Spying on the FD

[firemanmikey]

A friend of mine who is with a big city department in Alberta, Canada told me that the Fire Chief hired an investigation company to spy on firefighters in station and on scene. Particulary pertaining to seat belt use, or lack of. They only found out about this because of a Battlion Chief stationed out of their hall leaked it to the guys because he thought it was kind of "snake in the grass" thing to do on the Chief's behalf. He was supposed to keep it under his hat. So they kept a look out for these so called spies. The FF's would see people on the street taking pictures of them going to the grocery store, responding to calls, etc. So one day when they were returning from the store they were backing into the station and the Capt noticed a guy in the bushes snapping shots of them. He said hey guys, watch this....He got on the phone and called the police. Told him who he was and said there was some creep in the bushes taking pics of the kids in the school yard near by. The police we there in no time and out the guy in the car and he was there a while.

I thought this was pretty funny.


Mike

[mdtaylor]

I don't think it funny at all. It is bordering on filing a false police report.

How about simply following all the rules of your department and simply ignoring the people with the cameras? If you were doing that in the first place he might not be there anyway.

[N2DFire]

1) I agree that any officer or department doing this is kind of a crappy deal.

2) I agree that if you're doing what you're supposed to then who cares about some hired ***** with a camera

3) If that had happened here, I would have called dispatch on the phone (All fire, ems, and police are dispatched through the same center) and told them there was someone hiding in the bushes taking pictures of our station & then see if an officer couldn't hook him up under the USA PATRIOT Act or other Anti-terrorism laws since he's "spying" on "critical infrastructure resources"

[firemanmikey]

2) I agree that if you're doing what you're supposed to then who cares about some hired ***** with a camera

I realize that, but it's just the thought of someone setting this up.

3) If that had happened here, I would have called dispatch on the phone (All fire, ems, and police are dispatched through the same center) and told them there was someone hiding in the bushes taking pictures of our station & then see if an officer couldn't hook him up under the USA PATRIOT Act or other Anti-terrorism laws since he's "spying" on "critical infrastructure resources" [/QUOTE]


Which is what the stn Capt did.

[CanadianFyrTrks]

This is really a double edged sword, the Department is held liable if an accident occurs and it results in a firefighter being injured or killed. That being said, the Department should have made further attempts to gain compliance with every member of the department to have them wear their seat belts. Having PI's snapping photos of the members is very voyeuristic and plays on the whole department's emotions, how could they trust an Officer that doesn't trust them.

I agree with what the Captain did, to an extent, his for-knowledge of the spy and notifying the authorities was a little over the edge (However it was fairgame)

[ECCMac]

1) I agree that any officer or department doing this is kind of a crappy deal.

2) I agree that if you're doing what you're supposed to then who cares about some hired ***** with a camera

3) If that had happened here, I would have called dispatch on the phone (All fire, ems, and police are dispatched through the same center) and told them there was someone hiding in the bushes taking pictures of our station & then see if an officer couldn't hook him up under the USA PATRIOT Act or other Anti-terrorism laws since he's "spying" on "critical infrastructure resources"

Are you sure?

[N2DFire]

Which is what the stn Capt did.

Umm . . .Respectfully - No that's not what he did.

He got on the phone and called the police. Told him who he was and said there was some creep in the bushes taking pics of the kids in the school yard near by.

According to you - he called the police and reported that a suspicious person was taking pictures of area children - leading one to think there was a possible child molester / Pedophile there. All the while this Capt. knew exactly what the person was really doing - thus the Capt. lied. As mdtaylor pointed out that is filing a false report. And depending on the officers discretion, could have actually landed the Capt. in hot water.

That's a big difference from what I suggested. My "report" would have been true and factual of the situation, 100% defensible on my part, and (at least here anyway) would have resulted in the picture taker having an equally long & unpleasant conversation with the police.

As far as what the Capt. did - all's well that ends well I guess & I could overlook the whole "false report" issue because it's very unlikely that it would have gone that far, just don't try and tell me that the fabrication he told and the factual statement I suggested are the same thing.

[KingHippo]

A friend of mine who is with a big city department in Alberta, Canada told me that the Fire Chief hired an investigation company to spy on firefighters in station and on scene.

While this may or may not be true, I have heard of and seen similar things in the past.

This is the sign of a chief who completely lacks leadership skills. Such an act shows a complete lack of trust and respect of one's employees, and serves to widen the rift between the chief's office and the worker bees.

Yes, he might catch one or two guys not wearing a seatbelt. However, the other edge of the sword cuts deeper. I would imagine no one would go out of their way to make this chief look better, and morale (and overall performance) will suffer. There are other, more effective ways of increasing seatbelt use. By being a real leader (and not just a feeble manager), a fire chief should be able to figure out what these methods are.

[BULL321]

This is the sign of a chief who completely lacks leadership skills. Such an act shows a complete lack of trust and respect of one's employees, and serves to widen the rift between the chief's office and the worker bees.
There are other, more effective ways of increasing seatbelt use. By being a real leader (and not just a feeble manager), a fire chief should be able to figure out what these methods are.

AMEN Brother Amen, That hit the nail on the head. What kind of chicken sh*t chief does something like this? The same type that writes SOP that is near impossible to follow and get the job done right? Thats more worried about protecting the dept. not the FF? The same type that has his nose ran so far up the mayor ***, that all you can see of him is his feet. The kind that promotes the P.C. candidate and not the most quailfied person. The type of Chief that I thank God that I don't work for. If your in charge, act like it. The Job hard enough as it is with out ****** like this running things. F*cking Rat

Stay Safe/ Watch your back
Bull