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The short answer is that it is an emergency until the fire(s) are out, and all aideds are removed. Once the emergency is over, then it becomes an investigation. The real answer is a bit more complicated, depending on many issues and personalities, so lets stick with the short answer for now.

This is the internet. I would not put to much trust in what people put on a profile. Even if they post a name, how do you know it is true. The most important, and telling information, comes from the fact that after a few postings, most people can tell if the poster is the real deal, or just an azz hat.

I do not know where your info comes from. NJ Police did respond into the Mall prior to SWAT teams arriving. The first Patrol cars did not wait for SWAT teams to arrive, the first cops did enter the mall and begin to clear and evacuate the Mall. When it became apparent that this was a "perp search" and not an active shooter, it reverted to a SWAT operation. A Perp search and an Active shooter are two different scenarios with different tactics.

The title of this thread includes "Public Perception". It has to do with how the public perceives it. If the public does not like it, and if they b**ch enough, you can guarantee the laws, rules or bylaws will change. The public appears to becoming more and more concerned how money is spent. Just my opinion!

I never said I saw it. I am not calling for action. I did not start this thread. I was not complaining. I am merely pointing out what has happened in the past to other agencies. The point is some taxpayers may complain about someone driving 90 miles on their dime to go shopping in their vehicle. Or, they may not complain. In todays day and age, with social media and camera phones everywhere, it is almost too easy to become a story.

FFPCogs wrote: "that business is between him, his Department and those who foot the bill." This is exactly what the point is here. Those who foot the bill are the taxpayers. If anyone has been paying even a minimum of attention to press reports over the past few years, they will remember reports questioning spending and activities by Volunteer Departments. All that is needed is one or two Jericho taxpayers seeing that rig and asking a few questions of the right reporter on a slow newsday, and this Chief, the President and the Treasurer of that department will find reporters at his door and some public interest group asking for subpoenas of their records. It has happened before, and you know what they say about those who ignore history...

Normally, how many on a rig?

The issues are simple. There are not enough volunteers. The answer is what is going to be difficult. Throwing penalties at the problem is not going to get more volunteers. I do not have the answer. Paid services and/or merges might be an answer, but for many reasons, may not be feasible.

That is not a dealer or transporter plate. It is an "official" plate. The plates with the "official" designation are only issued to municipalities, such as cities, towns or villages, or governmental authorities such as the MTA.

Why does this FDNY rig have NYS plates on it? I thought Fire Apparatus did not need plates?

Everybodygoes wrote: "Well I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6. I know a lot of guys who carry a gun without permission in NYC. I also only know of one Lt in the Bronx who would force an arrest for such violation." I am sure there are a lot of Lt's, Sergeants, Detectives and Police Officers that would force an arrest for such violation. Depending on what the person was carrying, it is a felony. Are you saying the Police enforcing the laws is a bad thing? The point of your post is not exactly clear.

I liked the Journal News quote by Front Line Soldiers president Peter Douglas: "“It was a great miscommunication,” Douglas said." "A great miscommunication" Huh? What planet is he on? I really think he has no comprehension of what actually happened on Sunday. Unfortunately, there are people who made him president of their group.

Steve wrote: "What I am not clear about, is that I read there were over 200 calls to 911 about this gang driving recklessly all over the city. I was viewing video prior to the incident on the Westside Highway. This gang was driving reckless ( driving on sidewalks, driving in the opposite lane of traffic and not stopping at red lights, to list a few) all over the city way before this incident occured. Why was there not more done by the NYPD to control this gang?" The city is a big place, while they met at Times Square, and were chased out of there, they came from all over, including from NJ. There were probably numerous incidents in numerous locations. There were bikes from all over coming from all directions. When they dispersed, they dispersed to all directions. As far as the number of 911 calls go, a big problem is evident in the video. Look at the speed they are travelling. A call will come in, but give it two minutes later, they are 25 blocks away, generating more 911 calls from every location in between as they go about their merry way. Where do you send the cars to? When you get there, what are the cars going to do, engage them in chases? By the time the RMP's get there, they are no longer there, the only way to possibly keep up with them is to chase them. This is not a group that will all pull over when you pull up behind them and turn your lights on. Get that thought out of your head. Look at what happened last year when the NYPD chased one of the j*ckazzes in the Bronx, and the rider was killed, the cops were left looking at criminal charges. Would you be itching to chase these morons when your job and the DA's office are stuck in that mode of thinking? These were not isolated incidents. This happens in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. I have never worked on Staten Island, but I am sure it happens there also. This has been happening for years, maybe not with this number of bikers, but groups of 10, 20, 50 or more are not uncommon. In the past, the powers that be decided they would rather not have the cops engage them. They ignored the problem, hoping it would go away. It, very predictably, got worse. Some bikes have no plates on them, some have the plates bent up so they are difficult to see. Many of these bikes to not have the proper plates on them, if you run them, they come back to other bikes, are expired, number altered, so just running the plate will do you no good, you have to catch the biker on it, which is a very difficult thing to do. They accelerate quicker, turn quicker, can make u-turns unto sidewalks and virtually any other maneuver they want, things a car cannot do. It is difficult to catch a single rider, imagine what happens when there are 10, 20, 50 or more, and they go separate directions. These azzhats are willing to run, eager actually. The way they drive is self-destructive, they do not give a sh*t. It would be great if the chase ended with the bike hitting an El pillar or a concrete bridge abutment (I have seen that happen, it was great!), but the problem with that thinking is that it is more likely to hit a pedestrian or innocent passenger car. I have chased a few and I have seen more than one incident where we gave up chasing due to safety considerations, and have seen the bikers stop or slow down to give us a chance to catch up to them again. Many want to be chased, I guess they think it is fun. That is a very difficult mindset to deal with. The cost are high, but they do not care. We have rules to follow and we have consequences to consider, they are not held by those considerations. The Department, in the past, has not been open to cops chasing bikes. And, to add insult to injury, in the past, when we have caught them, they have been treated just like minor motor vehicle violations by the court systems. I have seen charges such as reckless endangerment, attempted assault, resisting arrest and so on reduced by the courts. It was not considered a big deal. I guess now, with all the media attention, they will crack down on it now, but look what it took.

Your tax dollars at work! LOL

And speaking of blue lights, anyone see the MTA buses in NYC with the flashing blue lights on them? What is the deal there?

Maybe this should go on the Anti-NY thread, not a thread debating the merits of Blue lights.

Up until a few years ago, the B/W paint scheme cost extra, many department did not want to part the extra bucks. But now, it cost nothing extra. It is now cost effective to go with tradition and what is popular and look good.

Chkpoint wrote: "What bothers the crap out of me is Vollys setting their POV up like a unmarked Christmas tree. One: it's illegal and also why? You can't go through red lights or have a siren and people do not have to move over for you." I always thought it must be embarrassing to be stopped a red light with a with a blue light flashing on my car. wiscems wrote: "Also might have something to do with NYS following what NYPD does" It took the NYPD a while to go with the blue lights even after they were authorized. I hope no one is following NYPD. The NYPD finally phased out typewriters only about 5 years ago. Any existing law can be changed. It probably has more to do with tradition than anything else . On a related note, some of these vehicles that can be seen a mile away actually can cause problems. They can be so bright, that you cannot see anything other than the light. The lights can wash out anything in the area. You may see the light, but you are not going to see the cop standing next to the radio car, or debris in the roadway, or anything else. Some are a bit too much. Sort of too much of a good thing.

I heard a rumor, and it was just a rumor, that the current PAPD guys would get first shot to transfer over. I heard nothing about the pay or any benefits. I do not know if the PAPD and PAFD will have pay parity. This rumor was months ago, never heard anymore about it.

The current Caprice has nothing to do with the Caprice of a few years ago. The only thing in common is the name. I believe the current Caprice is actually a Holden design. Holden is an Australian Car Company run by GM.

Why is it some are Black and some Blue?

Why did NYC have to come up to the TZB again? Other than the Coast Guard, the NYPD is the only other area agency that has a 24/7 Helicopter that is an Air-Sea rescue that, besides a helicopter crew, has divers on stand-by 24/7. Besides that helo, I believe they have 5 regular helicopters and 2-3 of those are staffed 24/7. If anyone else had that at the time and was immediately available, I am sure they would have been called.

GZ called 911. It does not really matter what authority the dispatcher has, what I think matters is that GZ was on the phone with what any prudent person would consider a competent authority. That "competent authority" advised him what to do. Whether or not the dispatcher's "orders" are legally binding or not is ridiculous to even consider. He did not heed that advice. The rest is history. Any Security/Neighborhood watch that has any competent level of training would have been trained to listen to the advice of a dispatcher. My opinion is that this is a case of an armed, poorly trained, plainclothes half-azzed neighborhood watchman who was a police wanna-be, playing cop, sticking his nose where it did not belong, This incident was doomed to go sideways from the beginning. As for the dispatcher...if he had heeded that advice, we would not be having this conversation now. This was all my OPINION. I am not going to debate it. I am not going to change my OPINION. Agree or disagree: fine. I will respect that. Have a differing opinion, I am willing to listen. I will probably not agree, but I will not argue or try and change your mind.

The problem is that the system is broken, and everyone is trying to fix individual pieces.

It is the system that is broken. Trying to fix each individual VAC is like swimming upstream. It is not going to work very well nor will it work for very long, and when you are done you will have the same problem next door. The ambulance response solution may be something akin to a County service, or regional merges and/or paid staff. These issues have been happening for years. For most, the individual VAC's have been able to put off the issues, but as the issues gets worse, it can no longer be put off. Many local Volunteer FD's are not far behind in facing the same manning problems.