Photo credit: Leslie the Pony Lion and Amy. Photo © Sara Muskulus

Conduct Incident Policies & Process

FirePony Creative Society (FPCS) encourages an environment where participants can solve their conflicts themselves or with the help of the community, but we recognize that it may not always be possible. In those cases, you may file a formal incident report with the FPCS Conduct Committee. All reports will be handled equitably regardless of who is involved or their role.

 

What sort of incident should I report?

The FPCS Conduct Committee will hear and respond to incidents of any behavior or pattern of behavior that you feel is unsafe or harmful to you or others, makes you feel afraid or threatened, or could endanger FirePony Creative Society’s ability to continue to hold events. The committee will respond to incidents occurring at official FPCS sponsored events as well as incidents at any other time or place that are a concern to community members.

Who can report an incident?

Anyone who was directly affected by or witnessed behavior that was dangerous or harmful to you or others.

 

How do I report an incident?

AT EVENT:

If at an FPCS sponsored event you are having a disagreement or conflict that you aren’t able to work out or feel comfortable addressing on your own OR If you are the victim of a serious incident and you feel that your personal safety is at risk or has already been violated, the incident should immediately be reported to Rangers who are typically roaming the event 24 hours a day and are at HQ or to a staffer with a 2-way radio.

Rangers will work with you to take your report, either online, or if necessary, using hard copies of the FPCS Incident Report Form on site. FPCS encourages community members to report these incidents right away, but recognizes that doing so when traumatized can be difficult. Trained Rangers and Sanctuary volunteers can help.

NOTE: FIREPONY CREATIVE SOCIETY CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO ACT AS A REPLACEMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. IF A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED DURING AN EVENT, CONTACT LAW ENFORCEMENT. THE EVENT ORGANIZERS WOULD APPRECIATE A HEADS-UP, AND AN FPCS MEMBER MAY BE ABLE TO GET LAW ENFORCEMENT ON THE SCENE MORE QUICKLY IF YOU GO THROUGH THEM.

 

ANYTIME:

You can also report an incident at anytime by using the online FPCS Incident Report Form.

If you have questions about how or whether to make a report, contact the Conduct Committee at conduct (at) firepony (dot) org

 

What will happen when I make a report?

The Conduct Committee is a deliberative and investigatory group which will look into your report, talk to the people involved, and make recommendations for actions to the FPCS Board of Directors. Below is a summary, please see the Investigatory Philosophy and Procedure page for more details.

The Conduct Committee will receive your report and contact you about next steps and timeline. They will explain in detail what the possible outcomes are as well as next steps. Unless you wish to simply provide information, the investigators may interview witnesses and the reportee (the person the report is about) wherever possible. 

 

What can result from making a report?

After investigation, the conduct committee can make one of the following recommendations of action to the Board.

  • Provide a verbal and written warning.
  • Bar a participant from volunteering in particular capacities or in any capacity.
  • Ban from FPCS events for either one year or indefinitely.
  • Archive the information and recommend no action.

The FPCS Board reserves the right to take the following actions at any time:

  • Request that someone who is causing problems change their behavior in the form of an official warning.
  • Prevent someone from volunteering in particular capacities or in any capacity.
  • Revoke access to some or all events.
  • Revoke tickets to events.
  • Involve venue security.
  • Involve local law enforcement.
  • Deny access to FPCS events temporarily or indefinitely.
  • Choose not to take action.

While some of these actions may be taken by event organizers at the time an incident occurs, others may result from investigations and discussions undertaken by the Board and Conduct Committee.  We will do our best to balance the needs of all involved parties and the needs of the event when they conflict.

 

What will not happen if I make a report?

We will not reveal your identity or details without your explicit consent in order to obtain information about the incident or take action related to the incident. See our confidentiality policy for more details.

We will not take any sort of retaliatory action against you for reporting, or not reporting, a problem in good faith.

 

What will happen if someone makes a report about me?

While we will always err on the side of safety and treating all reports as true, we will not assume that a report being made automatically means that action needs to be taken.

The Conduct Committee will receive the report and assign two investigators. They will interview you, if possible, and explain in detail what the possible outcomes are as well as next steps. The investigators will also interview witnesses and the reporter. 

If after interviewing you, the Conduct Committee determines that no violation occurred, we will inform you that no action will be recommended to the board.

If someone deliberately makes a false report about you, we will take appropriate action in response.

Please see the Investigatory Philosophy and Procedure page for more details.

 

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