Scubaguy62:
Ron, I will pressume you're also a law enforcement officer
As we say in my line of work, "Good obs!"
So, let me ask you this, do you actively (meaning to do something to correct it) respond to a 3 alarm fire, other than to re-route traffic, or crowd control? How often do you hear of a police officer going into a burning building to save a life?
Well, there was the time when I responded to a burning apartment, but sadly I was not able to save the mother nor her 7 children inside. You see, her mentally disturbed husband thought she was having an affair, so as "punishment" he was going to commit the murder-suicide of his entire family by dousing the entire apartment in gasoline then setting the place ablaze. However, after lighting the match he chickened out at the last minute and decided to let his family die instead as he ran out the door. I was the second police officer onscene, only a minute or two after the first 911 calls came in, and a good 10 minutes before the first fire apparatus showed up. A total of 5 of us were there well before the firemen showed up.
As soon as I entered the building the heat and smoke were incredible and prevented me from getting closer to their apartment. Imagine turning your oven on to "broil" and leaving it that way for about an hour before sticking your head in...that's pretty close to what I experienced in attempting a rescue. Imagine covering your eyes with several layers of black electrical tape and that's what the visibility was like due to the smoke. Imagine sticking your mouth into the exhaust pipe of a running diesel pickup truck and that's what it was like to breathe that smoke. Fortunately, I did not need to be transported to the hospital, though I felt like I was coughing up charcoal briquettes for awhile.
However, there are officers whom I personally know that have done similar things, and have had lasting negative health effects. There's a Sergeant whom I used to work for (and have incredible respect for) that suffered considerable damage to his lungs after helping to rescue several people from their burning home, which helped to accelerate his retirement. I know officers who suffered first and second degree burns from other incidents.
While I am not going to engage in firefighter bashing, the truth is that while you would never expect a firefighter to do cop stuff like take down bank robbers, or find your stolen car (at least before it's become a giant bonfire in a bad part of town), it's not at all unusual for the public to expect a cop to run into a burning building to save someone. It doesn't matter that I lack the training and especially the equipment to do such a thing safely; the public sees me as an emergency responder and I am expected to do something, even though it could be suicidal. It also doesn't help that cops usually beat the firefighters to a scene, especially during the night, since we've already been up while the firefighters were snoozing away.
I can (and have) name several instances were cops have gone in to rescue people from burning buildings, and have even put out a few small fires (our fire extinguishers aren't big enough for the large ones); can you name any where firefighters have apprehended someone wanted by the FBI? How many of them have arrested drunk drivers BEFORE they killed someone? How many of them have taken someone to jail for domestic violence, and then came back and helped the battered spouse (usually the wife/girlfriend) obtain a restraining order in the middle of the night? How many firefighters go out and search the backyard of a frightened old lady who thought she heard noises back there in the middle of the night? How many firefighters run TOWARDS the man with the gun when everybody else is running AWAY? In my city, if there's even the slightest indication of violence (even if no weapons were involved), our firefighters won't go into a situation unless the cops have cleared it first.
And yes, there have been a few firefighters that have done "cop stuff." But they are much fewer and much further between than cops doing "firefighter stuff." And while few will demand a firefighter risk his life going into a "cop situation" (such as the North Hollywood bank robber that was allowed to bleed to death because it was believed a third suspect was still in the area), the public will not find acceptable a cop who just stands there and watches people scream for help from burning buildings, even though the firefighters themselves don't want us going in there as that means additional victims to rescue.
If you infer I have no respect for the law, you're wrong. I live by the law.
I never said you were a law-breaker. Anti-cop yes, law-breaker no.
But I believe that enforcement of the law is better achieved be by example, not by the show of force of a piece of metal on someone's chest, or a gun on someone's waist.
Are you saying the LAPD should have adopted a "touchy-feely" approach with the North Hollywood bank robbers?
There's a time for talk, and then there's a time for the gun (or other appropriate defensive weapon and/or tactic). What we use depends on the situation, and just about every department in this country has policies that determine what gets used when; they are often called "Force Continuum Charts" or "Force Option Charts."
And if someone has to put a gun to someone's waist...well that's piss poor officer safety tactics.
And as far as your scenarios, I can have a chat with my neighbor and perhaps achieve more, or I can call my insurance company and definitely achieve more to me personally than I can by calling the police. Heck..the cops are bound to show fashionably late anyway.
I'm glad you get along with your neighbors. A lot of people don't and that's why they call the police.
As far as dealing with insurance companies...if the claim is the result of a crime such as burglary, or theft, they will require a police report anyway. Many cell phone carriers are now requiring police reports to replace your phone at no charge, even if it's due to you leaving it on top of the car before driving off.
