The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
New Hampshire Cops Dress as Firefighters to Make Arrest
FirefighterNation.com News
A decision this week by Newport, New Hampshire police to use a fire truck and pose as firefighters to make an arrest of a suspected violent suspect is getting quite a lot of buzz around the country.
"Police officers dressed as firefighters and using a fire truck entered the building and activated the fire alarm to evacuate residents in a safe manner so as not to bring attention to the pending arrest of Miller," Newport Police Chief David Hoyt said in a news release included in the Union Leader story.
On Thursday, the union representing local firefighters responded with grave concern about the incident, saying firefighters and paramedics depend on the public trusting that when they show up, it's to save lives.
"The use of the firefighter and paramedic image in this way is inappropriate, should not be condoned and is not negotiable," David Lang, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire said during a press conference, according to the Union Leader.
A press release from the union posted on Statter911.com stated "Allowing police officers to impersonate fire fighters potentially makes the difficult job of fire fighters even more dangerous because it casts doubt in the publlic's mind of who's responding to a fire or medical emergency."
Long is asking the Commission of Safety and the state's Attorney General to demand that such actions never take place again.
The Union Leader reported that police officers saw the suspect in his apartment window with a small child in his arms as other building residents evacuated in the fake fire alarm. The suspect opened the door for the 'firefighters' (police) who then took him into custody without further incident. Numerous weapons and related materials were found in a subsequent search of the apartment.
Related
Post your thoughts on this incident.
A decision this week by Newport, New Hampshire police to use a fire truck and pose as firefighters to make an arrest of a suspected violent suspect is getting quite a lot of buzz around the country.
"Police officers dressed as firefighters and using a fire truck entered the building and activated the fire alarm to evacuate residents in a safe manner so as not to bring attention to the pending arrest of Miller," Newport Police Chief David Hoyt said in a news release included in the Union Leader story.
On Thursday, the union representing local firefighters responded with grave concern about the incident, saying firefighters and paramedics depend on the public trusting that when they show up, it's to save lives.
"The use of the firefighter and paramedic image in this way is inappropriate, should not be condoned and is not negotiable," David Lang, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire said during a press conference, according to the Union Leader.
A press release from the union posted on Statter911.com stated "Allowing police officers to impersonate fire fighters potentially makes the difficult job of fire fighters even more dangerous because it casts doubt in the publlic's mind of who's responding to a fire or medical emergency."
Long is asking the Commission of Safety and the state's Attorney General to demand that such actions never take place again.
The Union Leader reported that police officers saw the suspect in his apartment window with a small child in his arms as other building residents evacuated in the fake fire alarm. The suspect opened the door for the 'firefighters' (police) who then took him into custody without further incident. Numerous weapons and related materials were found in a subsequent search of the apartment.
Related
- Union Leader: Firefighters hot over police ploy
- Union Leader: Police use firefighter fake out to arrest man
- STATter911.com: Union Press Release (PDF)
- WMUR: Fire Officials Criticize Police For Impersonating Firefighters (w/Video)
- WCAX: Firefighters "Hot" About Disguised Officers
Post your thoughts on this incident.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by gregg robert on
-
kristy this is a comment with your second parg. we do not let police pretend to be emts or firefighters amongest us, if something went wrong and shots were fired while you were in the house, you are not a trained police officer, you are now a victim, you are in harms way, why? the police go in first and make us all safe, then ems can do there job, that my friends is how we all go home safe to our families.
i'm so happy you all went home safe. but what if this man starting shoting, you could have been inchs from a bullet.. or you could have been staging down the street waiting for a safe entry.
all this police acting as ems or ff's so happends to be working (i think its wrong) but you can all be sure someone will get killed in the fire service mostly from false security. i pray for us all
oh i forgot, no matter how hard we try to keep this quite from the public is almost imposable
-
Permalink Reply by Brad on
-
My first question is where was the Fire Chief and company officers of this department? The concerns expressed by the union should have been echoed by the Chief and company officers for this sort of "ruse".
I am a department Captain and never, in any way, shape or form, would I be silent on this sort of activity. If this was asked of my department I can assure you that the officers would come together in solidarity and flat out deny this or anything remotely similar.
I am also a deputy sheriff, and I would never ask a fire department or it's personnel to place themselves or their apparatus into a situation that it was not intended to be used for. Fire trucks are for fires and rescue. Police cars, marked and unmarked are for law enforcement duties. Period.
-
Permalink Reply by Bianca Julien on
-
one more thing...... according to the story....the criminal allowed the 'firefighter' in because or what? TRUST!! do some of you guys really understand and appreciate the level of trust people around the world ( even criminals) have for firefighters? are you willing to give that up????
-
Permalink Reply by Tom on
-
so not cool that is so makin it so un safe for firefighters i realy think some thing needs to be done like we as firefighters dont have to many risk now WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW WOW we just had a fire man /emt shot and killed here in upstate ny thats so not cool like i said some thing needs to be done
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Dietrich on
-
This is not acceptable. Do not put a firefighter in danger by making him appear as a police officer and thus armed. Wrong Wrong Wrong
-
Permalink Reply by Wolfy Lang on
-
If you read the OTHER stories, a COP went to the door the day before, the guy opened it with a kid in his arms as well as a shotgun. The cop, KNOWING the violent history of this guy, LEFT to come back the next day.
I dont know about you, but I would think a bad guy with a shotgun and a bad attitude left alone to his own devices, knowing the cops dun been there ONCE, would and could have gone out, shot up McDonalds, Kmart, Walmart, school of your choice, YOU, YOUR KIDS, YOUR WIFE/HUSBAND, YOUR PARENTS (get the POINT???) and not really cared one bit about it.
So, in retrospect, Please explain HOW the cops did US a favor by using our rigs for their gain? My shotgun holds 5+1, my pistols hold 7+1, 15+1 and 6, so thats 36 rounds that I could use and carry not counting spare mags, so basically if he was similarly equipped, your whole family could have perished just to save the Chief Of Police having to get on the news and say "We just shot and killed a bad guy who threatened one of our officers, and saved you, the taxpayers, about $250,000 for housing this guy in jail, court costs, etc. Fortunately the officers vest saved his life, but we regrettfully have to announce that a small child perished in the firefight. "
Or would you prefer this headline?
"30 people shot and killed today as a deranged Newport man went on a shooting spree at Walmart in nearby Claremont New Hampshire. Among the dead was a family of 4. Two brothers ages 8 and 10, were killed along with their parents. Others killed included a group of disabled students on a field trip to learn how the stuff in our houses gets to us. One elderly coupled killed had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and were taking their granddaughter and greatgranddaughter shopping for their greatgranddaughters 3rd birthday. Memorial services to be announced in two days. According to the Chief of Police in Newport, officers had gone to the gunmans house only hours before but when they were met by the man holding a child and a shotgun, the officers retreated to the safety of their patrol cars with the intentions of returning tomorrow to apprehend the suspect."
So, just ... how... many... innocent... people... were ... THREATENED... by .. the ... cops... inability...to .. do ... their ... job????????
Do a google search for firefighter shot... NOW we have to worry about more of us being targeted for doing our duties.
-
-
the end result does not always justify the means. i am certain this was not the only option the police had that would have been successful. SCENARIO: Firefighters on the scene of an emergency, an apartment building, are forced to evacuate tenants from their apartments. unknown to them there is a violent criminal hiding out in one of the apts. a firefighter knocks on the door the crim opens and sees the Ff and recalls a story sometime ago about police impersonating Ff to arrest a crim decides he is not taking any chances. pulls out weapon and the rest is history. are we NOW going to be resentful of misguided action taken by police after we applauded them for a job well done? food for thought.
-
-
WOW i thought only in my country police seem to have a never ending budget !
-
Permalink Reply by Bud Boudreau on
-
Clever idea. Most of us should be street smart enough so that we recognize the signs of trouble and get out. As far as making it difficult to rescue people because they think we may be cops, who would think like that except the very people that may harm us anyway?
-
Permalink Reply by Chuck on
-
PD and Fire need to work together but this is a BAD road to go down. We do not need to lose the public trust that we are here to help. I have a brother that is a cop but not all the public has a good impression of the police and we as fire fighters do not need to be brought into the "anti-cop" world unless the we get issued a side arm and meet the marksmanship requirements. Most of us have enough on our plate and do not need to add being a law enforcement officer too.
-
-
i dont know how some of you guys fight fire or attend to emergencies but if you are doing your jobs properly you have NO time to be 'street smart' when you are busy trying to put out a fire that may be endangering lives or attending to or rescueing someone who is in serious need of your help. really....'street smart'???...hmmmmm
-
-
I spent 10 years as a night shift street cop in metro Atlanta, in some of the toughest areas. For the most part even the worst thugs "had no problems" with the fire departments. When five-o aka the po po showed up it was a different matter. A few more of these fire dept. "ruses" and we'll be adding a new category to our annual LODD statistics. There are lots of other creative ways to get the animals out of their cages.
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
