bfxfd

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Posts posted by bfxfd

  1. Posted

    How competitive is this job? I submitted my application last week via mail and am also in the process of applying for several other seasonal law enforcement type jobs in different states. Will my fire/ems training benefit me in the selection process? Any help or suggestions would be great.

  2. Posted

    Teachers have become the scapegoat for big education budgets. I don't think that their compensation packages are entirely to blame. When you consider their educational requirements and the job overall, I personally don't believe that they are overpaid. At least, not in my district. However, consider the price tag of the large number of Administrators, Assistant Principals, and Psychologists/Guidance Counselors that make far more than the average teacher, then you might be on to something.

    I ran into an old school chum of mine at a neighborhood reunion. He is now the "Technology Administrator" for a very large suburban school district. Basically, he is in charge of computers, software, multi-media, telecommunications, and all of the "technical staff" that install and run it all, and has his own mandate to constantly "improve" what he has by acquiring the latest and the best stuff that taxpayer money can buy. I didn't want to say so to his face, since he was very enthusiastic about his career and I certainly didn't mean anything personal, but I saw him and the juggernaut he managed as a very big part of the problem. I always believed in the old adage "if it aint broke, don't fix it."

    With regard to teachers, the only thing I have a problem with is tenure. I'm sorry, but there are a few too many teachers out there who, while perhaps academically competent, are socially clueless and do more to alienate their students than they do to educate them. I think we can all agree that there are people who have no business being teachers. The difference is that they have almost NO accountability because of tenure. If a teacher sucks, or has a severe personality flaw when dealing with children, they should be out of a job.

    You are absolutley right when you mention the pay for adminstrators. It is absolutley out of control. However these individuals negotiate their own contracts and have no job security beyond the length of said contract. Teachers have close to 25 years of job security.

  3. Posted

    It makes sense for us working folk, but consider some points: Do the cities get included? With the exception of Rye and Peekskill, the cities have their own civil service commissions that hired and govern a couple hundred cops. Logistically and legislatively that would seem to complicate matters. For instance, Nassau County's cities have their own PD's.

    Also, would the more affluent areas be able to opt out? Studies have been done and it has been offered that my town absorb a smaller affluent village, but it's been so far rejected because of the smaller village's "community identity" and "name recognition". At 3am when some a-hole is breaking into your house, does it really matter what it says on the side of the patrol car? But I digress. :)

    It's a good idea in concept, but seeing how things work in this county I would be surprised to see a single county PD become a reality. At least until we're all long retired anyway.

    That is true. There are definetley some affluent areas that would have none of it. The people who live there are willing to pay a premium for police officers they know personally. In my opinion, I think that knowing who is going to come help deal with the ahole in your house is what the people who are paying for the police want. I know that when there was talk of merger in my village there was very little support from the people. They felt that there were other ways to save money. I beleive that most people are not bothered by paying thier local taxes which in most places in Westchester are small when compared to school taxes. Also, maybe we should look towards increasing local services and cutting spending in places where it is not needed. For example in the town of Greenburgh is there a real need for the town to duplicate the police resources of the villages. Is there really a need for a town government, is there really a need for a county governemnt the size of westchesters. granted there are certain services that are provided that we need but there is definetley room to save.

  4. Posted

    That's a pretty bold statement to make in a forum like this with probably 75% of the membership being union employees, and for that I admire your fortitude.

    Now, what do you do for a living, I see your affiliation is a volunteer firefighter, are you trying to get on the job somewhere? If in fact you are, I'd like to see what your opinion is after a few months on the job and as a member of the IAFF. What is your basis for making a statement like that? Who else can we bargain against, unfortunately the taxpayers are the ones who pay the salary here. I'd like to see the average private sector employed taxpayer do the job of FD, PD, or EMS for a month, actually better than that, six months. With those months surrounding the holiday season. I'd love to see how they react to working thanksgiving, christmas, new years...in the rain, snow, sleet, or the heat of july. How about being up in the middle of the night to respond to an emergency, or worse than that the ones who don't have the luxury of bunk. Guaranteed, the tune would change! The average, misinformed person crys about how much public employees "get", but what they don't see is the sacrifices we make. I understand that may sound a little corny, but it is the truth! Has Joe Taxpayer ever been blasted out of bed to go do CPR on someone that collapsed, responded to a structure fire or serious MVA, gone to a domestic or shooting? The answer is no, and for that they have no appreciation!

    n.

    Now for those who think we get a huge bag filled with money every two weeks:

    In the municipality where I work, a majority of the city employees do not live within the city. Most were born there, grew up and went to school there, and got hired by the city. They realized when it was time to buy a home, with their salary, they couldn't afford to live within the city that they work. So they took their money and moved to a place much more affordable, with cheaper taxes, and a respectable home for a reasonable price. I'm not positive what the median cost of a home is in westchester, but it's considerably less in the northern counties. It's unfortunate that these employees don't make enough to live comfortably in the city they grew up and work in. If there were no right to collective bargaining or union protection, god only knows what would happen, and eventually it would impact service to the taxpayers. People wouldn't want to take the jobs if they didn't have these benefits because that would mean low pay, horrible (if any) health coverage and probably an unhappy and hostile work environment.

    Who would respond if mom or dad were having difficulty breathing?

    Who would show up when the next door neighbors are making too much noise?

    Who would scrape up the dead skunk in front of your house?

    So, I guess shame on us who want a salary that is enough to live on, a safe work environment, and a comfortable retirement after protecting the muncipalities who employed us for 20+ years!

    Stepping off the soapbox now :D

    I stand by my original statement. I am not attempting to get on the job anywhere but i have respect for what you and everyother member of the paid emergency services do. However we are apparching a point in america where public sector employees are no longer having to trade between long term job security or higher salary. Public sector employees are in some, not all, areas are being paid better than thier private sector counterparts with lucrative bonuses such as guaranteed pensions and healthcare for themselves and thier family, albeit with modest contributions. My point is that we have to regain the balance between private and public sector. For the most part public sector unions, with the exception of fire/ems and police, are negotiating for things that are not available or not possible through private sector employeers. The most flagrant example of this is the teachers unions. Tenure is something that no private sector employee has. Is this right? Do we really want a nation where going to work for the government is the most attractive option. I exclude police and fire from this because the private sector has no business in these areas. My original statement was in regards to the Wisconsin events where teachers and other non emergency personel are the most affected.

  5. Posted

    The basic point is the richer are getting richer, and the poorer are getting poorer.

    What's happening in Wisconsin and Ohio is digusting. How long is it before other states start stripping unions and their members of what they deserve?

    Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

  9. Posted

    I agree with that statement; that's not what I'm proposing. I'm not saying refusal should be indicative of guilt of DWI - that's the same slippery slope as the 'presumed guilty of possession' example I gave. What I'm saying is that refusal to give a specimen when an LEO has *reasonable cause* to suspect DWI/DUI should be a V&T offense in and off itself; you're guilty of refusal to give a specimen, not guilty of DUI. You get tried and sentenced for refusal, simple as that. Does anyone know if that is in fact the law in any states?

    Think of it as the equivalent of an obstruction charge where someone prevents or tries to prevent an LEO from performing a probable cause search. Does that make sense?

    I think this is already covered. Refusing to give a sample automatically costs you your license for one year. To go ahead and begin prosecuting people for refusing to incriminate themselves through chemical tests.

    I dont really think it is the equivalent of obstruction. To be obstruction a person must actively try to prevent justice. Simply not cooperating is not the same. If a LEO asks you if their are any illegal items in your vehicle and you say nothing are you really obstructing justice? I dont think so. No if the person throws the items out of the window or interfere with the lawful search then obstruction would be called for.

  10. Posted

    Refusing a chemical test is the surest way to beat the rap. Then all you're faced with is your license revokation. Appeal that to a suspension and get your work/school waiver. Voila you're back behind the wheel. So yes I'd like an officers observations combined with a perps refusal to be enough to potentially convict.

    This is a very slippery slope. Using a persons refusal to cooperate with their own incrimination to obtain a conviction is a dangerous and unprecedented legal action. While we all agree that drunk driving is a terrible and reckless act, we dont want to begin eroding our civil rights. It is one of the greatest protections we are afforded; lets protect it.

  11. Posted

    Perp doesn't have to consent to blood. They can do breath or urine analysis (not sure if its available in all states). Sadly failure to consent doesn't necessarily mean conviction. It does guarantee license suspension but even thats flexible.

    Why is it sad that failure to consent dosent mean a conviction? have you read the constitution recently? You have the right against self incrimination and against unlawful search and seizure. I could not be more against DWI but we still have to ensure our rights are not infringed upon. So unless a judge issues a warrant for the blood or urine analysis then its not lawful to require a suspect to surrender to the tests. The loss of your drivers license for one year is completely fine because driving is a privilege not a right.

    SRS131EMTFF likes this

  12. Posted

    I really don't see a problum with this my old dept. For fun paraide's we would sometimes set guys on the roof or hose bed as long as its a just play around paraide and it was not judged. Bit for letting them set there to ride to it hell no if its not a dress one or anything big. Have fun as long as there safe

    And really we all can have a opinion on something but we really have no say in what other dept's do they will do what they won't to and that's fine for them let them deal with it every fire house is different and does there own thing

    Are you serious? There is nothing to play around when talking about fire apparatuses. Every piece of equipment if used improperly has the potential to do serious harm. Yes we can have an opinion and the opinion here is that what occurred with those rigs was completely inappropriate and reckless. We are lucky that nothing serious happened and everyone got to go home. But it could have had a tragic ending. I dont want to be the person responsible for explaining to the mans family that he wont be coming home because he was killed in a parade accident that should never have happened.

    I agree with previous posters that this should never have been allowed to happen. An officer of the host department should have put a stop to this before it got this far.

    helicopper and M' Ave like this

  13. Posted

    [sigh]

    Nothing at all is improper about volunteer fire protection. The way I read that is town A shouldn't be forced to subsidize the fire protection in town B. Town A pays all it needs to so that adequate fire protection is provided. Town A could very well be a properly staffed and equipped volunteer fire department; proper coverage is not predicated on paid or volunteer.

    [/sigh]

    I can appreciate that argument. While being a volunteer myself I do not support this bill. The volunteer fire service should not be seen as having to be second class to a career service. I believe that this bill is to protect volunteers in more rural areas of the state where career fire departments are unheard of and fire protection fully revolves around volunteers. Fortunately in my village we are able staff apparatus through DPW workers aswel as school workers, there may be several others who work in the village and are also able to respond. Should these guys lose their jobs because they were providing a service to their community, IMO no, but this is up t their boss to decide not the government. However in most volunteer departments the members are considered employees of the municipality (not a fire district) therefore if one works for the municipality in another capacity they are not really leaving their jobs just doing something different.

  15. Posted

    Somehow I don't think most of the posters in here would tend to agree with you nor do I think you really have a clear understanding of what unions are and their function; if you did you'd most likely never have made your prior posting which in all honesty insults those in the public and private sectors who work hard for their money/employers.

    In my opinion Emergency Services Unions are more honorable than others i.e CSEA, SEIU.. This is because emergency services are truly a brotherhood as demonstrated by several area fire depts. that took cuts in benefits and salaries allowing people to keep their jobs. That being said Unions have to be held responsible for their negative impact in certain areas. Just look at the ruling by the federal judge in favor of the unions that bared Governor Patterson from mandating unpaid furloughs. This would have allowed the sate to save hundreds of millions of dollars while keeping people employed. However instead of that the unions fought and won and the taxpayers lost. I agree Unions where formed to protect workers rights and there is a need for them in that capacity. However 100 percent funded health insurance is not a right nor is a 5 to 7 percent increase in pay year after year, this is the case with westchester county unionized employees. Unions are needed to protect not to bully the government into giving them what ever they like. ANd lets be honest what percentage of people actually believe that the union bosses actually care about them. Some of them are out to make more money for themselves than for you.

  16. Posted · Edited by bfxfd

    To date, from a few enforcement perspective, or public safety in general for that matter, one of my biggest gripes with Republicans has been their anti-Union stances, but this reaches a new low. It's unconscionable.

    But lets be honest Unions are on the hook for a sizable portion of the economic disparity that municipalities, counties, and states are facing. If the republicans wont stand up to the unions who will. If you need examples just look at the situation with Westchester right now. That being said I agree that emergency services unions often get screwed. In this situation it is disgusting to deny the people who ran into risking everything simple care and compassion. This is not an area to be making cuts. However we must ensure that we regulate it well to make sure there is as little fraud as possible.

  18. Posted

    "No investigation". Maybe not by the City of Stamford, as they try to sweep this under the carpet. But I'd sure like to be an Attorney representing the homeowner. Everything lost, photos, jewerly, memories. I would guess that the homeowner and lawyer would certainly be able to put a few extra dollars in their pocket after a court case like this. Seems to me, the City of Stamford, and the chief involved could become a little short on cash soon.

    I retired from a career dept where similiar situtations took place, not Once, but several times. As a Career firefighter, I could watch buildings burn down while I sat one or two miles away. They would call for help from OUT OF TOWN MUTUAL AID, before calling us. Nothing was ever done as these buildings would burn, and the on duty career firefighters watched from the firehouse. I'm referring to Norwich, Ct.

    And somebody made a very good point. What if people were trapped in the building. My friends, all kidding aside, "its all about egos". I hope the guy looses his shirt. He sure would if it was MY HOUSE.

    This situation happens for both volunteer and career. There have been incidents where career departements call in mutual aid from across the county (westchester) before even thinking about calling in volunteers 2 minutes away. Until we can settle the differences that divide us we will not be able to provide safe and effective fire prevention.

  19. Posted

    The Chief of LRFCo cancelled all units to a reported chimney fire before any units were on scene. Once he was on scene, almost 7 minutes later, he again, after being prompted, called for SFRD and TOR units to be called out. Some of those units had a good 10 minute, maybe longer, response time. In addition, LRFCo has no ladder company, and does not have, at least on the one engine that got in the driveway, a ladder taller than 24'. How was the Chief sure he had a ladder tall enough to reach the roof when he was not even on scene? By the time a truck company was called and on scene, it was blocked by 5 inch hose from reaching the scene.

    BFXFD, this DOES have something to do with career vs volunteer. But not in the way that you think. This is about a volunteer department that will do anything to prevent losing any type of control over their kingdom at any cost. There is a history between LRFCo and city and union officials. Maybe someone who was on the job at that time will expand. The volunteer Chief expressly cancelled city units because he wanted to handle the call himself. By having the paid city units respond, he would be "ceding" to them. This is not about me wanting to get rid of volunteers in Stamford. In fact, SFRD Engines 8 and 9 were drilling with TOR Volunteers when this call came in. This is about a volunteer Chief resisting the idea that they cannot handle it all on their own. They needed HELP and lots of it, early, at this fire. It does not matter whether he called TOR, Pound Ridge or SFRD, he just needed more people faster. The Unions stance, and one that I very much agree with, is that the city units have a guaranteed response of personnel. The city ultimately had at least 3 engines, 1 truck, 1 rescue and 1 DC and Aide on scene. This response was delayed significantly by the Chiefs own hubris in the matter.

    Rant over.

    I agree with most of what you say what the LRFCo Chief did arrogant and dangerous. In my opinion until a qualified fire officer (career or volunteer) is on scene and has completed a thorough size up, all manpower available and appropriate for the call should be responding, we should all be so lucky to have the manpower. But what I was trying to say was that this is a two way street I am not overly familiar with Stamford but i do know that in other areas with career and volunteer departments the departments tend to favor their side.

  20. Posted

    I dont think this should be a career vs volunteer argument but this works both ways. Career favor career and volunteer favor volunteer. Until we can break down the barriers between the two of us we will not be able to effectively protect the people who count on us. This incident underlines the dangers that can come about when we let petty disagreements infringe upon safe and responsable fire protection. At the end of the day we should all want the same things out of being firefighters those things being protecting life and property.