JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department announced Friday morning that the firefighter responsible for an inappropriate image on a Northside fire station computer has been reprimanded, and the leadership on his shift has been changed.
The firefighter, Kevin Painter, posted a doctored photo on a station computer that showed a newly hired firefighter dressed as a terrorist with the caption "Jingle Bombs."
“It's brought the Fire Department in a negative light,” JFRD Director Kurt Wilson said. “It opened us up to claims on how we treat certain races and certain religions, and we're going to defend against that, and we're going to take corrective action immediately.”
The picture, found as the screensaver on a workstation used by several people at the firehouse, shows the firefighter with what appears to be a fake beard and next to him, a skull wearing a Santa hat. The photo also has the words "Jingle bombs."
The firefighter pictured said he was not offended, but others told News4Jax they were.
News4Jax is not using the firefighter's name and blurred the face in the photo. He was recently hired and was transferred to Station 18 in northwest Jacksonville late last year.
JFRD handed the investigation over to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in December as a possible discrimination investigation. JSO analyzed the hard drive from the computer to see if officers could figure out who posted the picture.
Wilson said that Painter came forward during the investigation and explained that he was playing a joke on his best friend. His account matched JSO's investigation of how and when the photo was posted to the computer, Wilson said.
"Where this took a wrong turn is when they brought it into a workplace, a city workplace, and put it up there," Wilson said. “Being that this was intended as a joke, it stays a joke until somebody feels like it's not. And at some point somebody felt like it was no longer a joke. It did not belong on city computers in no way, shape or form, and that's why we're taking it seriously.”
The investigation found that Painter, a two-year veteran with JFRD, had violated JFRD's electronics policy but that the photo did not fall under discrimination. He was issued a written reprimand, and he and the rest of Station 18 will undergo sensitivity training, Wilson said.
"It was not a target at a religion. It was not a target at anybody's race," Wilson said. "It was a joke between two individuals."
Wilson said if it had been found to be discrimination, the punishment would have been much worse.
Capt. William Hood and Lt. Tony Stivers Jr., the two officers at the station in charge of the crew's equipment and computers, have been transferred because they failed to immediately remove the photo, Wilson said.
"They should have known that it was there. They should have taken actions to take that down immediately. Instead, it was left up for seven days," Wilson said. “The officers on that crew had the opportunity to take it down the day that it was put up, and instead they left it up.”
Hood and Stivers, who will also undergo counseling and training, are currently roving and will be allowed to apply for other positions in the department, Wilson said. JFRD will be bringing in new leadership at Station 18.
"Some of the members of the station don't think it's fair -- the members affected," said Randy Wyse, head of the fire union. "It's never good to have to be moved from a place. I think it's fair for the member that did (the picture). I think it's fair."