Friday, December 27, 2013
Is Using a DC Fire Truck as a Crime Deterrent Wise?
WUSA 9 has a story on recent efforts to deter crime in Trinidad (following a violent few days in December) that involve parking a manned fire truck in the neighborhood overnight (10pm-2am). If you went on the community crimewalk (12/5) with Kenyon McDuffie, you've already heard about the strategy. According to the WUSA 9 story, the DC Fire Fighters Association is not pleased, saying its members are not trained to fight crime. They also point out that parking the truck away from its station could slow down response times when there is a fire.
Here's an earlier story on the topic from Fox 5.
What say you? Will the mere sight of a manned firetruck prevent crime? Cause it to relocate? Will parking the firetruck here hurt fire response times?
Apparently, it is only the crew from Trinidad's House of Pain (one of the busiest stations in the country) that are being asked to spend the night stationed on the street like this (per the Fox 5 report).
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8 comments:
Eastern Market, Georgetown library, Cafritz house, Fragers... Also, come to think of it, four of my neighbors -- one on 3rd Street and three on 4th Street. It doesn't seem like the DC fire dept is much good at its mission. But on the other hand, the neighborhood bad boys probably respect the torching of ambulances. So, overall, it seems like a good fit to deploy the fire dept in high-crime areas.
Why should response times differ? It may be quicker since they are already in the truck.
No doubt, the firemen would rather be playing cards at the station, but they are on the clock and this seems like a good use of their down time.
8:32,
I was thinking you might have more traffic issues getting out of the neighborhood than you might just pulling out from the station onto Florida Ave.
Call the fahhhr deeepartment - this one is out of control!!!
He called the shit poop!!
We use of fire trucks to make grocery runs to Safeway, and to answer ambulance runs, but it's controversial to use them to put a presence on the street?
Fire Fighters work a 24 hour shift,
which i think is a mistake, but, they need to
work in 8 hours of sleep while doing this.
Having them on the streets means they aren't doing maintenance, aren't doing training, and aren't recuperating.
If we need more presence on the streets, get some auxiliary or cadets or call out the National guard.
Doesn't seem to be the best use of their time since they are not trained or likely even allowed to respond if something happens. Do they have an adequate means of self-defense and the vest protection that cops wear? If we are having issues policing an area, we might just need more police.
Carver Hillbilly,
The police often encourage private citizens to join Orange hat patrols. At least, the fire crew gets paid for their time and their presence on the street may help. Most knuckleheads do not want witnesses.
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