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How competitive is this job? I submitted my application last week via mail and am also in the process of applying for several other seasonal law enforcement type jobs in different states. Will my fire/ems training benefit me in the selection process? Any help or suggestions would be great.

You are absolutley right when you mention the pay for adminstrators. It is absolutley out of control. However these individuals negotiate their own contracts and have no job security beyond the length of said contract. Teachers have close to 25 years of job security.

That is true. There are definetley some affluent areas that would have none of it. The people who live there are willing to pay a premium for police officers they know personally. In my opinion, I think that knowing who is going to come help deal with the ahole in your house is what the people who are paying for the police want. I know that when there was talk of merger in my village there was very little support from the people. They felt that there were other ways to save money. I beleive that most people are not bothered by paying thier local taxes which in most places in Westchester are small when compared to school taxes. Also, maybe we should look towards increasing local services and cutting spending in places where it is not needed. For example in the town of Greenburgh is there a real need for the town to duplicate the police resources of the villages. Is there really a need for a town government, is there really a need for a county governemnt the size of westchesters. granted there are certain services that are provided that we need but there is definetley room to save.

I stand by my original statement. I am not attempting to get on the job anywhere but i have respect for what you and everyother member of the paid emergency services do. However we are apparching a point in america where public sector employees are no longer having to trade between long term job security or higher salary. Public sector employees are in some, not all, areas are being paid better than thier private sector counterparts with lucrative bonuses such as guaranteed pensions and healthcare for themselves and thier family, albeit with modest contributions. My point is that we have to regain the balance between private and public sector. For the most part public sector unions, with the exception of fire/ems and police, are negotiating for things that are not available or not possible through private sector employeers. The most flagrant example of this is the teachers unions. Tenure is something that no private sector employee has. Is this right? Do we really want a nation where going to work for the government is the most attractive option. I exclude police and fire from this because the private sector has no business in these areas. My original statement was in regards to the Wisconsin events where teachers and other non emergency personel are the most affected.

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

YES

Just a question ? what is the legal responsibility for the surrounding departments to respond mutual aid? Im sure eventually the leaders of the surrounding areas will have to put their people first.

I also am experiencing this same problem

I think this is already covered. Refusing to give a sample automatically costs you your license for one year. To go ahead and begin prosecuting people for refusing to incriminate themselves through chemical tests. I dont really think it is the equivalent of obstruction. To be obstruction a person must actively try to prevent justice. Simply not cooperating is not the same. If a LEO asks you if their are any illegal items in your vehicle and you say nothing are you really obstructing justice? I dont think so. No if the person throws the items out of the window or interfere with the lawful search then obstruction would be called for.

This is a very slippery slope. Using a persons refusal to cooperate with their own incrimination to obtain a conviction is a dangerous and unprecedented legal action. While we all agree that drunk driving is a terrible and reckless act, we dont want to begin eroding our civil rights. It is one of the greatest protections we are afforded; lets protect it.

Why is it sad that failure to consent dosent mean a conviction? have you read the constitution recently? You have the right against self incrimination and against unlawful search and seizure. I could not be more against DWI but we still have to ensure our rights are not infringed upon. So unless a judge issues a warrant for the blood or urine analysis then its not lawful to require a suspect to surrender to the tests. The loss of your drivers license for one year is completely fine because driving is a privilege not a right.

Are you serious? There is nothing to play around when talking about fire apparatuses. Every piece of equipment if used improperly has the potential to do serious harm. Yes we can have an opinion and the opinion here is that what occurred with those rigs was completely inappropriate and reckless. We are lucky that nothing serious happened and everyone got to go home. But it could have had a tragic ending. I dont want to be the person responsible for explaining to the mans family that he wont be coming home because he was killed in a parade accident that should never have happened. I agree with previous posters that this should never have been allowed to happen. An officer of the host department should have put a stop to this before it got this far.

I can appreciate that argument. While being a volunteer myself I do not support this bill. The volunteer fire service should not be seen as having to be second class to a career service. I believe that this bill is to protect volunteers in more rural areas of the state where career fire departments are unheard of and fire protection fully revolves around volunteers. Fortunately in my village we are able staff apparatus through DPW workers aswel as school workers, there may be several others who work in the village and are also able to respond. Should these guys lose their jobs because they were providing a service to their community, IMO no, but this is up t their boss to decide not the government. However in most volunteer departments the members are considered employees of the municipality (not a fire district) therefore if one works for the municipality in another capacity they are not really leaving their jobs just doing something different.

What is not proper about volunteer fire protection?

In my opinion Emergency Services Unions are more honorable than others i.e CSEA, SEIU.. This is because emergency services are truly a brotherhood as demonstrated by several area fire depts. that took cuts in benefits and salaries allowing people to keep their jobs. That being said Unions have to be held responsible for their negative impact in certain areas. Just look at the ruling by the federal judge in favor of the unions that bared Governor Patterson from mandating unpaid furloughs. This would have allowed the sate to save hundreds of millions of dollars while keeping people employed. However instead of that the unions fought and won and the taxpayers lost. I agree Unions where formed to protect workers rights and there is a need for them in that capacity. However 100 percent funded health insurance is not a right nor is a 5 to 7 percent increase in pay year after year, this is the case with westchester county unionized employees. Unions are needed to protect not to bully the government into giving them what ever they like. ANd lets be honest what percentage of people actually believe that the union bosses actually care about them. Some of them are out to make more money for themselves than for you.

But lets be honest Unions are on the hook for a sizable portion of the economic disparity that municipalities, counties, and states are facing. If the republicans wont stand up to the unions who will. If you need examples just look at the situation with Westchester right now. That being said I agree that emergency services unions often get screwed. In this situation it is disgusting to deny the people who ran into risking everything simple care and compassion. This is not an area to be making cuts. However we must ensure that we regulate it well to make sure there is as little fraud as possible.

Well I hope they can all rely on the library to keep them safe, ensure their property is secure and provide other basic emergency services... oh wait thats the fire departments job....This not only puts people lives and property at risk but also the lives of firefighters waiting for their backup.

This situation happens for both volunteer and career. There have been incidents where career departements call in mutual aid from across the county (westchester) before even thinking about calling in volunteers 2 minutes away. Until we can settle the differences that divide us we will not be able to provide safe and effective fire prevention.

I agree with most of what you say what the LRFCo Chief did arrogant and dangerous. In my opinion until a qualified fire officer (career or volunteer) is on scene and has completed a thorough size up, all manpower available and appropriate for the call should be responding, we should all be so lucky to have the manpower. But what I was trying to say was that this is a two way street I am not overly familiar with Stamford but i do know that in other areas with career and volunteer departments the departments tend to favor their side.

I dont think this should be a career vs volunteer argument but this works both ways. Career favor career and volunteer favor volunteer. Until we can break down the barriers between the two of us we will not be able to effectively protect the people who count on us. This incident underlines the dangers that can come about when we let petty disagreements infringe upon safe and responsable fire protection. At the end of the day we should all want the same things out of being firefighters those things being protecting life and property.

With High speed pursuits in the news recently I wanted to see what people thought? are they needed? Is the danger worth it?

New engine 177 was delivered from 4guys. photos- http://www.irvingtonfd.com/index.cfm?fs=news.newsView&News_ID=91

Irvington Volunteer Ambulance Corps 80 MAIN ST, IRVINGTON, NY 10533

There was a prayer Service last night for PO Osso. http://www.lohud.com/article/20104230351 Please Keep him and his family in your prayers.

Any firefighter paid or volunteer who loses their life while performing duties that enable their communities to be a safer place deserve recognition as having given their lives in the Line of Duty. http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/history.shtm According to the US fire administration training is considered a LODD.