Fire Police

[EMT_Wells]

I live in a small rural township in central PA. We have no municipal police force to rely on so we have to wait for PSP. We do however have a Fire Police force for traffic control. As a one of the FP, I was wondering what LEOs felt about the Fire Police.

[greg72982]

Honestly I don't even know what differentiates them from other firemen. Only thing I have ever seen them do is work minor security details and direct traffic. I'm not a big fan of the title either, as I think it can be misleading to the public...Other than that as long as they dont try to pass themselves off as something they aren't I got no issues.

[Kimble]

I live in a small rural township in central PA. We have no municipal police force to rely on so we have to wait for PSP. We do however have a Fire Police force for traffic control. As a one of the FP, I was wondering what LEOs felt about the Fire Police.

If you're firemen that also do traffic control, I probably wouldn't call you over PSP if I was serving a warrant in your area, but I'd have just as much respect for the job you do as any firefighter. If on the other hand it was something similar to the airport police around here, who serve as both fully empowered/trained cops and firefighters, I'd definitely ask for your assistance if serving a warrant in your jurisdiction.

[Citicop]

If you're firemen that also do traffic control, I probably wouldn't call you over PSP if I was serving a warrant in your area, but I'd have just as much respect for the job you do as any firefighter. If on the other hand it was something similar to the airport police around here, who serve as both fully empowered/trained cops and firefighters, I'd definitely ask for your assistance if serving a warrant in your jurisdiction.

Kimble-

He's a VFF. According to Wikipedia:

Fire Police are Volunteer Fire Brigade/Company members who have sworn police powers. They receive special police training and 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, and other tasks as requested. The primary role of the Fire Police is to provide support for operational requirements at moderate to major incidents.

Fire Police are not authorized to carry ANY weapons in the course of their dutues under Title 35, Chapter 1201 of the PA code.

For more informaiton, see www.firepolicepa.org.

-Citicop.

[tcop733]

Never heard of the FP?
We have Fire Marshals here in my neck of the woods.
They have the same authority as any other peace officer, although I've never witnessed them writing traffic tickets.

[greg72982]

Never heard of the FP?
We have Fire Marshals here in my neck of the woods.
They have the same authority as any other peace officer, although I've never witnessed them writing traffic tickets.

In PA it's a whole different thing. Citicop provided a good definition. I must say I wasnt aware they had sworn police powers though.

Here the fire marshals are mopstly Troopers, I'd imagine local officers could also attend the training but it isnt very common that I've seen.