Baltimore Fire Department Misses Goal For Smoke Alarms
BALTIMORE (AP) — A new audit shows that the Baltimore fire department failed to meet its goals for installing smoke alarms and then retroactively altered the goals in budget books to look better.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the audit found the department's goal for installing free smoke alarms for city residents was 19,000 in 2016, but the department installed 15,889. The agency then changed the 2016 target in subsequent budget books from 19,000 to 16,500.
Auditors recommended the department identify the causes and develop a corrective action plan. They also said performance goals "should not be changed" in subsequent year budget books without adequate disclosure "in order to avoid misleading performance results."
In response, Fire Chief Niles Ford wrote that there was "no identifiable cause" for why the goals were changed retroactively.
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