LA Fire Chief Made DEI A Top Department Priority, Docs Show

Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has been transforming the department with “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” according to documents obtained by The Federalist. Meanwhile, the department is strapped for resources — and city payroll glitches have left it struggling to even compensate its firefighters and paramedics correctly.

The city’s poor handling of recent wildfires sparked reports that Crowley and other department officials have been pushing DEI, with the diversity chief drawing a salary of $300,000. But The Federalist found Crowley, who has been fire chief since 2022, also distributed a “Strategic Plan” for 2023 to 2026 — advancing DEI across the department, as shown in various internal memos.

“Our Strategic Plan outlines our commitment to an organizational culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Crowley wrote in a July 2023 memo to staff, which The Federalist obtained from a firefighter who wished to remain unnamed. “We have an opportunity to expand, innovate, and establish systemic equality and inclusivity throughout the organization.”

Crowley’s wording may sound innocuous enough, but DEI is the left’s favorite buzzword for racial discrimination. 

Pushing Leftist Ideology

The Strategic Plan includes seven main goals for the department. These goals, Crowley told members in September 2023, “engage our membership to work towards achieving the Department’s objectives.” One of the goals is creating “an organizational culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

The Strategic Plan details “strategies” for subverting the department with DEI: “Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as systemic values and principles throughout the organization,” create an “Equity and Human Resources Bureau” to “advance the Department’s DEI vision,” “Reduce invisible barriers to DEI,” and “improve the diversity of recruits.” 

It also includes specific “tactics” to these ends, mandating officials “train all supervisors to be change agents.” Other tactics include “provid[ing] DEI education to all members on a recurring basis,” “centraliz[ing] personnel services and human resources operations under” the Equity and Human Resources Bureau, “deliver[ing] a DEI toolkit and coaching to department members,” and “expand[ing] the cadet program in underrepresented communities.”

When announcing the plan in April 2023, Crowley told members it would “clearly define the priorities, direction, and goals of our organization” in “providing excellent public safety to our diverse and expanding communities.”

Crowley also distributed “#OneTeamLAFD” propaganda posters across the department. “Inclusion is an action. Belonging is an outcome,” reads an example in the plan.

In a July 2023 memo to members, Crowley said the posters would be “delivered to all work locations” that week. “Please replace the current diversity posters with ONETEAM posters so our members and the public can easily view them,” she wrote.

Crowley took various other opportunities to bring up DEI in the department. For Juneteenth last year, she called on members to “reflect on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our ranks.”

“Fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected is more important than ever. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our workplace is one where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered,” Crowley said. “Juneteenth reminds us of the power of unity and the importance of standing together against inequality.”

For Women’s History Month last year, Crowley called on the LAFD to “continue to champion the cause of inclusivity and equity, ensuring that firefighting is a profession accessible to all who possess the passion and resolve.” 

Deputy Chief Kristine Larson, the department’s diversity chief, recently sparked backlash after blaming the victim when female firefighters are not strong enough for the job.

“‘Is she strong enough to do this?’ or ‘You couldn’t carry my husband out of a fire.’ Which my response is, ‘He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire,’” Larson said. 

Fumbling Firefighter Payroll

While the department has been wasting its limited resources on DEI, multiple whistleblowers — who wished to remain unnamed — told The Federalist the city of Los Angeles has been underpaying its firefighters for months. 

Crowley admitted to “known errors in Workday [the city’s new payment system] and pay discrepancies” in a July 2024 memo obtained by The Federalist. She wrote the problems are “affecting many city employees in multiple Departments, including the Los Angeles City Fire Department.”

“The Department is aware of multiple challenges that the City Controller’s Office is having with the new workday system, which is causing errors in paycheck calculations and processing,” Crowley wrote, insisting that she would work with the city “to correct all pay errors.”

The department admitted to “known errors” still affecting payments dated Dec. 11, according to another memo obtained by The Federalist. The city would usually pay last year’s sick time by Jan. 22, but — the department admits in yet another memo — this payout will also be delayed, and is now set for Feb. 5. 

The recent Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire have devoured multiple Los Angeles suburbs, spreading thin LAFD’s limited resources — with hydrants running dry and a backlog of fire trucks needing repair. Just weeks prior, Democrat Mayor Karen Bass suggested in a memo that the department may need to cope with nearly $49 million in spending cuts, which would close 16 fire stations. The department has also stocked its ambulances with expired medications in the past.

But despite the department’s limited resources and payroll glitches amid the worst wildfires in recent history, Crowley has insisted on subverting the department with the racist ideology of DEI.

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.