Makes me sad to be a paid Federal Firefighter...

[devildog4]

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/20020216-9999_7m16molest.html

Fire chief suspected of child molestation

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
February 16, 2002

A La Mesa man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of sexual activity with a minor, police said.

David Kent Martineau, 48, chief of the federal fire department that serves San Diego area military installations, is accused of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy he met through the Internet, police said.

Martineau has been booked into County Jail on suspicion of sodomy with a person less than 18 years old, oral copulation on a person less than 18, possession of child pornography and penetration with a foreign object, police said.

La Mesa Detective Justin Smith said Martineau was arrested at his home yesterday after detectives executed a search warrant.

[SilverCity4]

Unfortunately, even if he is proven innocent, it still looks bad. Not just for federal firefighters, but for all firefighters. I don't think any less of federal firefighters because of the story. Hope everything works out for you.

[FDNYRR]

Silver City....why should this affect you? Firefighters are like anyone else, they have assests and defects, some are good, others bad. Something like this should make you want to prove to people, there are more good then bad in the Fire Service. Hey I can't speak for other religions, but in the Roman Catholic religion there have been priests accussed and convicted of the same things. Certainly doesn't make it right, but it won't shut down the church or the Fire Service.:(

"All gave some...Some gave all!"
9/11/01
Lest we forget!:(

[FDNYRR]

Silver City....DD4-why should this affect you? Firefighters are like anyone else, they have assests and defects, some are good, others bad. Something like this should make you want to prove to people, there are more good then bad in the Fire Service. Hey I can't speak for other religions, but in the Roman Catholic religion there have been priests accussed and convicted of the same things. Certainly doesn't make it right, but it won't shut down the church or the Fire Service.:(

"All gave some...Some gave all!"
9/11/01
Lest we forget!:(

[SilverCity4]

FDNYRR,

I should have posted "it still looks bad to the public". I realize that there are all types in the fire service. It makes me cringe because of what the public thinks when they hear a story like that.

Take two guys, both accused of theft or whatever. One is a construction worker and the other a firefighter. One headline (if it even makes the paper) would read, "Suspect Arrested for Theft". The other would read "Firefighter Arrested for Theft". Even if the guy was a FORMER firefighter, you can bet the article will mention that he was a firefighter and the department he served on.

The fire service needs a positive public image. The more the public trusts and respects the department, the easier it is to get the budget passed and the like. And while many departments are riding a wave of goodwill as a result of the dedication and sacrifice that FDNY demonstrated, we can't (and would be foolish to) expect that to continue indefinately.

[devildog4]

It effects me for a number of reasons:

1. He was a former Chief of mine.

2. As a Fire Chief, he should be leading by setting
an example.

3. As a Fire Chief, he should have integrety and be
beyond reproach.

4. As a Fire Chief, he should not be molesting little
boys!

any more questions?:mad:

[NYSEMTD]

Originally posted by devildog4

2. As a Fire Chief, he should be leading by setting
an example.

3. As a Fire Chief, he should have integrety and be
beyond reproach.

4. As a Fire Chief, he should not be molesting little
boys!



I did not quote the first one, because that is peronal with you, and I can not comment to that, but I agree with you for the rest of them. Of course the key words here are the 'Should's. We all, as public servants, have things that should be. For the most part, we hold up our end of the bargain. Unfortunately, when we don;t it never fails to get pointed out that we are public servants. That is what sells newspapers. All I can say is that we all need to strive to maintain thos standards, and people will see it, eventually.

Good luck.

Jim

[The Fire Guy]

The reason that the press points out that some scumbag arrested for something awful is a firefighter, when said scumbag is a firefighter, is because it's UNUSUAL for a firefighter to be a scumbag! Think about it: It's not news when said scumbag was a construction worker because... Well, it's just not "news."

When firefighters, (or cops, can't forget our gun-toting bro's) do that crap it is news. And it is because of that whole position-of-public-trust thing and all that, but most importantly, because it's not a NORMAL thing! In my city there are probably 50 DUI arrests every single day of the year. Of those folks who fail the walk-a-straight-line test of the side of the road, maybe one or two every few years are firefighters. Hey, that's a pretty unusual occurance numbers-wise, and then you put that whole position-of-public-trust issue into the mix, and it's good for a space-filler story in the morning rag. Hence the "Firefighter arrested for DUI" headline.

Folks, we ARE better than "they" are. Don't forget that. That's why it gets in the paper when we do bad stuff and it's only one more reason that we shouldn't! Pretty simple. Any questions?

[FDNYRR]

DD4-SILVER CITY............Please don't mis-understand me, I did not say I condone it.......only that "we"(FF's) are not excluded from the wrongs. There's an old saying....."Build a thousand bridges, they'll forget you, suck one sour pickle, they'll never forget!" The point is, aside from being a personal friend (that has to be tough) what this guy did should not affect the person you are.......or how you transmit to other people. The way you feel now, is commendable and eventually will overshadow what the other fellow did!:)

"All gave some...Some gave all!"
9/11/01
Lest we forget! :(

[devildog4]

He appeared today in court...bail was set at $100,000 and he pled not guilty. More to follow...

[devildog4]

He is being charged with 11 felony counts. The prosocutor asked for $ 200,000 dollars bail because "Martineau is a clear danger to the public"....

[FFDrew54]

It's too bad the media has to bring any employer into any incident that one is responsible for. I do see the need for it to happen but that is the american way. Unfortunately it's not for me to know and you to find out anymore. It's more like for everyone to know and for me to sit in the dog house. It's also unfortunate that public servants tend to get more media attention than a private citizen does. I'm sure if it was someone that worked at WalMart that it would have been a small write up at the end of the paper, someplace between the sports and the classifieds.

[captstanm1]

This will probably stir up a hornets nest but.... After 09-11 Firefighters, Police Officers and Military Personnel were the love of the Country. Everywhere you went people shook your hand, hugged you, gave you stuff.

Now we (the fire service) are in the lime light again, but this time it is a negative conotation. Innocent until proven guilty is the way we should stand. But if he is guilty, how will that change the public view of the Fire Service??? Even if he is innocent, some will never forget (memory like elephant).

On another note.....How would you feel if you had kids and your kids had been around this accused person? What if they had stayed there with his children for the evening?

I also agree on the media thing...But they starve for juicy information and often publish just the part that makes it reading material. We were not there and do not know all the details and therefore should not judge. But wrong is wrong and no matter the outcome, the image of the "fire service" in general has been tarnished once again. Any negative publicity tarnishes out image...just like the horrible event in New York that caused a firefighter fatality in training. It just looks bad!