Richmond City Council convened on July 28, 2026, at 1:00 PM in Council Chamber, City Hall, to address public safety matters including crime statistics, a proposed Family Justice Center, fire staffing concerns, and emergency communications. The meeting included public testimony, updates from police and fire officials, and a discussion on 911 call handling. Several follow-up actions were scheduled for the September meeting.
Good afternoon. We will now call to order this meeting of the public safety standing committee. I will now begin by reading announcements and public speaker guidelines. Upon activation of the emergency alarm signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use the exits to the left or right front of the council chamber or the north or west stairway or north or south stairwell outside of the rear doors of the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. At the exiting the building, security would direct everyone down ninth street to the fence area located between Clay and Lee Streets. Able person citizens visually and hearing impaired visitors with exiting the building. Persons wishing to speak during the public comment period and or public hearings are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Persons appearing before the committee are now allowed to campaign for public office, promote private business ventures, use language of a personal nature, which is also demeans any person, including comments directly at public officials or staff members that are not related to their official duties, or just to question staff members directly. All questions are to be directed to the committee chair. If there are no amendments or corrections, and those meeting minutes stand approved as presented. Is there anyone that would like to address the committee regarding items not on today's agenda? Please approach the podium and state your name for the record. We miss our three brothers, as we do all our 55 Richmond Fire Department fallen heroes. May they never be forgotten. As union president, it is my utmost responsibility to protect the health and safety of my members, a mission that is number one in my heart. I hate when money plays a factor into decision making, especially when it alters the operational performance, proficiency, and ultimately jeopardizing my member safety in an already dangerous and demanding profession. Unfortunately, money plays a part into a lot of decisions, decisions, which brings me before you today. On February the 28th, Chief Siegel invited local 995 to a meeting that included CAO Donald, Deputy CAO Wiggins not having an agenda going in. We learned through Chief Siegel's opening remarks that due to RFD's overtime budget overage, he had he had been asked sometime prior to this meeting to formulate a plan that would offer cost-saving measures to meet the request. This plan would entail cutting from the normal safe staffing level of 118 on a daily basis down to 115, which we feel is an unsafe level. These three vacant positions would impact three different companies randomly selected on a when needed basis. What started out as a when needed basis now has turned into almost daily needed basis. The affected companies that run with three represents a 25% drop-off of company efficiency. The National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Fire Protection Association highlights the mathematical and operational differences between being staffed at four-person crews versus three-person crews. 30 seconds. Critical seconds count, having that fourth person on the apparatus performing critical tasks like search and rescue and water application at a 30% faster rate compared to three-person crews. Staffing with four also allows crews to comply with the long-standing occupational safety and health administration standard of two in, two out. Without getting too technical, this two in two out rule allows the first arriving company on a structure fire to enter with two firefighters while two remain outside. The two outside crew members have additional functions that deal with water supply, a vitally important component to firefighting, but also at a second's notice are able to perform rapid intervention for the crew for the inside crew if and when needed. There are enough risks that air members take on a structure fire under normal staffing uh conditions, reducing three companies down to three crew members are asking those companies to do more with less, which puts additional stress to their health and safety. Working with a three-person crew is an unsafe practice for a city that presents many challenges. Every minute, every set and every set of extra hands matters tremendously. Chief Siegel is doing what is being asked of him. He knows the importance of a four-member crew. As I start stated earlier, money influences decisions that impact safety. And that's a hard pill to ask my fire chief and my RFD sisters and brothers to swallow. You may hear that surrounding jurisdictions run with three on a rig. Some rural areas even run with two. It's not for urban response models, and data shows why. Just a downtown high-rise response puts stress on the overall fire deployment model. An optimal response per the National Institute of Standards and Technology requires about 43 personnel to execute all of the critical tasks, such as evacuating occupants and extinguishing smoke removal as a small scale fire of a small-scale fire. With the continuing growth in Richmond, which we welcome, more high-rises will look to transition to affordable housing opportunities, putting more stress to our first responders. On May the 28th, Chief Siegel gave a presentation to this committee titled Preparing a Safe Future for Richmond. In this presentation, he laid out a vision that would adapt our department with the growth of our city and what the staffing model should look like to keep up with that growth. I asked everyone to go back and look at this presentation. It was well put together, well articulated, and quite frankly makes our case. Riding with less than four-person crews is an unsafe practice. Public safety chair trammel, member Abba Backer, I would hate to look at RFD family member in their eyes and tell them that money trumped their loved ones' safety by working with a reduced crew.