SageVigiles

It does sound very similar to the Station Nightclub fire. At first the reports made it sound like the fireworks were unrelated to the club, so I thought maybe terrorism, probably Chechens, given the IED that derailed the train a few weeks ago. Just another tragedy though. The difference between this and Station? Uncle Ivan will DEFINITELY have some harsh punishments for the people who put fireworks on that stage, unlike we did for the RI fire.

Rest in Peace Chief Fallon!

New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ed McCue (no election this year - 2 year term) Asst. Chief - EMS Eva Williams (no election this year - 2 year term) Company "A" Asst. Chief Tom Blackman Captain Mike Skelly First Lieutenant Jamie Hines Second Lieutenant Peter Weinburger EMS Lieutenant Ken Johnson Ball Pond Fire Company Asst. Chief Mike O'Toole Captain Nick Conway First Lieutenant Mike Gill Second Lieutenant Sean Breslin Squantz Engine Company Asst. Chief Peter Benzinger Captain Bruce Kimbel First Lieutenant Eric Koslowski Second Lieutenant Tim Pfeiffer EMS Lieutenant Pat Kimbel

This show is riduculous. I will list several reasons. We have Steven Seagal, who is supposed to be a "reserve Deputy" wearing a Chief's rank (2 stars.) People call him Chief, but he rides shotgun with someone riding a Colonel rank in what looks like a TNT or Anti-Crime patrol team... Seagal is teaching a full-time Captain with Jefferson Parish SO how to pass his qualification for pistol doing only headshots from maybe 5 yards. Deploying a taser with 6 cops grabbing the suspect? No, that won't hurt anyone... On a drunk and disorderly call, we normally dispatch a Chief, a Colonel, a Lieutenant and a couple of Sergeants, right? Pathetically dumb.

That's all well and good, and I wouldn't have minded if it was advertised as a new crime drama or something like that. But they're advertising it as if its real. The sad part is people will actually believe this stuff, that's what bugs me about it.

I don't know, I ran three different scenarios with WCPD, one training, one emergency response to a call, and one pursuit. Each was MUCH longer than 20 seconds.

I got the chance to use the WCPD Driving Simulator at the 2009 Police Cadet Stations Day competition held at the WCPA. Its a nice machine with a full setup like the dashboard of an emergency vehicle. The only thing I didn't like was that you can't "feel" your speed or the way your car moves as it would in real life. There is definitely no substitute for on-the-road training and learning what it feels like when a vehicle is close to losing control (in a safe setting, obviously) Knowing the limitations of your type of vehicle is the easiest way to prevent accidents. But these types of simulators do give instructors the ability to critique basic driving skills and positioning issues in high-speed incidents (police chases) that you would DEFINITELY not be able to do in actual traffic.

Here's a little more background on the suspects history and how he managed to get out on bail, if this isn't an abortion of justice I'm not quite sure what is... Make sure you take your blood pressure meds before reading this one. If ever a Line of Duty Death was to change the way the law works, this should be the time. Anyway, I'm glad this scumsucker was taken out and that the Officers involved in this shooting were not harmed. Now the Brothers and Sisters in Washington can focus on honoring and burying their fallen comrades.

Verizon is great from what everyone I know says. I have AT&T and have very few problems.

Officials are now telling the media that the suspect is getting help from friends and/or family. According to the Pierce County PIO "Basically, there's no way that he could be doing this by himself; he was shot in the abdomen." Also, people who know Clemmons told officials that he told them to "watch the news" because he was going to "kill cops." Every one of them should be pinched for aiding/abetting and/or accessory to murder.

Thats a good question, Chris, what authority to PD Aviation units have to close airspace, if any? How is it done if they don't?

Moderator note: As someone involved in the law enforcement and general public safety community, I understand how upset this tragedy makes everyone, myself included. There have been some concerns that this thread might be leaning towards talking too much about the suspect. That being said, lets try to keep our comments focused on memorializing the lives of these Brothers and Sister and offering condolences to their families, co-workers and friends. All your suspect related postings are more than welcome (within reason) in the discussion thread, linked below: Lakewood Police LODD Incident Discussion Thread

Here's my question, and why this is emergency services related. I know that NY State has a law where assault on an MTA employee is the same as assaulting a PO, Firefighter or EMT, but does that law apply in Connecticut? Either way, I hope these three get caught.

Alright, just got another update from my buddy in Washington, which I cross checked with some of the media reports. "Person of interest" in the case is named Maurice Clemmons. This guy has a criminal record longer than the Declaration of Independence Multiple felony convictions in Arkansas, was sentenced to 60 years but only did 11 before he was granted clemency by then-Governor and now Presidential hopeful (though probably not after today) Mike Huckabee. Then he moved to Washington in 2004, where he has allegedly committed EIGHT more felonys, including child-rape. For some unknown reason the judge set bail at 150K, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A FUGITIVE WARRANT, he payed the 15 grand through a bondsman and was released six days ago. That's the last of the record until this shooting this morning.

May the fallen Officers Rest in Peace, and may the families, friends and co-workers find also find peace during their time of loss. Also, to the other Brothers and Sisters looking for the suspect... good luck and stay safe. -Major Alex Cardella Danbury, CT Police Explorers Post #33

One of my National Explorer Academy classmates is an Explorer in Lake Stevens, Washington. He texted me about this earlier in the day but I never got the chance to post it. This sounds like another "execution" style ambush on Police Officers, similar to the one last month, except that, as Chris mentioned, that suspect is in custody. When that suspect was arrested they claimed he had "terrorist" motives, hopefully this isn't a continuing part of the same group, or we could have a horrible trend. Either way, too many LODDs in the Pacific Northwest lately...

Check out the comments on that one. Some really pissed off guys on that topic. I see both benefits and drawbacks to police radio codes. For certain things like warrant checks, burglary complaints, things like that, they can be useful in keeping conversations relatively covert (albeit the advent of the internet has hampered things significantly) but things like "Officer Down/Needs Assistance" it somewhat complicates matters when other departments are on the line. And for things like "wrecker needed" isn't it sort of a waste of syllables? Agencies are going to do what they want, the feds need to understand that, but it is good that emergency services are at least having these discussions.

Rest in Peace Brother.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks to all the guys working today and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines serving away from their families!

This leads me to an interesting question, is there a way that a Paramedic can testify as an "expert witness" in the same way that a Fire Investigator can? Or do we just rely on doctors to do that?

AWESOME! Congrats to the New Haven 20! I know a couple of these guys from when the come into work. I'm glad its finally over. You CAN fight city hall after all!

Not for nothing, but most phones used today will be useless when you lose power, since cordless phones are so popular nowadays. For that reason, I keep a corded telephone in an easily accessible spot in my apartment/house for such an occurrence, if its a big event cell service may also be disrupted. Another interesting point is that if the cell towers are overloaded in an emergency (like what happened on 9/11) text messages still work.

New Haven put a gunfire detector system in last year, hasn't been used to solve a crime yet as far as I know. The interesting thing is that these systems are so sensitive they can determine the difference between fireworks and car backfires, cutting down the number of false "shots fired" calls. Great idea for a modern police department.

Date: 11/24/09 Time: Approx 1030 Hours Location: East Litchfield Road, Litchfield, CT Frequency: CSP trunked system Units Operating: Litchfield Resident State Troopers' Office, State Police Troop L/Western District HQ (located in Litchfeild), CSP Emergency Services Unit, CSP Negotiators, Litchfield EMS Weather Conditions: Clear Description Of Incident: Female victim shot by male suspect (physically handicapped, wheelchair bound), barricade situation ensued. Woman transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. CSP ESU has suspect contained and attempting to get suspect out. Reporters: Rebecca Santillo, WTNH News Channel 8 Writer: SageVigiles

550? Thats a good price for such a new truck, some department is going to make out like bandits.