Fire police
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Fire police hat.jpgFire police are unarmed volunteer firefighters with special police training who are responsible for traffic control, crowd control, fire and incident scene security, apparatus security, and station security during calls for service.
They also assist regular police when needed, performing road closures, traffic control, crowd control at public events, missing persons searches, parade details, salvage, security, etc. The primary role of the Fire Police is to provide support for operational requirements at moderate to major incidents.
The idea behind the fire police service is a simple one. During times of large-scale or particularly serious small emergencies, the response system can become overwhelmed. To that end, having a trained, equipped group of responders who can supplement or replace entirely police and fire department personnel at scenes is an invaluable tool to incident commanders.
Here are two widely different examples of how fire police assist the emergency response:
- During a severe storm, large service areas can receive twenty to thirty calls for service regarding fallen trees across the road, electrical wires down, and traffic lights out. Most normal response protocols would detail 1-2 police vehicles to block traffic around an electrical wire that is active in the street and 1 fire engine or truck to monitor it if it is still sparking. Fire police officers (who also have fire department training) can respond and relieve all three units to respond to other emergencies. If a town has a large fire police force, they can effectively double or triple the number of incidents that can be handled by the town as a whole. During widespread incidents like a thunderstorm or tornado, this can be a great asset.
- During a small scale incident like a large fire, fire police can add several additional officers to a scene to help gain control of an incident where many spectators and media may be drawn. Fire police often carry more sophisticated traffic control devices than most police departments which helps traffic flow easier.
Fire police exist in fourteen states of the United States including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and some other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand. They must take an oath of office and be sworn in by a magistrate, judge or justice of the peace. At fire service incidents, fire police assume the full powers of a police constable.
Some texts list Burlington County, New Jersey as forming one of the first fire police units. Laws in New Jersey State code as early as the 1850s supported fire police in their duties.