Results Of EMS Cheating Investigation Released

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There's new information on a scandal that rocked the Baltimore City fire department. Several fire recruits cheated on their EMS exam and the results of the investigation were just released.

Derek Valcourt breaks down the report.

This report details the many mistakes made at that EMS training academy but, at the end, it holds no one accountable for the problems there.

The report details the investigation into how 20 cadets at the EMS training academy received confidential copies of scenarios they could be tested on prior to their exam in June.

In the end, the report found those allegations of cheating by the cadets were completely unfounded.

"They were doing what they were instructed to do. They were trying to pass the course and none of them did anything wrong," said Fire Chief James Clack.

Clack says the breakdown and other problems discovered during the investigation were all the result of changes he made in the leadership of the academy: inexperienced training officers who were not properly supervised in their new jobs. Even though investigators determined five officers should face misconduct charges for their actions, all of those charges were dismissed during internal disciplinary hearings.

"There just wasn't enough evidence that people were trying to do stuff wrong. On the contrary, the people that were up there were trying to do things right, they just didn't know what was right. The blame, if you want to place blame, is on me and the officers under me who didn't do what we needed to do to make it successful," Clack said.

The state agency that certifies state EMS workers is still investigating and they could take some action against the training officers who were involved.

All of the cadets involved have been retested and passed their exams.