Texas firefighters balk at cell phone rules

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin firefighters are concerned their First-Amendment rights may be compromised by an Austin Fire Department code of conduct that limits the contents of any electronic communication between firefighters and anyone outside the department.

Firefighters will no longer be allowed to share information or send images from cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants or social networking sites under an amendment to the department's code of conduct.The code has been effective since Aug. 28, 2008, and it seeks to "define the platform of the acceptable set of behavior within the organization.

Its main objective is to further promote a higher standard of practice within the organization," according to the code.

The addendum, which refers to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, states, "any written, auditory, and/or visual messages ... are the sole property of [the Austin Fire Department]."

The new clause is part of an older regulation that took effect roughly 30 years ago, said AFD Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr.

The new policy as a whole states that an AFD employee "shall not criticize or ridicule the department, its policies, its officers or other members by speech, writing, or other expression" when the criticism is slanderous and interferes with AFD discipline and damages the reputation or efficiency of another member.

The explanation was that the criticism rule has been there forever.

"That may be the case, but it still seems to be far-reaching and we think [it] may be crossing the line on First Amendment, and we think the language should be revised," said Stephen Truesdell, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, the firefighter's union.

Truesdell said the procedure is composed of rules so outdated that they are referred to as "muttonchops" and that the department has recently begun to consolidate old "largely ignored" rules, regulations and guidelines to publish them online.

"Now, you are resurrecting this old, archaic set of rules and [are putting] them in this modern format — what does this mean? Does this mean [AFD is] going to start enforcing these rules now that [they] modernized them?" he said.

Firefighters understand that disclosure of information regarding an ongoing investigation may endanger it, he said, and that criticism should be delivered through a union because of the hierarchical nature of AFD — which, if undermined, can lead to problems in emergency situations.

"I don't feel — as written — [the rule is] legal," said union lawyer Craig Deats. "It is overbroad because it can be interpreted to prohibit protective speech. I have been ensured that is not [AFD's] intent, and we have been exploring ways to try and make the language clearer."

He said that if firefighters feel the need to criticize the chief in matters of public interest that they should do so.

"That is a safety issue, and the public has a right to know," Deats said.

Deats said the firefighters' union believes the chief has the right to issue a code of conduct to regulate discipline.

They are seeking clarification from the chief that the speech rights are not being abridged.

"[The chief] is simply attempting to address the issue of people taking photographs of crime scenes [and sending] other personal private information," said Laurie Eiserloh, city of Austin assistant attorney.

"[She] is taking it under advisement and reviewing the policy right now, but I can tell you it was never her intention to infringe upon anybody's First Amendment rights."

Eiserloh said the goal is to make certain that the information that comes from AFD is accurate and that it doesn't infringe upon anybody's privacy rights or compromise a criminal investigation.

"I respect others to have different opinions — I don't always agree with them or understand them, but I accept them," Kerr said. "The policy had to be updated to reflect [cellphones, PDAs and social media]."

She said the upheaval of instantaneous communication had to be addressed and that the policy does not infringe upon the rights of employees to act as private citizens.

Kerr said there is a committee comprised of department members and legal representation whose goal is to review the policy.

AFD is willing to make changes to the policy in accordance with the association's requests, but there is no definitive timeline of when changes will be made. The review is ongoing, she said.

"There is a lot going on in the organization, and it's going to take us some time to catch up," Kerr said. "Our focus isn't always on the moment, but we are trying to look long range."


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