Oakland firefighter Kevin Moore, who is black, was doing
vegetation-management inspections, in full uniform, with a radio and
identification, when residents became suspicious and called police.
According to a supervisor, the fire department sends out pamphlets
before the inspections, hosts community meetings, and does everything
else they can to spread the word. If nobody is home, the law permits
firefighters to conduct an outdoor inspection anyway. One day last
month, a resident called the police about Moore and another sent the
cops video of Moore ringing a doorbell to do an inspection. Then last
week, it happened again. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Moore said he suggested that if the resident were still concerned, he could simply look out onto the street where “a big red fire engine is right there.”
