Inspectors have uncovered "deeply troubling" evidence of bullying, harassment and discrimination in fire brigades, a report warns today.
Staff told of racist, sexist and homophobic comments and behaviour which had gone unchallenged or were dismissed as "banter", according to a report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
Examples of incidents reported to watchdogs included a senior officer referring to a black colleague using the "n-word" and putting it down to "having a laugh", homophobic abuse found written on a firefighter's locker and men using women's toilets and women not feeling confident to challenge this.
In another incident, two firemen joked with a female colleague that they were "going to rape her" before the trio acted out the rape together.
The report, which makes 35 recommendations, focuses on the values and culture at England’s 44 fire and rescue service, drawing on evidence harvested through inspections since 2018.
It found bullying, harassment and discrimination are, to varying degrees, still problems in all services.
Roy Wilsher, of HMICFRS, admitted he was "shocked and appalled" by some of the findings, and thought a lot of the behaviour was "from the dim, distant past".
Asked whether it was possible there were "predators" in fire brigades like those found lurking in police forces, Mr Wilsher said: "I could not exclude that possibility."
The Inspectorate calls for vetting checks on would-be firefighters before they sign-up.
"The public deserves assurance that the FRS staff they come into contact with have been subject to background checks prior to carrying out these roles,” says its study.
"This is particularly important when considering the link between effective background checks and cultures of misogyny and predatory behaviour seen in policing.
"It is also important in light of the examples of inappropriate behaviour from firefighters towards members of their communities set out in recent allegations."
Mr Wilsher said the culture across too many fire services was "stagnant and needs to be brought into the 21st Century".
He added: "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.
"Firefighters can be called upon to do an incredibly difficult job.
“They should be able to trust each other implicitly, just as the public need to be able to trust them.
"Unfortunately, our findings show this is not always the case. Instead, we found trust and respect is too often replaced with derogatory, bullying behaviour, often excused as banter.
"Services told us about misconduct cases over the past 12 months. More than half of these concerned inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying and harassment, associated with a protected characteristic.
"This is shocking enough but I am not confident that this is even the whole picture."
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