Bob CollinsBeing a cop or a firefighter tends to run in a family, which is why an anti-nepotism policy proposal in La Crosse, Wis., is under fire.
The La Crosse Tribune reports the proposal disqualifies any candidate who would be supervised by or supervise a family member. If an employee becomes an immediate family member of another employee and one supervises the other, one employee must transfer to another department, take a demotion, or quit.
The proposal isn’t going over big with cops and firefighters.
“We hire great employees and because their marital status changes, you’re going to penalize them?” Fire department union president Lt. Lance Tryggestad told the paper. “This will affect us and harm our department. Firefighting and policing, that’s in our blood. It’s a family thing all over the world.”
“I’ve seen the quality that comes out of families of law enforcement, and the city should be striving to benefit from that, not to prevent it,” retired police Lt. Dan Marcou said.
The city’s mayor said with three shifts, it should be possible a family member can move to another shift to comply with the policy.
