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This idiotic "rivalry" between the fire fighters and cops in NYC has got to end. Someone is going to get hurt and get hurt bad unless some cooler heads prevail.
CHIMNEY-CHUMP CLASH
By BRIGITTE STELZER, ADAM MILLER and JAMIE SCHRAM
June 28, 2003 -- A would-be burglar stuck in the chimney of a Queens restaurant yesterday sparked a battle of the badges that Mayor Bloomberg tried to douse by bringing in top cop Ray Kelly and his FDNY counterpart for an emergency meeting.
Firefighter John Gaine, 40, was arrested for obstructing governmental administration after entering a crime scene during a police search for additional burglary suspects at Luigi Italian Cuisine restaurant at 84-22 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights, cops said.
Gaine — a former cop booted from the NYPD in 1985 after being involved in a melee following a Yankee game — suffered a knee injury when he was shoved to the ground during a scuffle with a police officer.
The incident began when cops and firefighters were called to the restaurant just before 3 a.m.
An investigation determined that William Quinga, 22, was trying to burglarize the restaurant when he became lodged in the chimney.
But Gaine, a 15-year veteran assigned to Rescue Co. 4, and other Bravest thought they were responding to a rescue.
Gaine entered the eatery on the orders of his captain, fire sources said.
Inside, he was stopped by a beefy cop who ordered him to leave, saying it was a crime scene.
The pair exchanged some heated words before the cop shoved Gaine, the firefighter said.
"It was one push, and I fell to the ground and twisted my knee," Gaine, supporting himself with crutches, told The Post.
"I didn't do anything wrong. We got a call to respond. We thought it was a rescue and that someone was injured."
Emergency workers had to break through a wall to remove Quinga, who was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing after being treated at Elmhurst Hospital.
The Police and Fire departments said they were investigating.
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You probably are thinking, "Here he goes, sticking up for the cops again!" Nope. Sounds like the cop was clearly wrong in this instance. But there is a much bigger issue here. It is two-fold.
1. The duplication of services between the cops and the FD is absurd. Cops should be cops and fire fighters should be fire fighters. If the lines cross in the heat of an emergency, that is one thing. But the cops have rescue, the FD has rescue. The cops have SCUBA, the FD has SCUBA. The cops do hazmat, the FD does hazmat. And so on.
2. There is absolutely NO communication between the cops and FF at jobs. That responding co. should have been told that the job was a crime scene (if it was) and to stage somewhere until the scene was secure. The FF may have been a jerk. The cop may have been a jerk. But their bosees should have been communicating so it didn't escalate to that point.
CHIMNEY-CHUMP CLASH
By BRIGITTE STELZER, ADAM MILLER and JAMIE SCHRAM
June 28, 2003 -- A would-be burglar stuck in the chimney of a Queens restaurant yesterday sparked a battle of the badges that Mayor Bloomberg tried to douse by bringing in top cop Ray Kelly and his FDNY counterpart for an emergency meeting.
Firefighter John Gaine, 40, was arrested for obstructing governmental administration after entering a crime scene during a police search for additional burglary suspects at Luigi Italian Cuisine restaurant at 84-22 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights, cops said.
Gaine — a former cop booted from the NYPD in 1985 after being involved in a melee following a Yankee game — suffered a knee injury when he was shoved to the ground during a scuffle with a police officer.
The incident began when cops and firefighters were called to the restaurant just before 3 a.m.
An investigation determined that William Quinga, 22, was trying to burglarize the restaurant when he became lodged in the chimney.
But Gaine, a 15-year veteran assigned to Rescue Co. 4, and other Bravest thought they were responding to a rescue.
Gaine entered the eatery on the orders of his captain, fire sources said.
Inside, he was stopped by a beefy cop who ordered him to leave, saying it was a crime scene.
The pair exchanged some heated words before the cop shoved Gaine, the firefighter said.
"It was one push, and I fell to the ground and twisted my knee," Gaine, supporting himself with crutches, told The Post.
"I didn't do anything wrong. We got a call to respond. We thought it was a rescue and that someone was injured."
Emergency workers had to break through a wall to remove Quinga, who was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing after being treated at Elmhurst Hospital.
The Police and Fire departments said they were investigating.
__________________________________________________ _______
You probably are thinking, "Here he goes, sticking up for the cops again!" Nope. Sounds like the cop was clearly wrong in this instance. But there is a much bigger issue here. It is two-fold.
1. The duplication of services between the cops and the FD is absurd. Cops should be cops and fire fighters should be fire fighters. If the lines cross in the heat of an emergency, that is one thing. But the cops have rescue, the FD has rescue. The cops have SCUBA, the FD has SCUBA. The cops do hazmat, the FD does hazmat. And so on.
2. There is absolutely NO communication between the cops and FF at jobs. That responding co. should have been told that the job was a crime scene (if it was) and to stage somewhere until the scene was secure. The FF may have been a jerk. The cop may have been a jerk. But their bosees should have been communicating so it didn't escalate to that point.
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