Teri Maddox
贝尔维尔新闻民主
（MCT）
1月20日 - 一名地铁消防区委员会的决定，以1998年被定罪的纵火罪取代其消防局长，并开始了全国新闻，并开始了一场热闹的社交媒体辩论。
Some people questioned the move by Prairie Du Pont Fire Protection District, based in East Carondelet, because of political connections. The new acting chief, Jerame Simmons, is the son of Herb Simmons, the village’s mayor and executive director of St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency.
Other critics pointed to standards in the Illinois Fire Protection District Act, which reads:
“No person shall be appointed to the fire department unless he or she is a person of good character and not a person who has been convicted of a felony in Illinois or convicted in another jurisdiction for conduct that would be a felony under Illinois law, or convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.”
However, that clause applies only to paid firefighters, not those in volunteer districts such as Prairie Du Pont, according to the law.
志愿者不必获得国家消防元帅伊利诺伊州办公室的认证。各个地区和部门提出了自己的招聘实践以及培训和经验要求。
A few supporters have defended Jerame Simmons’ appointment, arguing that people shouldn’t have to suffer indefinitely for past mistakes.
In a recent interview, Simmons said he’s been fighting false public perceptions since he was a teenager. He’s now a husband, father of two, full-time truck driver, East Carondelet auxiliary police officer and volunteer firefighter who’s been serving with metro-east districts for more than 25 years.
杜波（Dupo）的42岁的西蒙斯（Simmons）说：“每个人都想住过去。”
“They keep talking about my name and my father’s name. My father has helped more people than I could even think of helping, and all they want to do is drag him through the mud for something I did when I was a kid.”
Simmons was accused in 1998 of setting fire to a vacant home and, in a separate incident, lighting toilet paper and ceiling tiles in the basement of Dupo Senior High School, where he was a student. He pleaded guilty to felony arson in the first case as part of a plea agreement.
大草原杜邦区为住在14平方英里的区域的约2500人提供服务，其中包括East Carondelet和一些带有DUPO，Cahokia Heights，Millstadt和Columbia Zip sip scods的房屋。
Simmons’ appointment as acting fire chief has resurrected an issue that was widely discussed in 2003, when St. Clair County officials pushed for Illinois legislators to keep felons from serving as volunteer firefighters after the BND reported problems in several metro-east districts.
消防队长的37岁的约翰·罗森克兰兹（John Rosenkranz）于12月取代了西蒙斯（Simmons），他说缺乏适当的培训，背景调查，设备和安全预防措施在某些地区仍然是一个问题。
Rosenkranz characterizes his firing as retribution for objecting to violations of state and federal law and “reckless” decision-making by the three-member Prairie Du Pont board, particularly after he started asking for district financial documents needed to apply for grants to help with updates.
“I just want things to be done right and to make sure that our firefighters and our residents are protected,” Rosenkranz said.
Prairie Du Pont board of trustees President John Parke declined to address Rosenkranz’s claims, referring to an earlier press release in which board members stated that they had lost confidence in his leadership and no longer had a good working relationship with him.
Rosenkranz had been serving as a Prairie Du Pont firefighter since 2003 and became chief nearly three years ago.
Pardon helps clear record
A closer look at the Prairie Du Pont shakeup shows that two developments last year may have helped pave the way for board members to replace Rosenkranz with Simmons at a special meeting on Dec. 20, 2021, which caused many of the district’s 13 firefighters to quit.
五月份，伊利诺伊州州长J.B. Pritzker赦免了Simmons进行1998年的两次重罪定罪，一项是纵火罪，另一项用于使用振荡的车辆光进行未经授权的停车。西蒙斯当时是一名18岁的草原杜邦消防员。一名圣克莱尔县法官判处他缓刑。
州长办公室发言人慈善机构格林（Charity Greene）表示，席梦思（Simmons）是去年成功申请普里兹克（Pritzker）赦免的118人之一。普利兹克的命令并未详细说明他授予赦免的原因。
“It has been represented to me that said Jerame Simmons is a fit and proper subject for Executive Clemency,” it stated.
The second recent development for Simmons was the apparent sealing (hiding from public view) or expungement (erasing completely) last fall of the arson and unauthorized-stop convictions and five other charges formerly on his record in St. Clair County.
其中包括1998年的重罪审判纵火罪被驳回，作为他在纵火案中的认罪协议的一部分；两项轻罪行为的罪名是2016年，一项是一项罪名，其中一项导致监督；以及两次违规行为，在2005年驾驶一辆未投保的机动车，并于2006年离开事故现场。
2018年的无序行为指控是由索格特（Sauget）的乡村摇滚赤霞珠脱衣舞俱乐部发生争执而导致的。这位经理最初报告说，席梦思（Simmons）向他拉枪，并宣布“我是警察”，此前经理因破坏性而将西蒙斯的妻子从俱乐部撤离。后来，官员们说了西蒙斯的话，他说他正在拿着烟工。
在最近八月，西蒙斯在圣克莱尔县的纪录中列出的12项指控中，仍有5项，主要是违反交通的行为。
“If a case leaves the system, the only way is by an order expunging or sealing it,” said St. Clair County Circuit Clerk Marie Ziaz, speaking in general terms. “There is no other way for cases to be removed from the system.”
Ziaz declined to address the Simmons case specifically. She noted that court employees are legally prohibited from speaking about records that have been sealed or expunged or even acknowledging their existence.
伊利诺伊州法律允许人们向县法院提出请愿书，要求其重罪或轻罪记录符合某些标准，将其封印或删除。诸如在影响下驾驶的犯罪，针对未成年人或国内电池的性犯罪行为，这是无法做到的。
近年来，该州扩大了可以密封或删除的指控的情况和类型，包括与大麻拥有有关的指控，这些费用在2020年合法。
“It’s just the idea of allowing people to put their past behind them at some point so they can move forward and get better jobs, better educational opportunities, better housing and become more productive citizens in their community,” said Dan Kuehnert, senior staff attorney in the Alton office of Land of Lincoln Legal Aid.
People who are pardoned still have to obtain judicial orders for cases to be expunged, as explained in an Illinois Prisoner Review Board letter to Simmons on May 19, 2021, announcing the governor’s order on his case.
如果没有赦免，逮捕机构或州检察官办公室就可以在60天内提出反对拔出请求的反对意见，可能会延长该过程或导致拒绝。
“什么赦免是保持有人反对n expungement,” Zaiz said.
2003案件震惊公众
志愿消防区和部门的大多数消防员都不是薪水，而草原杜邦也不例外。有些人获得了接听电话或奖金的津贴，以定期参与。罗森克兰茨说，他每年获得750美元的消防局长。
最近关于西蒙斯（Simmons）任命的辩论促使一些人争辩说，将被定罪的纵火犯负责消防局就像雇用性犯罪者一样。
在2003年进行了类似的比较，当时BND透露，Antuan McClenton在1999年承认设置了数十座空置房屋后入狱，他担任Centerville的Golden Garden Fire Protection区的志愿队长。
那怎么会发生？该BND故事指出，许多小型火灾地区面临着巨大的挑战。
它报道：“金花园是一个贫穷的消防区，覆盖了地铁中最贫穷的地区之一。”“设备，金钱和训练有素的员工很少，这使消防区委员会对帮助大火的志愿者过于挑剔。”
The BND also reported on several metro-east cases in which active volunteer firefighters, such as Simmons, had been charged with arson.
The McClenton case prompted Robert Haida, then St. Clair County state’s attorney and now a judge, to call on Illinois legislators to pass a law prohibiting arsonists and other felons from serving as volunteer firefighters to make standards consistent with those for paid firefighters. A bill was introduced but never passed.
McClenton quit his position with Golden Garden shortly after the BND story was published.
“我告诉他要停留在消防中，”森特维尔警察上尉史蒂夫·穆斯格雷夫（Stev188金博网网址多少e Musgrave）告诉报纸。“令人难过的部分是他非常擅长消防。”188金博网网址多少
有偿消防员和志愿消防员之间的另一个区别是，后者不必通过州消防元帅的伊利诺伊州办公室获得认证。
发言人J.C. Fultz在一封电子邮件中说：“国家消防元帅对伊利诺伊州消防部门或消防区做出的招聘决定没有任何意见或法定控制。”“草原杜邦消防区是完全自愿的，与OSFM没有隶属关系或没有关联。”
同样,为志愿者firefig培训标准hters are largely determined by individual districts and departments, said Tom Shubert, associate director for firefighting programs with the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute in Champaign.
The Illinois Occupation Safety and Health Administration plays a part because it investigates workplace accidents. The agency requires all fire departments and districts to train firefighters so that they can perform their assignments safely and satisfactorily, according to Paul Cicchini, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Labor.
他在一封电子邮件中说：“由于培训水平是针对分配的职责和职能的，因此没有一个尺寸适合所有答案。”
Most volunteer fire districts and departments welcome anyone physically able and willing to help, with a few exceptions, according to Kerry Federer, secretary treasurer of the Illinois Firefighters Association, which has an office in Glen Carbon.
他说，高地的志愿消防部门担任临时消防局长，对背景调查进行了犯罪记录，并拒绝了申请人。其他地区和部门可能不那么严格。
费德勒说：“有消防员的短缺。”“这是一个全国性的问题。这不仅是当地问题。他们很难招募并保留消防员。似乎志愿服务随着这一代人而减弱。”
Federer has seen evidence of the firefighter shortage in the metro-east with the rising number of mutual-aid calls (departments asking for help from neighboring communities to put out fires).
District splits into camps
Simmons declined to discuss his 1998 arson charges this week, other than to say that the incident at the vacant home, which had already been burned several times, started with teenagers, including the son of the home’s owner, around a bonfire and ended with the home’s stairs on fire.
Simmons said he began his firefighting career at Prairie Du Pont 26 years ago and has since volunteered with Camp Jackson, Golden Garden, Midway, Washington Park and Brooklyn fire districts.
席梦思称社区服务为“家庭传统”，指出他的许多亲戚是第一反应者。他说，他是东卡隆特辅助警察，但由于重罪的定罪，他没有携带枪支。普里兹克（Pritzker）的赦免表示，它没有消除枪支限制。
席梦思（Simmons）于8月重新加入了大草原，在帕克（Parke）和其他两个董事会成员的支持下，兰迪·博尔（Randy Bolle）和布莱恩·雷迪克（Bryan Reddick）都由圣克莱尔县董事会任命。三周后，这三人使他助理消防局长，并于12月代理消防局长。
“Absolutely, he’s qualified,” Parke said in an interview, noting the board plans to hire Simmons as fire chief as soon as the appropriate paperwork is completed.
帕克（Parke）参与消防服务已有35年了，大部分时间都在史密斯顿（Smithton）担任消防员和紧急医疗技术员。他说，由于与邻近地区达成了共同的协议，因此在领导层过渡期间受到保护。
Rosenkranz maintains that, even without an arson conviction, Simmons doesn’t meet experience and training standards set forth by state law for fire chiefs in Illinois. The deposed chief said he had tried to discipline Simmons for safety violations, but the board wouldn’t let him.
席梦思（Simmons）于12月被任命为消防局长后，罗森克兰兹（Rosenkranz）报告说，该地区13名消防员中有10名辞职以抗议。席梦思对那个人物提出质疑，只剩下七个。他说，其他四名前地区消防员返回，过去一个月申请了三名。
“(The returnees) had quit because they didn’t want to work with the chief that we replaced,” Parke said.
One of the firefighters who resigned was chaplain and engineer Joshua Davidson, 32, of Waterloo. He said Rosenkranz had been doing a good job, Simmons wasn’t focused enough on safety and Simmons’ appointment was “rushed” through without proper procedures being followed.
Simmons上个月创建了一个名为Prairie du Pont Fire＆Rescue的Facebook新页面，宣布Prairie du Pont志愿者消防页面正在被“前心怀不满的志愿者在公民身上走出去”，而不再是该地区的主页页面。
When asked recently how things are going with the fire district, Simmons replied, “Fabulous.”
他说：“每个人都在一起工作。”“卡车正在像应该应该的那样维护。记录正在最新。…我现在的主要目前是帮助消防部门前进。”
But Rozenkranz has made it clear that he isn’t going away quietly. He and other former Prairie Du Pont firefighters, including his wife, Laura, former assistant chief, sent a letter to the St. Clair County Board, asking for fire district board members to be removed.
他们还在挨家挨户，要求地区居民签署请愿书，要求将约翰·罗森克兰兹（John Rosenkranz）恢复为消防局长，并撤职大草原董事会成员。类似的请愿书已发布在change.org。Hundreds of people have signed, according to Laura Rosenkranz.
约翰·罗森克兰兹（John Rosenkranz）表示，董事会的非法行动包括违反公开会议法案，例如在最后一刻呼吁特别会议，而没有适当的公开通知任命西蒙斯（Simmons）于八月份任命西蒙斯（Simmons）为助理消防局长和12月代理消防局长。
“Politics don’t belong in fire service,” Rosenkranz said. “That’s what gets people hurt and killed. I’m not a politician. I’m not a good ol’ boy. I believe in work. I believe in qualifications. I hold people to the standards.”
Editor’s note: This story was corrected on Jan. 20 to state that John Parke was formerly a firefighter and emergency medical technician in Smithton.
This story was originally published January 15, 2022 7:00 AM.
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（c）2022贝尔维尔新闻民主（伊利诺伊州贝尔维尔）
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