Small Dick Syndrome

I'm getting tired of writing about this shit, and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading it. But this blog is not only to call attention to what is occurring in the world today, but it is also a record of the times we live in for posterity.

Ever since I started this project, it has been my sincerest hope that my grandchildren will learn something of their grandfather through these writings (and maybe get a term paper or two out of it).

A story out of southern California yesterday, reported that a California Highway Patrol officer placed an on-duty Chula Vista firefighter in handcuffs for not moving his fire truck at the scene of an accident.

CBS 8 and several other news agencies, who were on the scene, witnessed what happened. According to officials, the unidentified officer, who arrived late to the scene, told firefighters to move three fire engines from the fast lane, and two complied, but one firefighter refused that request and continued giving aid to the crash victims who were injured and trapped in the single-car rollover accident.

Common sense would indicate that police would be in command of a criminal incident, but that the fire department would be in command of an emergency situation. As Chula Vista Fire Chief Dave Hanneman stated, "My engineers and all the crews did exactly what they're trained to do." He went on to say that the Fire Department has the equipment and personnel to deal with these types of situations, the Police Department does not.

A CBS 8 analyst explained, "There are no rules, just guidelines about working together at a scene."

The 36 year old, 12 year veteran firefighter parked his engine, in accordance with established Fire Department protocols. An official press release stated: "The Fire Engineer had positioned a Fire Engine consistent with his training in a manner that was intended to protect the safety of the victims of the accident as well as the emergency personnel on scene."

The press release went on to say -

When the Fire Engineer refused to move his Fire Engine before it was safe to do so, the officer told the Engineer "You are under arrest." He then arrested the engineer in front of local news cameras, which captured the arrest on film. The Engineer was lead to a CHP vehicle where the pockets of his uniform were searched and he was placed in the rear of the vehicle. He was kept handcuffed and locked inside the vehicle for a period of over half an hour.

Fire Engineer John Hess, President of the Chula Vista Firefighters Union commented, "We are stunned! We cannot imagine what possible explanation could be given to justify this conduct by the CHP officer. This removed a valuable fire apparatus and crew out of service for approximately one hour. We trust that a full investigation into the matter will be conducted."

An attorney for the firefighters expressed similar disbelief. "When our office received the email link to the news footage of the arrest and viewed the story, every jaw literally dropped. When law enforcement and fire get to a scene, they are all about the common business of protecting the victims and the crews present. I have never seen anything like it."

Chula Vista Fire Chief Dave Hanneman said in a statement, "To detain one of our firefighters in the middle of an incident is ridiculous."

CHP has not released the name of the officer or if he has or has not been reprimanded for the incident.

A joint statement from the CHP and Chula Vista Fire Department said: "Both of our agencies have the utmost respect for each other and our respective missions. This was an isolated incident and not representative of the manner in which our agencies normally work together toward our common goal."

However, this is apparently not an isolated incident. Hess pointed out, "This issue between the Chula Vista Fire Department and CHP has come up before and officers have made threats but not arrests or handcuffing a firefighter until Tuesday night."

The joint statement concluded: "This incident will be a topic of future joint training sessions, in an ongoing effort to work more efficiently together."

The firefighter was ultimately released with no apparent explanation. No charges have been filed against the Fire Engineer resulting from the arrest.

Unfortunately, this story once again serves to illustrate the underlying attitude of law enforcement officers. That they have the authority to issue any command they wish, and that any refusal whatsoever to immediately comply, whether legal or not, will result in detainment and arrest, or worse, always with the implied threat of the use of deadly force.

If not even firefighters at the scene of an emergency, in front of news cameras, are exempt from the whims of overzealous cops, what chance do the rest of us have?