Fire Police...the more you know...

[Son-of-Spam]

Alright heres something ive been wondering about for a while but now had the time and innitiative to put on the board...

Fire Police. What powers do they actually have...i understand they are w/ the fire department correct? I know they direct traffic around fire scenes but can they stop an individual (not w/ a vehicle) from crossing down a public road...

I know that a fire chief has the power to allow or now allow someone on property because when they arrive at a scene the department "owns" the property till they release it...meaning even the owners can be escorted off until safe

I ask this because a few days ago a fire police officer would not let me walk down the road a few more feet to get a clear picture of a simple garage fire (didnt know it at the time, thought the house had started to burn too)

What powers do they have? BTW in case its a state by state thing this happened in NY...

Thanks!

[Sportsguy]

What powers do they have? BTW in case its a state by state thing this happened in NY...

It's not limited to New York. They freely abuse their power in PA, too!

[f11vid]

What's fire police?

[LongTimePhotog]

Fire Police are usually older Vol fireman who can't do the fire work anymore and show up to help with traffic control. I use to work in Albany NY and there were tons of fire/police in the rural departments. At first I was intimidated by these guys but as time went on I figured they didn't have the authority to stop you from approaching a scene and began to drive around their roadblocks, after showing my media credential. When on the scene I would just go about my business and was never hassled about being there.
But be sure of one thing...they do have a large ego with their blue flashing light.

[svp]

Never heard of fire police. Its usually the REAL police that help the fire dept. around here. Despite how much access we THINK we're entitled too, they can move you back as far as they deem necessary to ensure the public's, and their firefighters', safety. Just because we're media doesn't give us access to a scene. As long as they don't try to keep you further back than the rest of the public at the scene, they're not abusing their power. You don't get to decide what a safe distance is, they do, period.

[cameradog]

I know that a fire chief has the power to allow or now allow someone on property because when they arrive at a scene the department "owns" the property till they release it...meaning even the owners can be escorted off until safe


That's not quite right. The fire chief does not "own" the property. The fire chief has a license to enter the property for the purpose of emergency response. In fact, all firefighters and police have license to enter property for the purpose of emergency response (the police obviously being subject to Constitutional provisions protecting due process and illegal search and seizure).

The key point here is that the firefighter's license to enter the property does not give him the right to grant other people license to enter the property. He can't allow you onto property that is otherwise off limits to you by virtue of being a fireman. If there's a "No Trespassing" sign and you ignore it to shoot video, you can be held liable even if you're invited on the property by a cop or firefighter. If the owner tells you that you can't be on the property, no cop or firefighter can tell you otherwise.

You can thank the show Cops for clarifying this. They were sending their cameras into peoples' homes on raids with police and ended up getting sued... And lost. The cops had license to enter the premises (granted either by search warrant or through probable cause), but the photogs did not have license to enter the premises. They were trespassing.

I ran into this personally with a kennel that was breeding pitbulls for dogfights. The sheriff's department raided the property, but when we got there we saw big "No Trespassing" signs all around the perimeter. The meat of the story, the video of the conditions in which the dogs were being kept in the back yard, was off limits to us despite the fact that a deputy invited us along.

[schlagdrg]

As a former firefighter/emt in a volunteer fd in NY State, you should be wary of crossing or interfering with fire police. They are Peace Officers. You can look up that definition. They might not arrest you, but they will ask the local police too and they will comply. I have personally seen people arrested. It's best to get to know them ahead of time.

[LongTimePhotog]

Are we looking up the definition of Fire/Police or Peace Officer. Most FP that I have encountered are a step above the guy's who travel around with wide load signs on their Ford Escorts. A Peace Officer is trained by the state and do have Police power. Most FP are 50-60 sometimes 70 year old former firefighters who can't do the heavy lifting anymore.

[schlagdrg]

According to---State of NY Div of Criminal Justice Services---

:Pursuitant to General Municipal Law 209-c, if a fire policeman has completed the Fire Police course..., they do not need to complete the Basic Course for Peace Officers. They must still be registered pursuant to Executive Law 845-a.

Don't think I made that up. Yeah, some of those 60 and 70 year old-timers are Law Enforcement. They can't execute search warrants, but they can make arrests and write citations.

If those old-timers take the handgun requirements, they can pack a sidearm. Never seen it though.

Others in NY that are also considered Peace Officers are:
Court Officers
Animal Control (SPCA)
NYC Fire Marshalls
Traffic Officers (the people who write traffic tickets in NYC)

Dave Goldschlag
Former Firefighter/EMT
WESH TV Daytona Beach/Orlando

P.S. Fire Police was one of the courses I took for my Basic Firefighter Training in 1982