grumpyff

Your anger is directed in the wrong location. It is the State of Connecticut's fault. Metro North owns 50% of the cars and wanted to replace them years ago. The state dragged its feet until it was too late. MTA Metro North did the best they could with the cards dealt to them.
Only The first train did the 4000 mile acceptance test, now the rest only have to do 1000 miles of trouble free testing. Better to wait the get stuck between stations because something new and untested failed.

Thats all fine and good, but how about enforce the laws already on the books. Take the Plaxico Buress case, Mayor Bloomburg (being nice since it is EMTBravo) had he not 'personally got involved' Plaxico would have gotten a slap on the wrist like everyone else. One case where I recovered a loaded 9mm, spent more time in trial prep, than the perp got as a sentence, since he ended up taking a plea. Every moe I stop knows this. There is no respect for police officers on the street anymore. People seem to have the need to constantly watch and interject in situations where they feel we (the police) are being to heavy handed.
When I worked in Midtown Manhattan I used to carry a folding knife that I could open with a strong flick of the wrist, not for protection but to get the goddam LIBERALS away from me. More than once I had someone stopped, when he come some LIBERAL DO GOODER who felt I had stopped the wrong person. I would always be respectful and would ask" Do you know this person?" if the answer was "no", the next question was always "Do you know why I stopped this person?" If the answer was again " NO", then I would snap out the knife, and state"this is what I stopped them for.." 9 times out of 10 Liberal do gooder was running away. I would then explain to person I originally stopped that the other person had no right to hear there information (name, address, birthday, etc.) and that I only did that to get them to leave.

rear 3/4 shot

showing the width of the boom

spread of the outriggers

officer's side

hope these are a nice teaser until better weather and better placement

The City of New York is estimated to have made almost 4 BILLION DOLLARS durinng the 1990's on our money. What did we get in return...told sorry we have no money for raises and 5 year contract of 0, 0, 3, 3 , and 6. Bloomburg is out of control wanting to eliminate the Variable Supplement, for everyone....guys already retired to guys currently working. He wants to eliminate it, and keep the money so he can waste it on projects like City Time, which is coming up on billion dollars in fess paid over ten years, originally projected to cost just 63 million. The payroll system does not work correctly, and is estimated now to cost 40 million a year to run. The money belongs to the union member, not the city. Want to eliminate the the City's involvement, fine , give the money back to were it came from, with interest, Union funds.

While passing through Pleasantville today, I spotted the new Tower Ladder 5, a 2010 KME 95'. Here are a couple quick pictures I was able to take while crews were familiarizing themselves in the operation of the tower ladder. Once the weather improves I will return to take some better photos.
Starting with the driver's side:

rear 3/4 shot

showing the width of the boom

spread of the outriggers

officer's side

hope these are a nice teaser until better weather and better placement

Not from today's storm, but 01/12/11. Pictures taken in Cornwall Meadows, Patterson, NY

running out of room to put the snow

A close friend of mine (no emergency service involvement) had a scary incident while jumping his car this morning. He's a real technical guy but he got a little complacent. Which brings me to the topic. I'm finding that I'm constantly having to correct or stop firefighters while disconnecting batteries at MVA scenes. First too many guys have no respect for the hazards involved in what they are doing. Here's my thoughts.
Have a reason to disconnect. Patients still in the vehicle, fire hazard, anything legitimate is good with me but sometimes the car will be driven away or there are no hazards and no one is in the vehicle.
Use the right tools. I really can't bear to see the haligan used. It really can be a recipie for disaster. The haligan is more than long enough to accidently hit both battery terminals. Which believe me when I tell you is a bad sight.
Accessing the battery. When the car is totaled and all the fluids from the vehicle are now on the highway do we really need to use the forcible entry saw to open the hood and spray the entire area with sparks? I mean I thought that's why we disconnect in the first place to eliminate ignition sources.
I'd love to hear others thoughts on the topic.

If you build the bunk rooms then some day you might hire personnel. If you don't build them, then you can argee we can't hire because of the building.

A number of posters have really hit the nail on the head regarding Police Officer LODD's, and the reasoning for a lot of them.
The FBI routinely interviews convicted Cop Killers. They are looking to answer the question, "Why did you kill this Police Officer? What made you do it?". The FBI reported that the majority of individuals interviewed responded, "Because the Officer gave me the opportunity", or "I felt like I could take advantage of the Officer", either because of the Officers poor use of tactics, or because the Officers general physical appearance (stature, build, uniform cleanliness and overall general appearance of the Officer being a "slob").
Regarding the Officers general appearance, not much can be done to correct that other then the individual Officer making time to exercise, eat right, clean/iron their uniforms, tuck in their shirts, give off a professional image/appearance, act professionally, etc.
In regards to Police Officers utilizing poor tactics, this falls on the the individual Officer, the Law Enforcement Agency, and society and how society views Police Officers. Most Police Officers have to qualify with their service weapons twice a year to be qualified to carry a firearm within their official duties. I ask the question, is anyone really good at anything they do just twice a year? If an individual officer shoots just twice a year with their department, and does not take the time outiside of work to shoot on their own time, or to attend classes given by private or government agencies, they are doing themselves a grave disservice. When Police Officers shoot to qualify, they're shooting a nice silhouette paper target, utilizing proper stance, closing their non-dominant eye, lining up their sight picture... they're target shooting for score based on the number of shots the tower or range instructor informs them to discharge. In a real-life deadly physical force encounter, Police Officers are not shooting for score, they're shooting to survive. They're point shooting. They're utilizing a combat stance (which is your body's natural reaction to a threat), they're drawing the firearm, pointing it at the target, looking past their sights, and discharging their firearm at the threat to stop the threat. They're not lining up their sights. They're not closing their non-dominant eye. There's no range instructor telling them, "Gimme 2 shots on the tone". So why aren't we conducting monthly training at the range on point shooting? Why aren't we conducting monthly realistic, scenario based training utilizing airsoft or simmunitions to mimic real life encounters? The answers are obvious (manpower, money, overtime, etc.), but Police Officers are dying because of it. The 2 days of TARGET SHOOTING at the range is a disservice to Police Officers, and is not realistic or a feasible way to train for real-life deadly physical force encounters.
In terms of how society is getting police officers killed... well, there are very few professions that are monday morning quarterbacked by the Average Joe citizen more then Law Enforcement. Law Enforcement is criticized by the media, by the general population, and even by our Police Chiefs, Commissioners, Superintendants, etc., who have become more of a group of politicians who are more worried about their own general appearance in the eyes of the public, appeasing as many special interest groups as possible for their own personal political gain, rather then protecting and supporting the Officers they are suppoesd to represent. Hollywood has the Average Joe thinking that it's a piece of cake to shoot a gun out of a perpetrators hand. The Average Joe wants to know why we don't shoot people in the leg because that's what works in Hollywood. Until the average Joe sees an aggressive, determined perpetrator take five .223 rounds center mass and continue to fight, they won't understand why Police Officers utilize aggressive tactics against an armed adversary. Take a look at a just a few examples of recents incidents:
** A SWAT officer, while conducting a tactical entry to take a barricaded subject into custody, shoots and kills a perpetrator who was attempting to stab his bunker operator with a large kitchen knife. The perp struck the ballistic shield several times with the knife before the Officer discharged his weapon. Officer placed on adminstrative desk duty for 9 months, depsite the fact that the shooting was within department and NYS Criminal Procedure Law guidelines.
** 2 Police Officers respond to an EDP, where they are confronted with an individual in a parking lot weilding a metal chair. EDP advances and closes the distance on the Officers while attempting to strike the Officers with the metal chair. Officers retreat until they are finally cornered, forcing one Officer to fire a single shot center mass, eliminating the threat. Officers brought up on department charges for not utilizing appropriate concealment. The prosecuting attorney's arguement is that the Officers should have hid behind a bush to provide them concealment, thereby avoiding the need to shoot the subject.
** Pleasantville Police Officer, after being struck by a vehicle operated by an underage, intoxicated driver, clings onto the hood of the vehicle. Despite verbal commands to stop the vehicle, driver accelerates forcing the Officer to discharge his service weapon through the windshield eliminating the threat and preventing further injury to himself. Officer is dragged through the mud by the media, vigils held for the perp killed by this Officer. Over a week before the media reports on the serious injuries sustained by the Officer.
** A Massachusetts Police Officer, responding to a possible burglary call, encounters an unruly, uncooperate subject inside a private residence. Officer ends up effecting a disorderly conduct arrest, a lawful arrest based on the Massachusetts CPL/Penal Law, where his actions are called "stupid" by our Commander-in-Chief, without having all of the details of the encounter.
Based on a few of these examples, I have made a couple of conclusions. Some of my conclusions are based on my own personal experiences and from talking to other Police Officers. The most dangerous conclusion I have come up with is that Police Officers are utilizing poor tactics and not being as aggressive as they should be in certain instances because of the fear of being dragged through the mud by the media, disciplined by their department, and placed on modified desk duty, even when their actions were appropriate and well within the legal guidelines for the use of deadly physical force. This "second-guessing" gives a perpetrator who has it in their mind that they want to injure/kill the police officer a chance to act upon their intentions.
Police administrators will quite often administer disciplinary action upon a police officer based on the media coverage of an event and the public "outcry", no matter how justified the shooting may have been based on CPL and department guidelines. Officers are taken off the road and placed on desk duty for months, sometimes even years, to prevent the officer from being involved in another deadly physical force encounter, which may look unfavorably if the same officer is involved in numerous shooting incidents, even if they are all justified shootings. This reactive measure taken by Police Administrators in turn causes Police Officers to not take aggressive action when needed for fear of "ruining their careers" or being placed on desk duty. Once again, this "second-guessing" leads to perptrators taking advantage of Police Officers. Face it, Police Officers have pages and pages of rules and guidelines to abide by, whereas perpetrators don't play by the rules, which inherently gives the perpetrator the tactical advantage.
Lastly, Law Enforcement tactics are not pretty. It involves handcuffing people, placing people face down in the dirt, ordering people out of vehicles at gunpoint, striking people with impact weapons, utilizing less lethal devices, chemical agents, and when necessary, deadly physical force. Proper tactics are not pretty, they don't look good in the eyes of the public, but they are necessary for Police Officers to go home at the end of their shift. The media doesn't understand this, society doesn't understand this, but our Police Administrators have to understand this, and have to support their Officers when their Officers actions are appropriate, no matter how it may look in the eyes of the untrained and uneducated.
Sorry for the long post! Kinda got carried away but a very important topic that is filled with TONS of information! Stay safe!

Thats all fine and good, but how about enforce the laws already on the books. Take the Plaxico Buress case, Mayor Bloomburg (being nice since it is EMTBravo) had he not 'personally got involved' Plaxico would have gotten a slap on the wrist like everyone else. One case where I recovered a loaded 9mm, spent more time in trial prep, than the perp got as a sentence, since he ended up taking a plea. Every moe I stop knows this. There is no respect for police officers on the street anymore. People seem to have the need to constantly watch and interject in situations where they feel we (the police) are being to heavy handed.
When I worked in Midtown Manhattan I used to carry a folding knife that I could open with a strong flick of the wrist, not for protection but to get the goddam LIBERALS away from me. More than once I had someone stopped, when he come some LIBERAL DO GOODER who felt I had stopped the wrong person. I would always be respectful and would ask" Do you know this person?" if the answer was "no", the next question was always "Do you know why I stopped this person?" If the answer was again " NO", then I would snap out the knife, and state"this is what I stopped them for.." 9 times out of 10 Liberal do gooder was running away. I would then explain to person I originally stopped that the other person had no right to hear there information (name, address, birthday, etc.) and that I only did that to get them to leave.

There is no fear or respect for law enforcement anymore. People don't fear the law or breaking it and they don't fear going to jail because the liberals ( Yes I said it - THE LIBERALS) have made going to jail like going to summer camp. Jail should be hard labor, bad food, etc... and if you don't like it - DON'T BREAK THE LAW !!!!!
Cops aren't allowed to be cops anymore and things like this are a direct result of that. We as cops know that the department and the municipality we work for will 9 times out of 10 cave in to a special interest against us so you have legions of cops that are hesitant when dealing with people... in this business hesitating gets us KILLED.
Since all this nonsense like the CPR camapign in NYC and the other spin off programs we have seen in westchester, the attitude of the people you deal with on the street has changed and they now feel empowered to treat us however they feel becuase if the stop doesn't go how they want, they will just go to IAD and get us jammed even if we didn't do anything wrong.
I'm sorry for the rambling but I am angry at all these shootings and I have a lot of anger as to how cops are restricted from doing the job the right way.
It seems like it is now open season on cops, let's all watch each others backs.

In NYC, yes 8 minutes is a long time. Thanks to things like Bloomburgs pedestrian malls that have closed streets permanently,garbage trucks making pickups and delivery trucks blocking road, its not totally empty. When I was still assigned to NYPD Transit District 1, we had an officer call a 10-85 (officer needs assistance) at Times Square (West 42 street/ 7 Avenue) at 2320 hours, shortly after Bloomburg closed Broadway . I was assigned to the sector car that night, and since it was at the end of tour we were at our command at W 59 Street/Columbus Circle (closer to 60 Street) about to give the midnights the car. We responded immediately, as we were already in the car. With traffic, street closures, and traffic lights every block it took almost 5 minutes to drive lights and sirens those 17 -18 blocks. Thanks to not being able to take the direct route of Broadway, we had to go one block over to 7 avenue, down to 42 street. We arrived just about a minute after precinct units that were closer, but on different radio frequencies. All while this one officer was fighting a drunken Mexican. No imagine your house is burning, and your in it. How fast will that fire grow in intensity in those 5 minutes?
Granted in a maybe a little slower at night, but not by much. In Manhattan you have tons of clubs, restaurants, theaters, etc that are open late every night of the week. The outer boroughs are mostly residential, which at night have greater occupancy levels, as most residents are home sleeping. Not all these residential buildings have things like smoke detectors and sprinklers installed or working. In the case of a fire, you may be looking at a delayed notification to FD, plus a greater need for manpower to search these buildings and effect any rescues. Your response times maybe a little quicker do to lower traffic volume, but the number of intersections, and traffic control devices (stop signs, traffic lights) is the same. You can not blow through intersections in NYC like in suburban areas, there are people out all hours of the day, and most have no regard for emergency vehicles responding with lights and sirens.

I'm going to start by saying one thing; NFPA is a broad baseline that does not always apply well in large urban settings. Furthermore, their 8 minute response ideal is pathetically long. Second portion of your post about saving lives vs. the city's claim of cuts having no impact on response times. This is incorrect. The fire commissioner stated plainly that operations would be impacted if his cuts were in acted.
Going back a bit you asked how often we respond well outside of our area when multiple company's are tied up at once. The answer to that question is: Daily. That's right, every day companys are 40 and 50 blocks outside of their regular response area. Guess what that means? The response is longer due to distance, it is also longer because the chauffeur isn't familiar with that area. You are now dealing with a company that doesn't know the buildings or quirks that may exist there. This is also true during relocations. On average, every company is relocated due to a multiple alarm fire, approx. 8-12 times a month. Sometimes it's as high as 20 times. Now you're operating well outside of your area on unfamiliar streets. If that multiple is up to a 3rd alarm or higher, that can put us into fall-back step 3. This means 1 and 1 on structural responses. This is a bad thing, very bad. Two weeks ago my company was operating with one other company at a 10-75. Do you know how long it takes on engine company to stretch a line to the 5th floor of an old law tenement? Who was checking and venting the floor above the fire? NO ONE.
The simple fact is, you are speaking from a position of ignorance. You suggest that operations be curtailed or adjusted a night and that we might not need as many resources. You are simply wrong.
How would you respond if I stated that most of the time I see medics from EMS show up, they don't have a critical patient and it's a simple transport to the hospital. I think that we should probably drop down to 1 medic alone on every ambulance. Why do we need two? Strap the guy in the back and then get up there to drive!
Now, I don't agree with the above statement one bit. Nor do I feel there is anything wrong when 2 buses and a supervisor show up at a diff. breather. Who knows? Maybe that person is having a heart attack and the next minute you're going to be doing CPR and need all the help you can get. I'm simply pointing out that you're assessing an extremely sensitive situation from a disadvantaged position. You have no operational reference with regard to the FDNY, or any fire department for that matter.

Just another clear example that the general public doesn't care/doesn't know what we in FD/EMS/PD do on a daily basis. They really don't give a s*** if our staffing is cut, our apparatus is not replaced as needed, as long as their taxes don't go up, and it doesn't personally affect them. "They're not supposed to put water on that.." maybe they should have used snow shovels to clear the street and put the fire out at the same time.

All around general stupidity. From the genius Deputy Inspector in the NYPD Transit HQ that came up with the brilliant idea to have transit districts not field RMP's during the storm, and instead take the subway. That great idea worked on paper until the subways stopped running before the worst of the storm hit. I don't think I saw one RMP in the Bronx that had chains put on. The shops were closed, tire shops on the street were not sure about putting the cable chains on the new hybrids, or in my commands case, a new van, but the chains in our locker didn't fit this size tire. MTA Bus was equally unprepared, with numerous buses with no chains. The accordion style buses fared the worst, often taking on a jack knifed appearance and getting stuck in snow banks. I did see several NYC Sanitation trucks driving around Boston Road in the Gun Hill Area, one problem though, the plow doesn't work when kept in the raised position. Mid town Manhattan did look nice and clean this morning so that Bloomburg could go see his Broadway shows, while a good portion of the Bronx has yet to a single plow on the side roads.

All around general stupidity. From the genius Deputy Inspector in the NYPD Transit HQ that came up with the brilliant idea to have transit districts not field RMP's during the storm, and instead take the subway. That great idea worked on paper until the subways stopped running before the worst of the storm hit. I don't think I saw one RMP in the Bronx that had chains put on. The shops were closed, tire shops on the street were not sure about putting the cable chains on the new hybrids, or in my commands case, a new van, but the chains in our locker didn't fit this size tire. MTA Bus was equally unprepared, with numerous buses with no chains. The accordion style buses fared the worst, often taking on a jack knifed appearance and getting stuck in snow banks. I did see several NYC Sanitation trucks driving around Boston Road in the Gun Hill Area, one problem though, the plow doesn't work when kept in the raised position. Mid town Manhattan did look nice and clean this morning so that Bloomburg could go see his Broadway shows, while a good portion of the Bronx has yet to a single plow on the side roads.

The Firefighter is at fault!
Why? Because this is 2010. Everything is somehow the Firefighters fault.
The economy? Our fault
Low private sector pensions? Our fault
Gulf war? Our fault...retaliation for our 343
Global warming? Our fault...we go shopping with rigs
Civilian fire death? Our fault...slow response
Vehicle accident? Our fault...driving too fast

Prayers to the families and for quick recoveries to those injured.never a good time for this, but I think being close to the holidays make it worse

Here are a couple of instructor quotes from actual pump operator courses. One is the New York version, the other is the Virginia Beach version. They are quite similar. I would like to hear the Califoirnia version.
FROM THE SOUTH:
What should you flow that nozzle at? 40psi, right? Sure you could flow it at 50 or 80. Can you hold on to it? I don't know. What's the worst that could happen? Slide around on your back on the floor for a bit 'til you hit a wall and that's where you fight fire from...it's just that simple yall
FROM THE NORTH"
To determine correct Pump Pressure, simply throttle up slowly until the nozzleman just leaves the ground. Then throttle back 1/2 turn (on digitals, quickly tap the "Decrease" button twice).
If the nozzleman is in the building or otherwise out of sight, this can also be done audibly.

TL153

69 years, and most people today probably cant even tell you where Pearl Harbor is. I was lucky enough to visit in 2008, and it is a very moving experience seeing the USS Arizona Memorial. I heard more than one person remark about the oil that continues to seep out of the Arizona, like tear drops coming to the surface. As someone who took part in the rescue and recovery operations after 9/11, it gave me a better perspective of what those young sailors went through that morning. Actually hearing a Pearl Harbor survivor speak about events during the attack, really made it hit home. He had made his peace with everything that had happened, but the memories were still with him, like it was yesterday. Thankfully there are some of us today who understand the sacrifices made that day, and will continue to honor their memories today.