SageVigiles

Connecticut has posted the annoucements for CSP and the Protective Services Trainee exams: State Police Trooper Trainee 2012 Protective Services Trainee 2012 CSP Trooper Trainee starts at $36,223 but goes up to $50,011 after 6 months. Protective Services Trainee starts at $36,811 but goes up to $38,537 after 12 months or completion of the academy, whichever comes first. Preparation Guide for SPTT PST Exam 2012

Not a bad idea at all. Thanks Chief!

I personally have not had it happen yet, we're still training with them and trying to figure out their weaknesses. It was something that was brought up by one of the Chiefs training us on the equipment, but I haven't gotten enough time to re-create that problem myself. Let me know if you do.

Actually something related to this discussion recently came up in my department. We just took delivery of some of the new Scott Packs that have the Pak-Tracker device. The transponder for this device is located on the bottom of the pack, and we're no longer allowed to wear our radios on straps at our hip as a result. The portable radio and transponder can apparently interfere with each other. No big deal for me since I wear mine in my coat pocket except for medicals, etc, but some people are not happy.

Cracked is one of the most hilarious websites out there, and one of those sites that gives you some interesting facts in a humorous form. So much truth can be found in humor sometimes.

Good shoot! Well done by Da Troop and DCSO, glad to see this didn't go the other way, especially on Police Memorial Day.

I believe General Patton said it the best, "Lead me, follow me, or get the hell outta the way"

Definitely agreed. Everybody always seems to push for SCUBA. Which is important, but realistically it IS going to be a recovery operation. I think thats why in CT most of the SCUBA units are PD, since it is an evidence recovery scenario. The only fire/EMS based dive-teams I know off the top of my head are Milford FD (which uses theirs VERY often), Newtown Underwater Search and Rescue (I believe they do swift water as well) and Thomaston Regional. I know there are a few more but again, most are PD controlled. Swiftwater rescue is a MUCH more useful skill in terms of life safety and is, in my opinion, way more dangerous. Particularly because everyone THINKS they can just swim out to rescue someone in a swiftwater scenario. Most people are intelligent enough to realize they aren't diving 50 feet underwater to pull someone up without expensive SCUBA gear. I also agree that ANY agency with water in their territory should have a stillwater and ice/coldwater rescue training program and equipment cache. That's just a bread and butter rescue call for anyone.

I know Put Lake got a HART bus donated to use as their "MERV" or rehab unit. Not a bad way for a department to pick up a unit like that.

I gotta say I don't like the M8s. They sound (and feel) as if the wheels will come right off. The trains shake left to right pretty violently. The older cars may have looked crappy but they seemed like a much more comfortable ride to me. The New Haven line is a mess, WAY too many stops. There's no reason it should take 2 hours to get to Grand Central. Right down the street from my office, MTA is building a train station in West Haven. Now Orange is discussing building one. So we'll have New Haven - State Street, New Haven Station, West Haven, Orange and Milford all with stations. The train ends up being stopped for longer than its moving. The really messed up part is none of them have any parking facilities, so you have all these stations and nobody can park at them. Oh, and the State of CT is raising MTA fares on the New Haven Line. It seems as if they are doing everything they can to make driving to the city seem more desirable... haha.

Absolutely. When I was doing the full-scale exercise program at Anniston it was very apparent to me that my skills vis a vis radiation detection and control were limited and that I've got to seek out some additional training in that area. I'm thinking about going out to CTOS in Nevada for their Rad/Nuke Tech class, anyone here have an opinion on that course? Is it worth the trip?

I have heard this happens pretty often, my CBRNE Tech Class at Anniston discussed how sensitive these personal sized detectors are, just never seen an example in the news before. Just sounded like an interesting story.

Near the water... Sorry man, couldn't help myself. I'd like to know the real answer as well, and what companies are responsible for staffing them.

Got this via an email to Explorer Advisors last night. Just thought I'd pass it along. Danbury PD Explorers may be looking into hosting some kind of benefit for Explorer Rodriguez, if they do I will post the information when it becomes available.

You don't have to work in NYC to know be able to judge time. Ray Kelly was born in 1941 according to any biographical information out there. NYPD started doing rescues somewhere around 1925 by most accounts. Unless something has changed, 1925 came before 1941, right? So ESU, or some NYPD predecessor, have been doing rescues since before Ray Kelly was an idea, much less a Police Officer or the Commissioner. I'm not arguing whether the fire department did them first or not, nor am I saying I'm Ray Kelly's biggest fan, but to make him out to be a Red Herring is inaccurate.

Right, because Ray Kelly invented ESU and told them to start working rescue jobs.

I only wish CT was fortunate enough to have something like this.

Well played sir, well played... I almost spit my coffee out at the screen reading this.

GREAT post. I agree wholeheartedly. Cops can't defend themselves on this site the way that they SHOULD be able to. Which is why its understandable they take such offense to some of these comments.

Agreed. In CT we've regionalized all HAZMAT response. 5 Regional Teams primarily made up of career firefighters, but volunteers that actually want to put in the time and effort to regularly train and not just wear a cool jobshirt can work their way on. The New Haven Area team (Region 2) also includes New Haven PD, Yale PD and FBI to make up the WMD/EOD Task Force within the team for those types of incidents. State Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) also has HAZMAT capability with their Emergency Response Unit, and State Police ESU has the capability for WMD/EOD type incidents as well. Even with the small amount of teams we have, none of them are particularly busy, EOD and DEEP notwithstanding. If you want to be on a Special Operations team, look up how much training is required for you to even be useful, much less proficient in the skills and situations you'd be faced with. Honestly weigh out if you can make that kind of commitment before you try to go about getting involved. I'll tell you from experience its a HUGE time commitment, particularly since more than 95% of our team is made up of career personnel and they train during the week on day shift. If you can do it, great, I'm sure they'd be happy to have you. But expect to pull your weight and don't expect to be treated with kid gloves because you're a volunteer. You're either in or you're out. I'm reminded of a thread a few years back where either Chief Fitz or Chief Flynn from Yonkers commented, saying something to the effect of how people love to have a shirt that says "SPECIAL OPERATIONS" even if they aren't capable of doing the job. Some of you may remember this infamous "The Emporer Has No Clothes" thread. Your department can hardly be faulted for NOT having its own Special Ops team during the 1 time out of the year you might need one. But, if you organize and fund that team and advertise the hell out of it and can't get the rig on the road with enough competent responders, you can be damned sure that you'll be faulted, and for good reason.

Oh my god, if I wasn't working off an Ancient Roman version of MS word right now I would absolutely turn that into an official flow chart/decision matrix. We could even send some to the NYPD and NYSP to put in their cars! Courtesy of EMTBravo members. That sir, is arguably one of the best sarcastic answers to a thread I have seen on this website in a LONG time. I'd commend you for it, but the Fire Department has sole responsibility for sarcasm and humor operations on this forum. Stop trying to do our jobs...

Certainly does give you a sense of one's true feelings regarding the protection of the public, doesn't it?

Agreed. An excellent post, I learned quite a lot there.

Wrong. You pay taxes for State Troopers to protect lives and property. The old "my taxes pay your salary" argument is bull and you know it. You don't get to tell them what they do on a daily basis. Its funny, everyone criticizes NYSP for not cooperating at accident scenes (and I don't agree with their policies on that issue) but when these particular Troopers cooperate as requested by the senior officer on a fire scene they're still wrong... Do these grapes taste funny to you???

Sorry, I couldn't resist the urge to provide another example of a Brother helping people in need outside his field of expertise... Right place, right time. Seriously though, Officer Connors is a great guy and definitely not the first Danbury Officer to receive an award for an action such as this. I take comfort knowing none of the negative comments written on this thread will ever change the mind of a Police Officer faced with a situation like this.