Background checks complete

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: August 14, 2008

STAFFORD — The county’s effort to standardize the screening process for would-be volunteer firefighters is on track.

Stafford fire and rescue officials said they have competed more than 300 background checks on all existing volunteer firefighters, and are working to implement a system that will speed the screening of new applicants.

“The checks are completed and we are really in a maintenance mode right now as we continue to get new volunteers,” said Roger Sutherland, assistant chief of personnel for the department. All new volunteers will complete the screening when they apply.

Most of the volunteer screenings were done retroactively. Career fire and rescue staff members, who make up just 27 percent of the department, had their employment screenings at the time of hire.

If a background check returned a misdemeanor or felony charge on a volunteer, Sutherland said the case would be reviewed on an individual basis and wouldn’t necessarily be means for dismissal from the department.

When the Stafford County Board of Supervisors created the Fire and Rescue Department in 2005, it mandated that all members of the department undergo a strict national background check. The review would look at, among other things, an individual’s past employment history, residency and any possible criminal records. It is the same test the FBI uses, as well as the Stafford County Government, according to the department.

The board ordinance also mandated the unification of all 13 independent volunteer rescue companies from across the county into one functioning body, under one newly hired county fire chief.

“The whole thing has worked out with no problems,” said Ronnie Martin, president and assistant fire chief at the White Oak Volunteer Fire Department.
Martin said out of the 25 to 30 people he submitted for a background check, none of them returned a bad record. All of them will continue serving at the White Oak station.

In May, volunteer firefighters claimed the county’s new background checks were creating issues among would-be volunteers. Some said the screenings were driving volunteers to other jurisdictions that did not require such stringent checks.

The department said it does not run checks on volunteers under the age of 18 and does not require them for administrative support personnel.

Martin said under the old system his department would require volunteers to submit to a Virginia state department of health background check, and would require new volunteers to operate on a six-month probationary period. At the end of the six months, Martin and other members of the White Oak department would review the volunteer’s progress and decide if he or she could continue.

Sutherland said the department is looking to streamline the background check process by putting computer kiosks into county fire stations, allowing applicants to fill out one standardized application form. That application would then be sent electronically to the department, allowing officials to review it and to schedule a background screening.

That system has yet to be put in place.

The department is also looking to increase its recruitment efforts in the near future. It has applied for a grant that would allow the department to use federal dollars to recruit more staff, according to Mark Stone, spokesman for the Stafford Fire and Rescue Department.

“Volunteers would certainly add to this department,” said Stone. “Adding more career staff would be tough with the funding issues we are facing right now.”

Stone said if the grant is awarded the department would use various forms of local advertising to reach potential volunteers.