Evidence

In a ruling that seems to have surprised the media and many firefighters, the drunk driving case against San Francisco firefighter Michael Quinn has been dismissed. Quinn was driving a ladder truck that struck and nearly killed a motorcyclist, Jack Frazier, on June 29, 2013. A security camera captured the dramatic incident.

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Today’s burning question: Does a fire department have the right to search a firefighter’s locker, individual sleeping room, or dresser without cause? Answer: It depends. As a governmental agency, a fire department has to respect the 4th Amendment rights of everyone, including its employees. The 4th Amendment prohibits warrantless searches

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Two Kenosha, Wisconsin union officials are facing suspensions for their role in a complicated case where a cellphone allegedly recorded a discussion that took place after they stepped out of a meeting with the fire chief. But the case raises a number of more complicated issues involving criminal law, evidence, and even a Constitutional question or two!!!

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Today’s burning question: My fire department gives firefighters a stipend of $125 dollars a year to cover the costs of various text messages they send us and any work related calls we make/receive. Does this give the department the right to search our personal phones? Answer: No, a simple stipend would not – in and of itself – authorize a fire department to “search” someone’s cellphone

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Legal Considerations for Fire & Emergency Services 730 Pages/Softcover/August 2014 ISBN: 978-1-59370-347-9 Price: $89.00 The third edition of J. Curtis Varone’s Legal Considerations for Fire & Emergency Services is an essential textbook for any course on fire service law as ...

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The North Carolina Supreme Court has issued a final ruling in the case of State v. Dorothy Verkerk that raised the issue of whether firefighters who use their red lights and sirens to stop a vehicle driving recklessly violate the ...

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Today’s burning question: When fire and EMS personnel render aid to a person whose capacity appears to be diminished, and we do not allow the person to decline aid and leave the scene, can we be guilty of violating the ...

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An assistant chief from Bristol Township has been ordered reinstated by an Ohio court. Assistant Chief Steven Craiger was terminated by the Bristol Township Board of Trustees for “malfeasance, misfeasance, misconduct in office and/or gross neglect of duty and that ...

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Today’s burning question: What is rarer than a fire department being a plaintiff in a lawsuit?  Answer: A plaintiff in a lawsuit being ordered to pay a defendant $30 million!!!! And note: the actual award in this case may be ...

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Today’s burning question: I responded to a motor vehicle roll-over accident. While attending to a patient I found drugs, cash and a drug pipe in his car. I collected the items and gave them to a police officer, who instead ...

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The City of New Haven, Connecticut has completed an internal review of its fire department discipline process and concluded that complaints from minority firefighters that they are disciplined more frequently and more harshly are not borne out by the facts. ...

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An assistant chief with the Clearcreek Township Fire Department has been demoted following a police investigation into the online impersonation of an elected official. Former Assistant Chief Christopher Vecchi was accused of impersonating Kelly Kohls, president of the Springboro school ...

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Two cases in the news lately have raised the controversial issue of whether firefighters have the right to use their red lights and siren to stop motorists who are driving erratically. The first case was from last July when a ...

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The San Francisco battalion chief whose helmet cam video captured the death of a plane crash victim last July has received a letter of reprimand for violating the department’s policy on unauthorized recordings in the workplace. Battalion Chief Mark Johnson ...

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