Precinct Reporter Group News

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • What Holds Up COVID Vaccines

  • Black Doctors Call for Urgent Action During COVID-19 Crisis

  • Blood Runs Low: Calls for Black Donors

  • LBUSD: Member Erik Miller Excited to Begin Work

  • Tustin Mayor Letitia Clark Discusses Goals

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›Bill Allows Inmate Firefighters to Continue in Profession When Released

Bill Allows Inmate Firefighters to Continue in Profession When Released

By Precinct Reporter News
September 10, 2020
613
0
Share:

By Quinci LeGardye

California Black Media  

 

Inmate firefighting crews, made up of more than 2,000 inmate firefighters per year, have helped extinguish many of the biggest wildfires in California.  

 

However, once they’re released, they cannot serve in that profession under current law because of their criminal records.  

 

Now, AB 2147, a law that would lift that restriction, has been sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign after passing both the State Senate and Assembly on Aug. 30. The bill allows nonviolent offenders who’ve participated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations’ fire camps to have their records expunged after release. 

 

In California, previously incarcerated persons are often turned away from fire departments because of their conviction records and state licensing rules, even if they fought fires while incarcerated. Currently, it takes years to get their records expunged, which would allow them to obtain Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification. 

 

“AB 2147 ensures that formerly incarcerated people who have successfully participated as incarcerated firefighters have a pathway to meaningful employment,” said Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes (D – Grand Terrace), the bill’s author. “These individuals have received valuable training and placed themselves in danger to defend the life and property of Californians. Due to their service to the state of California protecting lives and property, those individuals that successfully complete their service in the fire camps should be granted special consideration relating to their underlying criminal conviction.” 

 

The bill comes to Gov. Newsom during a particularly strong wildfire season, which has collectively burned 1.48 million acres and has seen multiple lightning complex fires — all complicated by unprecedented heatwaves across the state.  

 

Because of the intensity and scale of the fires, Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency on Aug. 18. The next day, he announced that the state’s resources to fight wildfires were stretched thin. 

 

Allowing previously incarcerated persons to be firefighters also gives them the chance to get well-paying jobs, Reyes has argued, pointing out that steady and meaningful employment would lower recidivism rates. Inmate crews are paid between $2 and $5 a day, with a $1 per hour increase while fighting a fire. 

 

“Those that have served on the fire lines deserve a second chance,” tweeted Reyes on Aug. 30.  

TagsAssemblymember Eloise Reyesexpungementinmate firefighterslegislationLong Beach Leaderprecinct reportersecond chancetricounty bulletin
Previous Article

Menthols, Flavored Cigarettes Illegal in State

Next Article

Get Ahead of the Game: Be Ready ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    Help for Grandparents Raising Kids

    March 28, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Sigma Beta Xi, ACLU Slow School Pipeline to Prison

    August 1, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Tobacco Bans: Menthol Continues to Divide

    November 14, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Programs Help Community Cope with Alzheimer’s

    September 24, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    61ST Monterey Jazz Festival Hits All the Right Notes

    October 17, 2018
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Community Garden Teaches Lessons For a Lifetime

    March 13, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    A Letter from America’s Children

  • Latest PRGNews

    Riverside County Schools Get $1M Literacy Grant

  • Latest PRGNews

    CSUSB celebrates Black History Month

Ads

Find us on Facebook

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • What Holds Up COVID Vaccines

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • Black Doctors Call for Urgent Action During COVID-19 Crisis

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • Blood Runs Low: Calls for Black Donors

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • IE/OC Prostate and Breast Cancer, Change the Menu

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.