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From YouTube: From City Hall - Ward 7
Description
Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice discusses minority recruiting efforts for the Oklahoma City Fire Department and finds out what it takes to become a firefighter.
A
B
Right
well,
thank
you
for
having
me
first
of
all,
with
all
those
questions,
I've,
always
in
the
back
of
my
mind,
like
being
a
service
to
people,
and
so
you
know,
with
my
background
being
team-oriented,
been
an
athlete
this,
this
kind
of
went
hand
in
hand,
that's
what
we
do
on
a
day
to
day
basis.
Basically,
people
are
in
need
nine
times
out
of
ten
I
love,
helping
people,
whether
it's
a
car
wreck
or
a
fire.
A
B
It's
pretty
diverse,
you
know
I
made
some
pretty
bad
car
wrecks.
You
know
Russia
around
here
it
gets
pretty
hectic,
usually
on
Thursday
Friday
night,
depending
on
what
you're
in
your
location,
you
know
you
have
people
that
you
know
drink
and
drive.
Unfortunately,
you
make
those
car
wrecks,
those
are
pretty
bad
and
then
just
some
structure
fires
that
I've
made.
You
know
there's
about
part
about
10
years
ago
or
so
give
or
take
a
little
bit
more
than
that.
B
A
B
Yes,
a
lot
of
people,
ask
those
questions.
You
know
the
the
glitz
and
the
glamour
is
the
guys
on
the
fire
truck,
putting
the
wet
stuff
on
the
red
stuff.
But
we
also
have
you
know
code.
We
have
investigation,
we
have
public
education,
which
goes
out
to
a
lot
of
our
schools,
our
elementary
schools
and
talk
about
you
know
safety.
You
know
we
have
operation
operation
Edythe,
which
is
exit
drills
on
the
home.
You
know
in
case
there's
a
fire
have
strategic
plans,
meeting
places
and
stuff
like
that.
B
Those
are
really
good
programs
for
kids
and
stuff.
We
have
a
fire
smoke,
detector
program,
people
don't
know
or
they're
starting
to
know
a
little
bit
more
that
we
give
out
free
smoke
detectors
if
you're
in
the
Oklahoma
City
area.
All
you
have
to
do
is
call
that
number.
We
have
English
version
and
we
have
a
Spanish
version.
Give
us
your
location
and
up
the
code
is
every
smoke
detector.
If
you
have
a
room
bedroom,
a
kitchen
living
area,
we
will
put
a
smoke
detector
free
at
no
charge
and.
A
B
Some
are,
but
they
have
the
lithium
batteries
which
are
the
10-year
batteries.
So
at
some
point,
when
we
put
them
up,
we
tell
them.
You
know
still
I
mean
it's
man-made,
it's
a
battery.
We
tell
them
to
check
every
six
months,
just
like
you
know
in
this,
or
something
like
that,
because
they
could
malfunction
or
something
like
that,
but
now
they're
moving
toward
the
lithium
batteries,
where
they
don't
have
to
check
them
as
often
well.
A
B
Every
so
often
they
have
a
citizen's
Academy.
What
they
do
is
they
learn.
You
know
day-to-day
life
of
firefighting.
They
get
to
try
on
bunker
gear.
They
get
to
go
out
to
some
of
the
stations.
Some
of
the
stations
come
out
to
the
drill
grounds
and
they
put
up
the
rescue
ladder
and
see
hook
the
engine
up
to
one
of
the
fire.
B
A
A
Can't
wait
to
do
that
now
we're
talking
about
minority
recruitment,
and
this
is
a
new
role
for
you.
As
far
as
making
sure
we
have
minority
recruitment
I.
Think
if
we
look
in
history
for
the
Oklahoma
City
Fire
Department
we're
looking
at
the
original
12.
A
lot
of
people
may
not
know
about,
but
they
were
hired
in
1951
being
Oklahoma
City's,
first,
black,
firefighters
and
I.
A
Think
if
we
put
this
in
specifics,
this
was
literally
three
years
before
the
Supreme
Court
of
Brown
versus
Board
of
Education,
and
this
was
also
seven
years
before
the
cat's
sit
in
drugstore
when
they
did
the
sit-in
at
the
drugstore.
So
basically
you
know
by
1959,
when
we
had
these
firefighters
serving
in
six
integrated
fire
stations
that
made
a
lot
of
history
with
them
being
about
I,
think
at
the
height
a
hundred
being
with
the
department
and
now
what
are
we
looking
at
when
we're
looking
at
numbers
for
minority
recruitment?
Well,.
B
For
minority
recruitment
numbers
is
down
on
our
hold
the
fire
department,
we
have
50
african-american
firefighters.
One
of
the
reasons
why
my
job
came
about
is
to
the
city
recognizes
that
we
need
to
reflect
the
city.
Our
department
needs
a
reflector,
is
it
the
city
in
the
demographics
and
so
we're
making
a
subconscious
effort,
put
an
emphasis
on
minorities,
not
only
that
we
only
have
one
black
female,
so
we're
focusing
on
those
areas
too,
but
at
the
same
time
you
know
diversity.
B
Inclusion
is,
is
really
you
know,
hitting
hard
a
lot
of
communities,
it's
nationwide,
but
also
foster.
You
know,
the
fire
department
has
a
lot
of
nepotism,
and
you
know
a
lot
of
that
is
you
know
our
Caucasian
firefighters
and
basically
still
foster
that,
but
still
recognize
that
you
know
what
in
the
city
fifty-three
percent
are
women.
Fifty-Three
percent
are
Hispanic,
and
so
we
need
to
start
trying
to
make
a
subconscious
effort
to
get
more
qualified
people
and
more
diverse
in
our
department.
Well,.
A
When
we're
looking
at
that-
and
you
mentioned-
we
have
one
female
black
firefighter
right
now,
she's
only
the
second
since
its
inception
of
1889
so
and
she's
currently
serving
right.
So
what
are
some
of
those
I
guess
may
be
barriers
that
we're
looking
at
when
it
comes
to
minorities
or
even
women,
not
being
a
part
of
the
application
process
or
being
applicants
for
well.
A
B
Tough
for
women,
just
because
you
know
I,
say
I'm
a
mystical
aspect
of
it.
We
do
try
to
introduce.
You
know
the
physical
part
of
it.
We
have
camp
inferno,
which
is
our
all-female
camp,
to
kind
of
get
them
used
to
what
it's
like,
like
I,
said
on
a
day-to-day
basis
that
bunker
gear
fully
bunked
out
it's
you
know
anywhere
from
45
to
65
extra
pounds,
so
you
know
just
getting
used
to
that.
And
then
you
know
just
some
of
the
tools
and
stuff
are
pretty
heavy.
You
know,
so
we
try
to
to
combat
that.
B
B
Yes,
you
do,
okay
at
some
point
you
to
make
a
subconscious
a
because
we
have
what
they
call
a
CPAP.
It's
a
candidate
physical
abilities
test,
and
it's
really
tough
I
mean
it's
stress
stretches
you.
It
has
about
eight
different
exercises
that
simulates
fire
ground
fire
ground
simulation
stuff
and
it's
you
know
you
have
to
complete
the
course
to
actually
it's
one
of
the
steps
in
our
hiring
process.
Well,.
A
I
know
and
understand
that
of
our
current
chief
chief
Kelly
who's
been
serving
since
September
of
2017.
He
felt
it
was
important
to
have
this.
This
role
of
minority
recruitment
and
also
other
officers
like
yourself
felt
it
was
important
to
have
this
minority
recruitment,
so
application
process
has
begun.
So
what
are
we
looking
at
as
far
as
requirements?
Okay,.
B
Requirements
we've
actually
started.
We've
revamped
I
was
one
of
the
deals
that
when
I
came
down
to
streamline
our
application
process
a
little
bit
better
when
I
got
down
here
we
had
the
old
packet.
You
know
the
big
packet
where
everybody
had
to
fill
out
come
down
to
our
administration,
but
now
we
have
what
we
call
Neoga,
it's
an
online
application.
You
know
you
have
to
have
minimum
requirement.
Is
your
GED
or
equivalent
high
school
diploma
or
transcript
and
a
valid
driver's
license
that
will
get
you
to
the
written
exam
process.
B
So
that's
this
minimum
requirement
that
you
have
to
have
now.
If
you
do
have
your
EMT,
you
went
to
EOC,
which
you
can
get
a
fire
program.
You
know
your
certifications,
your
firefighter
one,
your
firefighter
two,
your
EMT
that
helps
you,
but
it's
not
all
it
be
all
you
know
when
I
came
on,
I
didn't
have
those,
but
it
just
helps
in
the
process.
If
you
do
have
those
all.
A
B
So
the
first
is,
like
I,
said,
the
online
process.
The
second
step
is
the
written
okay,
and
then
we
have
the
C
Pat,
the
candidate
physicals
abilities
test,
and
then,
after
that
we
have
an
interview,
it's
a
panel
of
three.
It
could
be
a
station
officer,
it
could
be
a
chief,
they
give
you
random
questions,
there's
upstairs
and
a
downstairs
as
a
panel
of
three,
then
once
you
pass
that
you
go
to
what
we
call
a
background
or
a
polygraph
test,
we
opened
up
the
process,
it's
gonna
be
nationwide.
B
Now,
so
we
had
to
do
open
up
our
background
process.
Hi
right
is
the
background
check.
So
it's
Texas
nationwide.
Your
your
background,
so
you
know
just
like
been
on
the
police
department
on
Fire
Department.
We
don't
want
any
criminals
on
the
department,
so
we
have
to
check
that
and
then
the
polygraph
test.
You
know
just
asking
you
random
questions
to
see
what
kind
of
citizen
you
are
all.
A
B
What
you
can
look
at
is,
like
you
said,
I
mean
it's
the
great
benefits.
You
know
something
that
you
can
take
care
of
your
family.
You
know
you
can
be
secure,
but
also
the
benefits
of
being
on
the
fire
department
say.
If
you
know
I
was
tell
you
about
one
of
the
requirements.
Is
you
just
have
to
have
a
GED
or
equivalent?
B
So
if
you
decided
to
come
back,
go
back
to
school,
the
city
is
really
good
about,
compensating
you
or
allowing
you
to
try
to
better
yourself,
and
so
you
can
pay,
they
will
pay
1250
a
semester
$1,250
a
semester.
All
you
have
to
do
is
maintain
a
c'
average
and
they
will
pay
for
that.
Schooling
for
you
and
that's
any
degree
that
you
want
to
get
so
they
are
really
good
about
giving
you
incentive
pay.
You
know
if
you
have
a
college
degree,
you
have
so
many
hours.
B
A
B
A
B
B
Go
to
WWE,
OKC,
Fire,
calm
or
just
go
to
the
OKC
gov.
There's
some
links
that
you
can
click
on
some
hyperlink,
six.
You
can
click
on
and
to
get
some
information
on
our
website.
The
first
one
that
I
gave
you.
You
can
also
click
on
it
and
it
does
you
steps
in
the
hiring
process.
It
gives
you
a
profile
of
basically
whether
the
description
of
what
it
entails:
a
posting
of
a
job,
description
of
a
firefighter
all.
B
We
started
our
process
is
long.
We
started
January
1
with
the
hiring
process.
This
hiring
process
will
stay
open.
Till
February
28th
was
our
hiring
process
from
then
then,
like
I
said
we'll
take
all
our
applicants.
There's
a
process
in
to
doing
that,
and
then
once
that
probably
late,
March
early
April
we'll
do
the
testing
for
the
written
step,
2,
I'm,
sorry
written
test,
but
all
in
all
the
process
takes
about
7
to
8
months.
When
they'll
give
you
a
conditional
job
offer
all.
A
Right
well,
we
appreciate
your
major
Collins
for
talking
about
the
Oklahoma
City
Fire
Department
and
again
the
applications
are
currently
open.
So
if
you
need
more
information,
you
can
also
head
on
over
to
our
website.
It
is
OKC
gov,
and
that
is
our
our
episode
of
City
Hall
from
Ward
7
and
I'm.
Your
Councilwoman
Nikki
nice
see
you
next
time.