helicopper

My first thought was the same concept. Hopefully they figure out an angle to charge him with a felony so they can add felony murder to the charges and maybe get him put away for a change. Gotta love the revolving door of the NY Criminal "Justice" system. RIP, PO Perry. Condolences to the entire WPPD family and the Perry's.

Thanks for the info. It's very proactive to turn out additional companies and a chief and do it so quickly. Glad everyone is OK!

A couple of operational questions if anyone is able to fill in the blanks... I see that an Engine 315 was special called. I guess that's with recall personnel, right? Was that an additional engine or did it too bring special resources. With E313 tied up at another alarm, how do you get the foam unit deployed?

In the academy, we teach cops to park directly in front of the building and/or at the nearest hydrant (to keep the street clear) and then go for coffee 'cause it may be a while. (Before you all get started, I'm KIDDING!!!) While we do have a duty to act, that duty is limited to our actions within our scope and training. Unless/until fire suppression is listed as a duty for police we will be acting within our duty when we bang on the door to get people out, evacuate neighboring buildings, start traffic direction/control, etc. Those things need to get done and I personally would not advocate giving cops the Fit-5 is the answer. Suppose the cop breaks a window to insert the Fit-5 and there's a flashover or other negative "what-if"? We can definitely benefit from working and playing well together I don't think we're at the point yet where duties can be or should be interchangeable.

If they can change the benefits of municipal employees who have been retired, perhaps they can also reduce (or eliminate) the tax breaks they've given developers who are reaping small fortunes in the city thanks to this "generosity". Let them pay their fair share of taxes instead of dumping on the homeowners and city workers.

There are frequently intelligent and thoughtful discussions on this forum; sometimes they become contested and members passionately debate the issue(s). This is one of the great things about the site. On the other hand, some members find it necessary to create screennames just for the sake of stirring the pot and don't contribute anything at all to the discussions. This artificially aggravates perceptions on all sides and about this site and don't serve any valid purpose. If you don't know the forum rules please review them and abide by them to keep this site operating as it should be. The forum staff is researching accounts created solely to stir the pot and offending members will be banned permanently. Likewise, it may be necessary to block specific IP addresses to prevent frequent abuses. If you suddenly find that you can't log in to EMTBravo from your firehouse, EMS agency, PD, DPW, etc. it is very possible that one of your colleagues has been abusing forum rules and spamming the forum. Don't like it? Exert a little peer pressure on those who think they can post whatever they want just to see what problems they can start. The overwhelming majority of members here are positive, contributing members. To keep those members and encourage new members to join we're going to remove the bad apples and their posts. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation! As always, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to PM or e-mail someone on the staff. The EMTBravo Staff

INIT, do you have any references for the case law? It may not be popular and it may not be "fair" but White Plains is NOT the only community considering this and it would be great to have some extra ammunition to defend against it when the time comes.

Points well taken. Thanks for stating it so eloquently. All the off-topic comments have been removed (mine included) and we now return to the regularly scheduled programming. If you'd like to start a thread regarding some of the other issues that popped up here, feel free but please keep this thread on-topic. Have a great weekend!

YFD has access to a helicopter anytime they need it. There mobile command post can receive downlinked video from it and all the radio frequencies necessary are available onboard.

Probably because there aren't enough volunteers to guarantee the desired level of coverage so they are adding career personnel. I would guess that they will use standard civil service rules to fill the positions and that generally includes a test and physical exam. Are the current Long Ridge employees municipal employees or district employees? Are they civil service? That may factor into their retention. As for there being unanswered questions, they may be unanswered by you but the City may have already addressed them. If we didn't act because of unanswered questions, we'd never advance on any issue.

Um, not to rain on the parade but haven't we always been able to transmit EKG's if we needed to? Isn't this just a change from analog to digital?

Anyone who knows me knows that my remark about buying two engines for the price of one would have been made regardless of the agencies involved (volunteer/paid, paid/volunteer). I think it is ridiculous and said so - not a stab, just sarcasm (again anyone who knows me realizes that sarcasm is no extra charge!). You're right that we all do second guess everything, yet we get all hot and bothered about it and act as though we're under attack. Instead of just saying, "yeah, we could do it differently next time" or maybe just saying "yeah, so?" As for "just seeing fireman", I wish it were that simple. Unless/until we get our collective acts together and bridge the divide between disparate training standards, non-compliance with requirements, lack of operational standards/accountability, etc. there will always be two (and sometimes more) sides. Those that lobby against training standards make it hard for the rest who fight tooth and nail for the opportunity to attend and that is disgraceful. We can agree to disagree. No problem, you see it one way and I see it another way. What is getting old is the defensiveness of those who sit idly by while these problems persist. If everyone went to the District/Department meetings, Fire Advisory Board meetings, lobbied the associations that represent your interests in Albany and Washington, we'd be in much better shape. How many people have tried to resolve these issues vs. how many people just shrug and say that's the way it is. Time to put the defensiveness away and attack the issues instead of each other.

Game on, dude. Perhaps FD's in the south and west were ALS pioneers but in NY that's not the case. NYC was through HHC as we all remember - NYC*EMS. In other places it was actually the police who were first ALS providers: Yonkers PD ESU (back when they were called e-rigs) Greenburgh PD Nassau County PD Albany County Sheriff's Office Guilderland PD Tonawanda PD to name a few... I'm sure others can add to this list also. Westchester (and most NY) FD's didn't really start getting into ALS until... ??? Who was that? Hmmm... I don't remember. Perhaps you can jog my memory!

I heard that TransCare was taking it over...

Which one pays more? Do they both have civil service protection? Are there opportunities for additional advancement from one or both of these positions? Are the schedules/working conditions comparable (vacations, shifts, etc.)?

So he's not investigating providing EMS to better serve the residents of Newburgh or because there is an issue with the existing service. He's doing it because he perceives it to be a "revenue generator" and it will save FF jobs. That's just great. What about the MLSS jobs if the FD takes over city EMS? How many ambulances can MLSS provide if the city needs them? The city is talking about TWO? With only four paramedics and two ambulances, you're going to have a very hard time staffing 2 units 24/7. What happens when someone is on vacation or sick? Who will be the city's mutual aid? When the system loses money, what happens? Are the four paramedics going to be FF also or are they going to be stand-alone EMS providers? What benefit is there to the FD if they hire civilians who can't staff the fire apparatus? I guess the perceived revenue I'm all for streamlining services and there are places where fire-based EMS is working very well. Given that Newburgh is having a hard time sustaining it's FD, I don't see them being as progressive as MLSS has been in the past. MLSS has committed to training, CME's, exploring new treatment modalities, etc., etc. Wanna bet that the FD commits to the bare minimum necessary to meet state standards (which are already too low)?

What makes a training site qualify to be approved? Are there written standards for a training site?

OK, wiseguy, what does the contract say besides "Empress"? When does it start? When does it end? Is it a new contract or the existing one? Perhaps there's a new one in the offing that is causing everyone to speculate. Have a great Memorial Day weekend too!

You shouldn't tell them about the voices?

How is that unions are to blame? Unions lobby for their constituents the same way other groups/organizations do and they bargain for a contract that benefits their membership. Pensions are legislative in New York so the unions have little say in that. I will certainly concede that some contractual "benefits" in some public agencies are absurd - like staying out of work for two months for getting spit on (gee, I could have had about 2 years off during my career) - these are still negotiated or the result of arbitration (again a legislatively created phenomenon). Pensions need to be funded and that requires local contributions. While the market was skyrocketing, locals didn't have to contribute to the funds and now they do. Budget crises aren't the unions fault, it's elected officials' fault for spending more than we have or can reasonably provide.

Karen Meggenhofen

Wow, that means another FD recently in the news could almost have gotten 2 engines for the price of one.

Link to Full NIST Report

Date: 05-24-10 Time: 0230hrs Location: 240 White Plains Road c/s Winter Hill Road Units: Tuckahoe PD, Eastchester PD, Yonkers ESU and K-9 Description: Home invasion robbery by armed suspects with req. for ESU and K-9 for searches. Writer: Chris192

Date: 05-24-10 Time: 0030hrs Location: Abington Ave at Ashford Ave Units: Ardsley PD, Greenburgh PD, Yonkers PD ESU, K-9 Description: Interrupted burglary of a residence with request for Yonkers ESU and K-9 for a perp search. Writer: Chris192