from www.contracostatimes.com – In 2008, an on-duty traffic officer appeared in a pornographic video, spanking and groping a blond adult actress near a parking meter. The same year, a buxom brunette actress posed on a Los Angeles Fire Department firetruck during an X-rated video shoot, an incident now being investigated by the department.

While the traffic officer was fired earlier this year, the firefighters responsible for the truck will likely never face suspension or dismissal.

The disparity in punishment between city departments is causing some city officials to call for reform at the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“What the firefighters did was stupid,” said City Councilman Dennis Zine. “I’m convinced that misconduct needs to be handled.”

The firefighters, who are still being investigated, won’t be punished because the statute of limitations for discipline has passed. Under the City Charter, Fire Department officials have a two-year window following the infraction to suspend or dismiss firefighters. Fire Chief Brian Cummings said the department only learned of the incident in May, more than two years after the video shoot.

The Department of Transportation, which employed the traffic officer, has no such time limitation because it is a civilian agency, according to Bruce Whidden, public information director for the City Personnel Department and executive director of the City Civil Service commission.

LAFD officers are sworn personnel who enjoy certain
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protections under the City Charter and state law.

“Historically, sworn personnel are the victim of scurrilous charges,” Whidden said. “This provision is designed to protect (them) from people making false charges.”

The LAFD’s statute of limitations has been in the City Charter since 1927. The Los Angeles Police Department changed its disciplinarian timeline in 2000. Before, the department had a year from the date of the infraction to discipline officers. Now the department has a year from the discovery of the act.

But irked by the different rules, Zine is now looking at changing the City Charter, which would require a citywide vote. On Wednesday, he and City Councilman Mitch Englander submitted a motion directing the Chief Legislative Analyst to look into loosening the time frame for disciplinary action at the LAFD.

The LAFD incident happened in 2008, when 24-year-old adult actress Charley Chase posed and exposed herself on Fire Engine 263, which was parked on a street in Venice. The incident was first reported by KNBC (Channel 4) last month.

Additionally, the LAFD is looking at another incident where Engine 41 from Hollywood appeared in a porn shoot. That incident is believed to have occurred in 2008 or earlier.

Despite the lack of discipline for the firefighters, Fire Department Battalion Chief Glenn Miyagishima said an investigation is ongoing.

“These shock videos are something that we have to be mindful of as public servants,” he said. In posts on her blog last month, Chase defended the firefighters. She said she did not meet them, they were not involved in the shoot and “the entire event was spur of the moment and not plained (sic) in any way.”