The Race and Gender Breakdown
Current Austin Fire Department numbers show AFD still has a way to go before it truly reflects the demographics of the city it serves. Among the uniformed staff, only 52 are female, 144 are Hispanic, and 48 are African-American – down from 59 three years ago.
The disparities go up in the higher ranks; of the 281 officers between lieutenant and battalion chief, there are just five African-Americans and four women.
AFD RANK | Male | Female | Caucasian | Hispanic | African-American | Other |
Assistant Chief | 5 | - | 3 | 1 | 1 | - |
Division Chief | 4 | 1 | 5 | - | - | - |
Battalion Chief | 35 | - | 33 | 2 | - | - |
Captain | 69 | - | 64 | 5 | - | - |
Lieutenant | 173 | 4 | 154 | 17 | 5 | 1 |
Specialist | 184 | 12 | 163 | 23 | 10 | - |
Firefighter | 453 | 35 | 348 | 96 | 32 | 12 |
All Ranks | 923 | 52 | 772 | 144 | 48 | 13 |
Source: Austin Fire Department
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