grumpyff

View of Ladder 4 from above: Rear lights on:

With yesterday's warm weather I took my son to the Intrepid. To our surprise FDNY Ladder 4, Engines 84 and 28 with the E84 Purple K unit were there. The Coast Guard were going to land one of the helicopters on the deck of the Intrepid. First up Ladder 4 with their new 2011 Ferrarra Ladder , FDNY ID # FL11010 View of the Rear

School nurses have basic first aid supplies. Defribrillators are required by New York State., but there may only be one per school. Not sure if the school nurse has oxygen available. IIRC they do not have oxygen, due to perscription from doctor is needed.

If a precinct is short manpower, often one RMP (radio motor patrol) may cover more than one sector so for example you may hear 47adam/boy

First Baker Aerialscope on Mack B chasis. Forgot the year.

There has definitely been an increase lately, and there are so many factors to consider. For those that are not aware the NYPD has suffered 4 suicides since Jan 1, 2012 including one in Yorktown. Some of the factors coming into play that I can see increasing stress are the continued economic problems, increase in crime (for police officers), a change in the public's perception of emergency services (civil service employees as well). Everyone I talk to or know is either struggling to pay the bills every month if they are lucky to have a job. I know two people that have been out of work for almost the last 2 years, and have just gotten jobs, but they say the pay is no where near what they used to make. Personally I went from making anywhere from 35 to 40 hours of overtime a month two years ago to just 4 to 8 hours a month now. Some people got dependent on the overtime to pay the bills, or use as spending cash. Everyday items we use food, milk, gas, etc have gone up in price but our pay has stay the same or been reduced. WE have had no pay increase in the last 2 years and do not see one coming anytime soon. From a police officer's perspective crime is going up, and our staffing has gone down dramatically in some case yet our higher ups want the same overall numbers, so each cop has to do more each month. A perfect example is my first command. When I graduated in April of 1999 the tour I worked had 1 LT, 8 SGT, and somewhere around 85 cops. Today that entire command has 3 LT, 8 SGT, and around 60 cops spread out over three tours. Getting days off is next to impossible if it is not your scheduled vacation pick (which are guaranteed) . Back then we were expected to do 1 arrest and 10 summons a month, now friends that work in that command tell me they are told/pressured to bring in around 5 or 6 arrests a month. Certain posts must be covered such as the desk and the tunnel security post, which they rotate, but it still cuts down on days where you can go look for activity. When numbers go down the first thing higher ups look to cut is OT. My current command some nights only turns out 1 sector to cover half of the Bronx subway lines, so if you have the car on a night like that you run nonstop. One night i put almost 165 miles on the car just in the Bronx answering jobs, with no meal period. Of course I got yelled at for not bringing in any summonses or arrests. There is a lot of pressure on us from our own bosses. Almost every police command in the city is the same. We have all seen in the news have civil servants are being scrutinized. Our pay, our pensions, everything. The first thing people call for is "they should lose their job" if we make a mistake. People are campaigning to take away our pensions, reduce our disability pay god forbid you are injured in the line of duty and no longer physical able to perform your job title. Just look at some Cuomo's proposals for the new Tier 6 pension plan. Just on my job new hires do not get the same benefits I get due to Governor Patterson's refusal to sign a yearly extender to allow them to remain Tier II, instead of the Tier III that they got. They must work 22.5 years to retire, opposed to my 20 years. I can take a pension loan if needed, they can not. There are other difference in the disability pensions as well.

Rest in Peace Matty O. I first met Matty when he was briefly a member of Patterson FD. He was always a source of knowledge and had a smile on his face. you will be missed by all. From the Putnam Lake Fire Department website: The Wake Will Be Held At Beecher's Funeral Home Located in Brewster N.Y. Thursday The 16th From 4p-8p. This WILL Be A Uniformed Event. Following The Wake There Will Be A Gathering At The Brewster Fire Department. On Friday the 17th There Will Be A Service At The Sacred Heart Church At 10am Followed By Internment At The Oakwood Cemetery Located In Mount Kisco N.Y. Following The Cemetery, There Will Be A Gathering At The Putnam Lake Fire Department. Putnam Lake FD is collecting nonperishable food in Matt's memory, which maybe dropped off at the firehouse at 72 Fairfiled Dr., Patterson, Ny

Date: 2/14/12 Time: appro 1620 Location: West 145 street & St Nicholas subway station Frequency: Units Operating: NYPD Transit District 3 Weather Conditions: cool cloudy Description Of Incident: PO shot in left arm, removed to Columbia Presbyterian, not likely. Perp is DOA at scene. Transit District 3 located in mezzanine level of the station. Shooting occurred on streetstairs. PO ffrom Queens Warrants. Perp wanted for homocide yesterday Reporters/Writer: GrumpyyFF

Yes, is ex-Somers Ladder 18, originally from Larchmont

Only wish the NYPD would let us carry Tasers. Currently, only the patrol supervisor, a sergeant or lieutenant are allowed to carry. I can think of several situations were I or the team I was working would have been justified in using a Taser. The department caves to the liberal anti-cop crowd, so we are forced to use old school methods, pepper spray, batons and other physical pain compliance methods. Sometimes these methods are not pretty, and definitely draw the attention of the video taping public.

WOW, giving the dispatcher the benefit of the doubt, as I do not work that side of the radio, Could this be a weakness in the agencies dispatching protocols or training? Or was this more a human error. Either way hindsight is 20/20. Going by the transcript that PEMO3 provided, there was no threats of violence or weapons, just the mention of the smell of gas, and contempt of a court order. That should have gotten a response from FD for the gas, and PD response. I could see the response by PD being delayed if there were other higher priority jobs at the same time such as a threat to life. Granted the father was suspect in the mothers disappearance 2 years ago, but where there any threats to the children/others that the social worker should have been informed of? The children were removed due to the grandfather's child p***.

As mentioned, be honest. The written exam is the usual 1200 questions, many of which are asked repeatedly, or worded very closely to each other. You really cant lie on it. From there you will sit down with a psychiatrist who has reviewed your written exam, and ask you questions based on that. During my interview they asked numerous times how much I drank alcohol, which back then wasn't much (2 kids under 2 didn't leave much time to drink.) Do not get offended by their questioning. Remain calm, and if questioned on something, explain what happened. I know someone who cursed out the psychiatrist during the interview and failed on that alone. With the T-shirt nonsense, and other BS that goes on with the JOB, it is what it is. Cops are never happy, and the job tends to overreact with certain things. In a few months they will find something else to harp on, and you will see t-shirts again. For a while they made a big deal about visible tattoos (those hired after 2007 if IIRC) have to keep them covered with clothing or a wrap that is close to the color of your skin, now not so much. Right now in the Transit Bureau the big thing is Metrocards, swipe going to post, on post, before a train run, after a train run, to meal, from meal, on a directed patrol, swipe everywhere you go, even answering a job. they are trying to track us via the Metrocard. It was tried once before, and was a hot topic for a month or two. Every job has its share of BS, even up here in the burbs. Good Luck with the psych. Best advice I got, take every civil service test you can. PD and FD, even if you have no shot of getting hired (for example Yonkers even if you are a non-resident). Every test is a practice for you, and you will get a feel for how the exam process works. There is only so many ways they can ask questions. After a while taking the tests you become more relaxed with it. I know when I took the FDNY test in 1992, I was nervous as hell, by the time I took the NYPD exam in 1998 I was real calm. In between I took Stamford, CT PD & FD, Mt Vernon PD &FD, Yonkers PD & FD, Westchester County towns and villages PD & FD, plus filed for a bunch of jobs in upstate NY that were given on the same day (all taken right here in Westchester). After a while all the questions were familair.

Great photos, Hope to see it after its restoration. Hopefully the FWD will get a shot at a future restoration.

Whatever happened to using plain English? "Rescue 47 responding" Too many people complained that they didn't know where it was coming from, or it may not be the type of rescue we needed. Operating in Putnam County we use the numerical designations for deparetment-type-number. So for example 22-2-3 would be Patterson-Engine-3. I hate this type of system, too many numbers, and often they get shortened to using just 2-3,. that is fine until more than one department is operating, and there are more than one "2-3" on the scene. Proponents of this system argue that "I always know who is coming" I know the departments around Patterson, but ask me about the west side of the county, I have no clue. the other argument for this type of system is "I always know what is coming" So do I when you say Engine, Ladder, Tanker.

AFAIK it is up to the chiefs of the departments to discuss/pre plan what type of response, and then notify the dispatching agency in writing. Putnam has a standardized form that is signed by both chiefs, and can be revoked if need be Patterson and Putnam Lake have automatic dual response of engine and tanker for any possible structure fire in either district.

It maybe nice, but it also one more thing to break wirh the hard starts and stops made with these cars. I have been to the NYPD.s main repair shop in Queens several times. There is an entire room with just pre-assembled Impala front axles and struts. The mechanics told me it was easier to replace the entire assembly, than to try and replace just the broken piece

4 BILLION DOLLARS. That is the amount the City of New York made off the pension funds of the Police and Fire Departments invested in equity securities from 1996 to 2011. No money has been added to this fund since at least 1996, has paid out from only from invested assets. Where did the city blow 4 Billion Dollars during those years? The city can spend this money on anything they deem fit, with no oversight from either union that funded this. Certainly not on pay raises or increased benefits. When times were good on Wall Street, the city continually cried "we have no money for raises". Plenty of waste by the city, but it is our pensions that are causing the economic problems of the city, I say "BULLS$%T". Here is a link to the NYC PBA website with an article about the variable supplement, or as Bloomberg called it "A Christmas Bonus" Paid for by our own money. NYCPBA Magazine

NYS Environmental Conservation Police use black cars with gold lettering. I believe their current cars use the same light package as the State Police

It does happen from time to time. I can think of a couple of occassions at Rodman's Neck where guys have gotten rounds with the primer missing. I know a couple of years ago there was a problem with bullets seperating from the casings which could lead to the full loss of gunpowder or reduction in power to the bullet as some of the gas would escape. I have seen articles in magazines that say ammunition used in concealed carry weapons be changed more often due to heat/moisture from being close to the body. Also rounds that are chambered/unchambered repeatedly such as a semi-automatic that is unloaded everyday should be replaced more often as the loading/unloading can effect the seal of the bullet to the casing. Im on my cell right now but when I get a chance I will see if i can find links to some of these articles

Marked'NYCTPD', for New York City Transit Police, which ceased to exist after the hostile takeover, I mean merge of 1995.

Hopefully it works, our radio network is horrible. We are still using the old Motorola Sabers, and it is getting harder and harder to get batteries and repairs done on them. A lot of work to the radio network was done just prior to the Republican National Convention in 2004. That was a complete failure.

Anyone ever see an Aviation member taking FF1 or the old Essentials of Firemanship at Westchester? Its not a matter of picking on the volunteers in this case. There are a total of 9 volunteer departments within the confines of New York City. Aviation always seems to end up in the news, and not in a good way. Never hear that much about the other 8 volunteer companies do we? After the nonsense they pulled after 9/11 crying about lost/damaged equipment and then squandering donations on things like nightclubs they deserve every ounce of scrutiny they get. They give volunteers a bad name, and as a volunteer I think they should be shut down and face criminal investigations.

Date:1/14/12 Time: Location:Isola del Giglio, Italy Departments: Description:M/S Costa Concordia struck an underwater reef off the Italian coast. Reports of electrical problem. Ship began to list as it took on water. Reports of 6 to 8 deaths. Majority of passengets evacuated by life boats. Ship capsized after evacuation Links: http://overheadbin.m...deaths-reported Writer:grumpyff

Plain and simple our system sucks. JBE, of course promotions are made by saving money. Who cares if the job is being done correctly, just no overtime, and develop a rubric that shows our system is working to save money and be quicker. Every day on the PD side we deal with this as well. Wrong information, wrong locations, important info such as descriptions and weapons involved left out, jobs described as being in the past that are less than 10 minutes old, others as put in as in progress that are an hour old. As long as Emperor Bloomberg looks good and his cronies make money off these BS cost savings programs, that is all that matters. The Emperor must look good no matter how much they have change the way things are graded.

this Video MFC? it is listed as being from 2009 http://youtu.be/1D1OejyEI9k if so is that 2 ladder collapses in 3 years?