Officials investigating how the Chicago Fire Department handled a controversial videotape of a raucous firehouse retirement party are recommending the son of Fire Commissioner Edward P. Altman be fired, City Hall sources said Monday.
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The three-month investigation by the city’s law department found that Edward F. Altman, while in charge of the department’s internal affairs division, did little last May when the videotape was brought to his attention, the sources said.
One source said the recommendation that the younger Altman be fired came about because he “sat on” the videotape for approximately six months. It was not known if the report, expected to be released this week, recommends any other firings or disciplinary action.
The law department’s recommendation will be taken up by Fire Department officials. The commissioner has recused himself from the case.
The videotape, filmed in 1990 at a South Side firehouse, shows firefighters drinking beer from a keg, exposing themselves and singing songs with a racial slur. It became public in November, and shortly afterward the younger Altman was transferred from internal affairs to the bureau of administrative services.
Neither the fire commissioner nor his son could be reached for comment Monday evening. A spokesman for the Fire Department, Patrick Howe, said he knew nothing of the investigation’s findings.
A separate investigation remains under way by the city’s inspector general into the conduct of 18 firefighters who were seen on the videotape. It was not known when the inspector general’s probe will end, though a City Hall source familiar with the case said the investigation would result in additional firing recommendations.
The videotape was brought to the attention of the internal affairs division in May by Fire Department Capt. Ezra McCann. In November, McCann gave the tape to the city’s law department–prompting the inquiries.