Wednesday, October 2, 2019

WHY DO WE IDOLIZE FIREFIGHTERS AND VILIFY POLICE?

The respect the public has for the fire “services” in contrast to the respect it does not have for law enforcement makes no sense. I watched a story on TV about suicides in the NYPD.  While the interviewee was clearly of a victim mentality, likely seeking wealth, the issue is important. Police officers are killed more often on duty than firefighters. That was not always the case.  Once upon a time I was a firefighter in numerous different departments and though that occupation was statistically more hazardous than police I never entertained being a member of law enforcement. Somehow the threats posed by fire fighting were not as frightening to me as was a truly bad person pointing a gun at me. In 2018, the latest statistics I can find, 164 police officers were killed in the line of duty (https://www.odmp.org/search/year/2018) versus 64 (2018) firefighters  https://www.firefighternation.com/2018/02/04/line-of-duty-deaths-learn-live-never-forget-2018/) and in both cases, many were in poor physical health before the death, i.e. heart attacks. This was a larger percentage in firefighter deaths. Between statistics sites the numbers disagree but never do the deaths of firefighters exceed the deaths of law enforcement officers.

Having lived on the East Coast since 2011 I continue to be negatively impressed with the respect and adulation the public has for the - predominately - volunteer fire operations on this island while showing little appreciation for law enforcement (especially in NYC).  The Suffolk County PD is grossly overpaid as are all other Suffolk and Nassau county functions but individually I know several police officers (District 4, Suffolk County) who are truly fine people and I know that while they might be too late, would beat feet to get to my house if I were in trouble.  Not so with fire and medical services.

I used to live on the West Coast and even there came to learn about the culture of the fire service on the East Coast. The culture is of long history.  Volunteer fire companies were formed on the East Coast in the 1600’s and while a union IAFF goon serving as a volunteer firefighter is officially eschewed by the omnipotent International Association of Firefighters, there seems to be a “look the other way” practice in New York and much of the East Coast.  

Here is the dichotomy.

While police are generally paid too much the police do put their lives on the line every single day.  Usually they come home at night but not always and now police suicides are increasing and gaining national attention.  The story I watched on TV made no mention of police suicide as the result of domestic unrest or financial problems and there is that but police are so widely disrespected in the metropolitan areas of our country now.  Portland, NYC and other cities are falling short of employment quotas and the valid question is “who wants to be a police officer on whom water is thrown with no consequence.” A good reason I am not in law enforcement is I would assault someone who did that to me.  Not in deBlasio’s Utopia. Okay, so I am also too old.

In the meantime fire services staff, both paid and volunteer, are self-serving, constantly running to the bank carrying a banner “remember 9/11,” a culture that has nothing to do with community service. Do firefighters pull people out of burning buildings?  Of course; but most firefighters will not do that even one time in their entire career. Do police confront hostile and possibly dangerous people nearly every day of their careers? Yes they do.

Yet we consider firefighters heros and police, villains. Firefighters doggedly defend a union which in no way serves the public.  Police, members of “guilds” don’t force their narcissism I don’t get it. My wife, a native to Long Island, over the years we have been married, and watching the local volunteer fire services, acknowledges she idolized firefighters but has come to understand firefighters are self-serving, unaccountable, idolized with no good reason and while police generally perform their duties, are ignored or vilified.

Because most of Long Island is “protected” by volunteer fire services does not make the members or the departments heros. The hero is the guy or gal who, with no protective gear pulls someone out of a burning car on the freeway. The properly equipped firefighter will wear $15,000 in protective gear and go home after his shift; the guy on the freeway wears nothing that protects him.  Most volunteer departments cost too much to operate. Because their salary costs are much less than paid departments, they spend too much on Taj Mahals and duplicative equipment because “they can” and the Taj Mahals are intended to flatter the elected officials and officers in the respective departments. “ Charity drives” often provide funding for social activities, not for “training” or new equipment. The members are not heroes but participants of a self-aggrandizing social cult.

Pay attention to the taxes you pay for firefighting and medical “services” and avoid idolization of false Gods. If you believe fire or medical services failed you, file a “Freedom of Information Request” “FOIA” to obtain the records of a service request.  While you are at it, request records of policy, practice and accountability. I guarantee you that you will be surprised at waste and poor service. Some districts, but not all, are diligent but few perform services for the service recipient’s good but for the furtherance of the officers under which they obediently serve and to the elected officials ultimately responsible for department operation.

With the exception of the “reserve” recruits, police are paid, and in large cities are overpaid but law enforcement officers have a sense of dedication that fire services members, both paid and volunteer lack.  It is a shame that the public lacks the curiosity to learn the contrasts between the two emergency services.


John M. Tyson

Saint James

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