When I became Commissioner of this great department in 2002, the FDNY was a Department in mourning from the terrible losses it suffered on September 11th 2001.

In the seven years since then, we have made great strides in almost every important area- improving both firefighter and public safety, modernizing our technology and apparatus, bringing down response times and fire fatalities to historic lows, and successfully reaching out to communities that were historically underrepresented in our ranks.

We have greatly increased the amount of training our members receive, from our newest firefighters to our Fire and EMS Chiefs. At probationary firefighters’ school, where our trainee firefighters now spend 18 weeks, up from 13 seven years ago, extra time is spent on building and construction issues, fire prevention and fire inspection all crucial topics when it comes to maintaining the highest level of safety possible, both for our members and for the public. We have also instituted programs for our more senior members. One program, our Fire Officers Management Institute which is run in conjunction with Columbia University, was selected as a 2008 Kennedy School of Government Innovations in American Government National Semi-Finalist.
We have provided improved equipment for our firefighters and Emergency Medical personnel. Among the many technological advances: new handie-talkie radios; radiation detectors and new masks that protect from chemical and biological agents; new and improved personal safety ropes allowing our firefighters a secure way to escape a building should they become trapped. All of these improvements make our members- and the City - safer.
From 2002 to 2007, New York sustained the lowest six-year average of civilian fire fatalities in the recorded history of the city, averaging 98 deaths a year.

We have modernized the City’s building code and completed a comprehensive revision of the City’s Fire Prevention Code. And since 2007 we have undertaken a $25 million initiative to create a central database that enhances the sharing of building and fire safety information across FDNY bureaus and among City agencies, including the Department of Buildings and the Department of Environmental Protection. We have also increased by 50 percent the time devoted to building inspections; and we significantly increased the frequency of inspections for high priority buildings under construction and demolition or abatement.

And, thanks to a $3.2 million minority recruitment campaign that we rolled out in 2006, this year the fire academy welcomed the most diverse class in its history.

All of these changes means there has never been a better time to join the FDNY.

This Department is made up of thousands of brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to help New Yorkers. It is an honor to be their Commissioner, and it is an honor to serve the citizens of New York.