Advancing Public Safety by Harnessing the Power of Technology

Richard Fields, Deputy Chief, Los Angeles City Fire Department

Richard Fields, Deputy Chief, Los Angeles City Fire Department

Richard Fields has served the Los Angeles City Fire Department for over three decades and was promoted through the ranks. He has successfully created and carried out various aspects of three fire department strategic plans throughout his last 12 years as a chief officer. It includes key projects and initiatives like the department’s learning management system, unmanned aerial system program and Rosenbauer electric fire engine. His mentoring efforts and leadership are dedicated to equity, diversity and inclusion of all members in advancing the future leaders of the department. Fields has represented the department on special projects, committees and working groups at local, state and national levels. His leadership, operational experience and administrative skillsets have immensely helped the department.

Equipping my Team to Deliver High-quality Safety Services

As the Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, I oversee the northeastern part of the city’s public safety operations, which encompasses 22 stations and 700 personnel. My role involves daily oversight of both operational and administrative functions to support the fire department's mission. This includes strategic planning, participating in executive meetings and implementing directives from the fire chief. My most important function is to support the men and women who respond to just under half of a million calls for help each year in the city of Los Angeles. My leadership strategies strengthen team effort and harness our collective energy to provide consistent service and support across all our stations.

I work to ensure that my team has the necessary resources and tools to effectively engage in activities that support the organization's overall goals. I also work toward a team that is equipped to handle the evolving demands of public safety, evaluate new tools and implement technological solutions to deliver high-quality public safety services to all the city's residents.

Technological Upgrades

In 2015, I established LAFD UAS or drone program to provide a tool that gives our incident commanders a more efficient way to understand or have a clearer picture of the scope of their problem. Better insights into the situation, enables them to execute more effective strategies.

“Foster a strategic mindset and use the power of perseverance to bring practical ideas to life.”

We have also digitalized many of our manual pen-and-paper processes. Today, we record patient data digitally, ensuring better accuracy and reliability. Similarly, our initiative to adopt Apple products has led to department-wide integration of iPads into our emergency operations and the use of smart devices during emergencies and support functions.

Exploring Advanced Technological Options

The potential for technology to transform public safety efficiency is enormous, but that is always tempered by fiscal and other constraints. Today, public safety leaders recognize the benefits that technologies like AI can bring to the table and are working collaboratively to find innovative ways to accelerate adoption for more efficient and effective service delivery. At the Los Angeles City Fire Department, we take a mission-driven approach to carefully evaluate these technologies and explore secure ways to adopt them. While this approach helped us adhere to regulatory obligations, we are looking for ways to speed up technology adoption to streamline our operations. We educate everyone involved on effectively and safely leveraging the technology to enhance our decision-making and productivity.

Bring Ideas to Life with Perseverance

In public safety, we always tend to take a reactive approach to a problem. Promptly responding to a situation is the domain nature of firefighters or paramedics. As public safety leaders, however, we aim to adopt a proactive approach to managing operations and practice the ability to forecast, anticipate and strategize effectively.

Leadership in this field is not about directing operations but finding effective ways to empower your team and help them perform their duties in the best way possible. Understand the potential of technology and advocate for its adoption. Foster a strategic mindset and use the power of perseverance to bring practical ideas to life. Harness the power of your informal leadership and the collective wisdom of the team while aligning your team's efforts with the mission and goals of the organization.