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Make sure you read this entire article from William Kaempffer at the New Haven Register. It gives two different versions of a dispute in New Haven, Connecticut on Wednesday evening between Lieutenant Filipe Cordero of the fire department and police officer Newt Anderson. They were each dealing in their own way with a woman apparently overdosing on drugs. Lt. Cordero ended up being taken away in handcuffs. He was not charged and was allowed to go back to the Lombard Fire Station to finish his shift. Here are excerpts:
“The lieutenant went over to him (Anderson) and asked him if he could calm down and relax because he was creating a situation. They were trying to get this woman to calm down and go to the hospital. It was getting her upset because this cop was kind of berating her,” the firefighter said, asking not to be identified. “That’s when the officer said, ‘Back off, I’m in charge.’ The next thing you know, he grabbed (Cordero) and pushed his arm around and put him in handcuffs.”
Police Department officials, however, said Cordero was the aggressor, and Anderson handcuffed him only after Cordero “got in his face” and refused to back off.
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I'm not sure how this call was dispatched. If it was a criminal complaint then the PD should have been in charge. If the call was for a medical emergency it should have been a FD call.
The issue itself speaks more to how we view drugs in this nation, and how various groups think their use should be treated. The war against illegal narcotics has been going on for over 100 years, and to date has been a dismal failure.
The government can't keep drugs out of our state prisons, how do we expect to stop their use through continued criminalization. We should legalize drugs, tax the daylights out of them, educate people about drug use, and treat the abuse of them as a disease.
There are about 10-12 comments regarding the article in the New Haven Register and all are supportive of the fire lieutenant. Most, if made by layman, were able to see this was a medical emergency and not a drug bust. So super cop was not in charge.
As a lieutenant I have had one instance like this one, injured person in vehicle and cop wants to pull the vehicle into a parking lot…..Not. His sergeant showed up and explained the law to him. It should never have to reach that point but sometimes a reality check is needed.
What troubles me more, the Lt was released so that's ok now, but the comments the cop made to a human being suffering a drug overdose! The PD may see things differently, but, the fire department treats people the same regardless of their affliction, wealth, or race. At least here we do.
Remember, this article says the person bought and used drugs (addiction) she was not out "slingin rock"………
Well I say the FD should walk away and refuse to roll on any call that is intitiated by the PD…let them haul the puking drunks and addicts in their dohnutmobiles. I DONT TAKE ORDERS FROM COPS ON A FIRE CALL. They have no business there.
PD could have made the scene unsafe for the firefighters by making the woman mad and then attack the firefighters instead of the officers. they should have waited until fd had the woman removed from the car to start their search and also kept their freaking mouths shut.
WOOOO Ain't that cop a real tough guy! Sorry the call interupted your coffee break. If I were the FF, I'd be thinking civil lawsuit-false arrest-early retirement for me.
Knowing all about firefighters' egos and attitudes it is pretty easy to see who was really at fault.
To the Above Blogger…..
Must be a Cop……..Go eat a donut and direct some traffic at an out of service stop light……
Giving a 21 year old a gun and giving them power is like giving a 3 year old a power drill NOT A GOOD IDEA
Go to your Cop web site and whine on their…….. Anyway we get along great with our Police and state police in my world……
I have also had one run in many years ago with an Officer trying to get me to move the Heavy Rescue on a house fire……. Needless to say he got a few days on the street without pay………
COPS do cop stuff
Fireman do Fireman stuff