SageVigiles

Glad the guy got 20, but he should have gotten more. If NY has a captial felony murder statute, why wasn't he charged with it? Arson is a felony, someone died in the course of the felony, with a cap felony statute that would be first degree murder.

Who won?

If I could rep this post a thousand times, I would. I'm so sick of this nonsense excuse for guys acting unprofessionally. They want the benefits of being considered an "employee" without the responsibilities. Like it or not you are in a position of public trust and you are held to a higher standard than the average citizen. And these are the same guys that say "career or volunteer doesn't matter, we're all the same." Legally, yes, you are the same. But you will only be viewed as equal by the general public when you act like a professional. That means training, that means demeanor, that means respect for your uniform and equipment. If you don't have any respect for yourself and your job then you can't expect anyone else to respect you. "With great power comes great responsibility" -Uncle Ben

Michigan v. Tyler, 1978 Supreme Court case. Homeowner claims the Fire Marshal violated the 4th Amendment by seizing property for evidence without a warrant. The court agreed because the FMO came and went several times. But the part that's relevant here is that the Justices reaffirmed that firefighters entering a building on fire falls under exigent circumstances, meaning it is an exception to the requirement of a warrant. They have probable cause to enter (and extinguish) because its a matter of public safety. Plus, I'm pretty sure the Fire Marshal is going to be interested to hear "the homeowner didn't want us to put it out..." Michigan v. Tyler 1978

Eh-hem, that's Traffic Control GROUP! Also, that's getting mighty close to the span of control, might want to set up some Division Supervisors, Group Supervisors or Section Chiefs...

Teasing a police dog is a charge? I would think public intox or disorderly...

What kind of training will the Mobile Training Vehicle support?

I will never understand how some people take this game so seriously... Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery for Paramedic Stow.

That, good sir, is the funniest thing I've heard all day.

I bought the same thing with the Blackjack mounting bracket. Its called the 4AA Propolymer. Great little light for a low price. I also use the Survivor or Vulcan LED (updated lightbox) on the rig. Streamlight can be expensive, but you can't beat the quality and if you ever have a problem with the light, you just send it back and they fix it for free.

Initials are the same so that the FD and PD don't have to get new mock turtlenecks embroidered... at least thats what I heard

Guys, please keep your eyes open for Isabelle Oleschuk. She's the daughter of an Allingtown (West Haven, CT Firefighter) and has been missing since Sunday morning. We've all been out searching for her. Please keep the Oleschuk family in your prayers. A Silver Alert is for a missing person with a disability (she is deaf in one ear) Orange PD, CSP, FBI, Orange FD, all 3 West Haven FDs, UNH Fire Science Club, Hamden FD and Milford FD have all been assisting in the land search and investigation. Isabella Oleschuk: 5 feet, 4 inches, about 120 pounds, blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. She may be wearing a light blue jacket, brown felt hooded cape, and black rain boots. If anyone has seen her they are asked to call the Orange Police Department at 203 891-2130. Link to Missing Poster

She HAS been found. Thanks to everyone who came out to help, kept their eyes open and helped spread the word.

Press conference at 11AM tomorrow. Please everyone pass the word along to as many people as you can. The more eyes the better. We had brother FFs from all over CT in today assisting in the search, it was amazing to see the support from the fire service community.

UPDATE: Fairfield, CT's newspaper is reporting a POSSIBLE sighting of Isabella at Duchess Restaurant in Fairfield, Connecticut. Those of you in SW Connecticut and into Westchester County, PLEASE keep your eyes open for her! Contact Orange PD if you think you may have seen her!

Thanks, we're all worried sick, and the LE side isn't giving away much information to us (obviously, and for good reason, as the investigation is ongoing.)

In New Fairfield, the Chief can only take his car to work if he lives within a certain range of the town, admittedly I have no clue what that range is, since it doesn't really make a difference in my life, I'm not in any danger of becoming Chief. When he goes away on vacation, it gets assigned to the senior and/or available assistant chief. Also, as far as the district paying for gas, our Chief uses the town pumps where we fill the rigs/cop cars/etc, so he wouldn't really be able to defraud the town on gas money. Izzy, those policies are all well and good, but we both know there are Troopers out there that use their cars for much more "personal" business. I met a CSP Lieutenant who told me that they don't even own a personal car, and haven't owned one in over 10 years. If they need to go out of state they rent. And you'd be amazed how many people don't know that all Troopers get take homes. Probably CT's best kept semi-secret.

I don't really see why its productive to compare a Westchester volunteer department to the FDNY. What IS productive is for everyone to go back to their departments this week, dust off your MCI and major incident plans, and take a look at what YOUR department might do in the event of that type of situation. As the old saying goes "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy," but at the same time its good to have a baseline to work from. Talk to your neighboring department, or for those of you in NY, the county and see who has what and when it can get there. Lets stop criticizing or focusing on what NYC is doing, since NONE of our departments have the training, manpower, equipment or capabilities of FDNY. Instead, worry about what WE are going to do. As NJMedic just demonstrated, this can happen to ANY department with a highway. In the last week we've all gotten our lessons in planning watching what these departments have done, now if we don't go back and prepare, shame on us. We as a fire service are REALLY good at telling the citizens to prepare for disaster with smoke detectors, first aid and disaster kits, but we're not always so good at preparing ourselves on a regular basis.

I can only imagine how terrible that MTA Officer feels. May the fallen Officer rest in peace and may the MTA Officer get the help I'm so sure he will need right now to get through this.

Maybe Flickr will cooperate this time and the photos will post correctly. Victory! Anyway, here are a few photos I've taken while up in Boston in the past couple weeks. First up is Engine 33/Ladder 15, first due companies at Fenway.

I was at Danbury PD tonight and while I was teaching I saw a Metro North flatbed tractor trailer moving a loader, as well as a MTA Supervisor truck. They must be moving in to do the work, though probably not a good idea to start NOW during the storm.

As far as fire investigation goes, at least in Connecticut, the combination Fire/Police investigation is usually the best way to go. State Police Fire Marshals and/or ATF are always good to use as well, but you can't call them to every fire to handle your investigation. But most Crime Scene Investigators and Detectives in CT don't get a lot of experience with fire investigations and the laws surrounding them. IE: Administrative search warrants, Michigan v. Tyler, etc. And likewise, Fire Marshals don't have the authority or expertise in writing criminal search warrants or some of the more advanced investigative resources. I don't know how things work in Westchester for fire investigations, but in CT if the Marshals have a good working relationship with the guys in the Detective Bureau, it goes a long way.

I definitely remember those April 2007 storms... 18+ hours of calls with the FD, then went in for traffic control at the PD with Explorers.

My mistake ny10570. You're right about L'Enfant. Isn't an entire section of DC named after him? Or am I thinking someone else? Also, Izzy, Dick Winters didn't even get considered for this kind of thing. I totally agree that this soldier should be honored, I mean, hell, he lied about his age so that he could get into the war. You've gotta respect that. All I'm saying is there is a procedure in place for who gets to Lie in State, and this is the first time this type of situation has ever been brought up, so its understandable that some might disagree with changing the way things work.

Crime Cop, I gotta say I'm with you on this one. Here is the list of people who have lied in state in the Rotunda: * 1852 – Henry Clay, long-serving Senator and Representative, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, and presidential candidate * 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated while in office * 1868 – Thaddeus Stevens, Representative from Pennsylvania * 1874 – Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts * 1875 – Vice President Henry Wilson, served under Grant, died in office * 1881 – President James Garfield, assassinated while in office * 1886 – John A. Logan, Senator from Illinois * 1901 – President William McKinley, assassinated while in office * 1909 – Pierre L'Enfant – although he died in 1825, he was disinterred, laid in state upon reinternment at Arlington National Cemetery * 1917 – Admiral George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy * 1921 – The Unknown Soldier for World War I * 1923 – President Warren Harding, died in office * 1930 – President William Howard Taft, President 1909–13, also Chief Justice 1921–30 * 1948 – John J. Pershing, General of the Armies of the United States * 1953 – Robert Taft, U.S. Senator and Majority Leader * 1958 – The Unknown Soldiers for World War II and the Korean War * 1963 – President John F. Kennedy, assassinated while in office * 1964 – General Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army * 1964 – President Herbert Hoover, President 1929–33 * 1969 – President Dwight Eisenhower, President 1953–1961, Supreme Allied Commander during World War II * 1969 – Everett Dirksen, Illinois Senator, Senate Minority Leader 1959–1969 * 1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director 1929–1972 * 1973 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, President 1963–1969 * 1978 – Hubert Humphrey, Vice President 1965–1969, Minnesota Senator * 1984 – The Unknown Soldier for the Vietnam War (later identified as 1st. Lt. Michael J. Blassie) * 1989 – Claude Pepper, long Serving Senator and Representative * 2004 – President Ronald Reagan, President 1981–1989 * 2006–07 – President Gerald Ford, President 1974–1977 As you can see, only 8 servicemen have EVER Lied in State at the Rotunda, 1 of which was a President AND the Supreme Allied Commander of WWII (Ike.) All of them were AT LEAST 5 Star Officers or Unknown Soldiers. While I would never take away from the service of this heroic individual, there are protocols for this type of thing. A burial at Arlington National Cemetery seems, to me anyway, to be a much more fitting honor for this hero. The man fought a war and should be buried where with his fellow warriors.