Bumble,

I cant believe you spoke with members of SFD, cause they just don't FIGHT FIRES PERIOD, cause the majority of their calls are EMS and citizen assist calls.  I also have a hard time believing that there is a police officer with a gun on all EMS calls.  But I do agree with the later part of your post, it will put ALL firefighters in a bad position.

How will they handle it?????   hose in one hand.....gun in the other.???

Please...Firefighters do what they do best...now they would have to have training for carrying a weapon???

NO NO NO........they do well and get respect for putting their lives on the line too....why create a problem when there

are enough fighting fires...

What is city thinking......firefighters fight fires......with water...  not bullets

Quoted from mikechristine1

So, what you are saying is that an officer calls in and no one is assigned to fill in for him/her.   Hardly

i rember bing tood there were 3 cars on duty in schenectady after it took them 6 hours to respond to a drunk who hit a parked car and drove away scraping his sideways wheel from crane to originals pizza before ditching it  i believe they dont have people who filled in 4 regular shifts let alone callouts

Quoted from Patches

How will they handle it?????   hose in one hand.....gun in the other.??

now if u said hose in one hand and beer in the other......

christine - if an investigator calls in sick or takes a day off, no one is called in to fill his shift.  that may be the case for patrol, but it is rare for a SPD member to spend the last years, thosie their pensions
are based on patrol,  the general trend is to become a detective after approximately 10 - 14 years,  and again - an eveience technician cannot fill a general detecive assignment and a juvenile detective c
could not backfill for a drug investigator. you are very misinformed.    

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Many cases await arson investigation team
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    The city’s new arson investigators will have their work cut out for them.
    Last year, 48 fires in the city were ruled intentional, and 13 were tricky enough that fi refighters still aren’t sure what happened.
    When the city’s investigators take on their first cases, they won’t be starting with a clean slate. In addition to the 13 fires of undetermined origin from last year, they have to finish investigations for 17 other fires. And that’s just last year — there are many other fi res that still need work, as well as all of this year’s suspicious blazes so far.
    “Whether it’s following up on an open case or interviewing people on a recent fire, there’s plenty of work,” Chief Michael Della Rocco said.
    The City Council is expected to approve the investigators’ new status next Monday. Then they will be able to delve deeper into some cases, combing through insurance records and criminal databases, all of which are available only to law enforcement personnel. The arson investigators will have that status through the District Attorney’s Offi ce.
    They already gather evidence — fingerprints and DNA have led to some arrests — and the entire team has the state’s highest arson investigation certification. But until they get law enforcement status, they can’t close cases on their own. They’re not even allowed to interview witnesses once it’s clear a fi re was an arson.
    Police are overworked and are willing to give the job to the Fire Department, Della Rocco said. The hope is that fi refighters will be able to close cases more quickly. .........................>>>>..................>>>>...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01503&AppName=1