Efforts remain ongoing to recruit more people of color to the Beloit police and fire departments, as both chiefs gave an update to the Police and Fire Commission on Monday.
Commissioner Dennis Murphy requested an update from both departments on their recruiting efforts to make both departments representative of Beloit’s diversity.
In the fire department, Fire Chief Dan Pease said COVID-19 had greatly impacted the department’s Explorer Program that pairs students with department staff to help build an interest in careers in the fire service.
The department also works with Blackhawk Technical College for training that prepares them for initial testing to become a firefighter/paramedic. The department currently has 56 staff members, 54 of which are male and two of which are female. The department is nearly 93% White, 3.6% Black and 3.4% Hispanic.
“We have a long way to go in the fire department to bring those numbers toward the demographics of our city,” Pease said. “It’s very difficult.”