack of funds to purchase new equipment, a lack of medical supplies for EMS professionals, and even payroll issues, causing members to not be paid on time. And here’s a telling item:
The promotion of Kristine Larson to Deputy Chief, despite you knowing about her lack of professionalism and lack of emotional intelligence. We are of course referring to her very public gaffe wearing the LAFD badge and uniform where she so righteously declared that a fire victim needing rescue got himself in the wrong place. Surely you could have found someone else worthy of being promoted to Deputy.
This is the nub of the matter. In a city where DEI has run amok, it’s become horrifically obvious that skill, talent, proven leadership ability, and experience are not and have not been the primary hiring and promotion criteria for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The people of the city of Los Angeles and the state of California have paid a horrendous price for these idiotic priorities, as we have been documenting here at RedState since the first spark was struck.
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The letter has a scathing conclusion:
Chief Crowley, you have lost the confidence of the Mayor and more importantly you have lost the confidence of many Chief Officers of the LAFD. When this incident is stabilized, the LAFD must be rebuilt. This includes from the top down. You may feel that you and your current command staff are up to that incredible responsibility and challenge; however you must know that a large number of Chief Officers do not believe you are up to the task and feel that your retirement from the position of Fire Chief would be the best for the citizens of Los Angeles, the members of the LAFD, yourself and your family.
In a sane world, Chief Crowley would have resigned in disgrace on the first day of this timeline. In a sane world, Mayor Bass would have resigned in disgrace on the first day of this timeline. In a sane world, Governor Newsom would, instead of taking cheap shots at the Speaker of the House of Representatives, have resigned in disgrace on the first day of this timeline.
They haven’t, and that tells you a lot about the state of politics in California these days. These people are shameless and unapologetic. California voters, take notice. This is not a failure that can be overlooked.
