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You Tube Ad Leads To 3 Day Suspension

The Orlando district chief who appeared in uniform with a city vehicle in a YouTube ad for a new fishing product has learned his fate: a three-day suspension without pay.

District Chief Danny Wilson appeared in the video earlier this year marketing a new product, the Rod Defender, that protects fishing rods. The video prompted concerns about a possible ethics violation as Chief Wilson was using his position and city property to promote a personal business.

No word yet on whether Chief Wilson or the union will appeal the penalty.

Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 50 years of fire service experience and 40 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. Besides his law degree, he has a MS in Forensic Psychology. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.

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4 Comments

  1. How does stuff like this continue to happen in the fire service? Are there still members unaware of the perils of intermingling their careers with social media? Don’t people read?

  2. “We’ll always have cases like this because we have one big problem in selecting police officers, we have to recruit from the human race.” — LAPD Chief William H. Parker.

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