UPDATED – Battalion chief handcuffed after refusing to move fire engine used to shield first responders on California freeway. CHP calls incident ‘regrettable and embarrasing’.

Too many highway cops feel that they must ‘flex their muscles’ when firefighters close lanes to slow traffic and provide a safe work area while performing extrications, medical care or firefighting operations on high speed roadways. These same police officers will completely close a highway to conduct an accident investigation or protect a crime scene. As a long time firefighter, I understand the P.D.’s need to close a roadway for their investigations … why is it that so many folks in law enforcement are unable to accept the fact that the fire service needs to be able to do the same when they are working on a roadway?

Kudos to the Battalion Chief who stood his ground and protected his personnel as well as the civilians involved in the crash. The Chief deserves a commendation from local officials and the police officer deserves a desk job without a sidearm …

Helmets off to this BC who put his own career down in front of his firefighters for their safety. If I’m not mistaken, CHP has the ultimate authority on California Highways and trumps any agency involved with incident mitigation. I guess the saying “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” is right. Or, it at least allows certain people to act like knuckleheads. Maybe, Governor Schwarzenegger will sign into law legislation that will not allow anything like this to ever happen again.

Somebody better send PONCH to some retraining. He’s the type of cop that winds up getting PUNCH’d in the teeth. The driver of that apparatus should’a threw that truck in reverse and squashed that motorcycle into a pancake. That cop sure puts the jerk in cop.

New or not, the CHP officer should be transferred away from the paradise of Santa Barbara and sent to the hell of Blythe or maybe Needles. Screw him.

Kudos to the BC for standing up for his people, hopefully, there is more to the story in regards to the fire captain’s decision. If not – shame, shame on him.

Too bad the Captain gave in. I would have told him to F@@K OFF…and then took the bolt cutters off my rig and cut the cuffs off my Chief! Screw that cocky bastard.

Go back to Bakersfield where you can push people around. You work for us, the taxpayer. Your job is to SERVE and PROTECT not to TICKET & HARRASS.

So let me get this straight. A high ranking officer aka fire battalion chief doing what they do all day, SAVING PEOPLE LIVES sometimes at the risk of their own (true meaing of “to protect and to serve) get arrested by THE NAZI REGIME for doing his job, again protecting others from traffic because um.. DUH there’s an accident, that’s what they get paid and trained to do!
So this retarded REJECT of a NAZI aka CHP Capt. Jeff Sgobba has the audacity to arrest/cuff and ticket a Fire Dept Chief for protecting his crew and the public?

And here we thought terrorist were the bad guys and retarded humans amongst the living.

CHP Capt. Jeff Sgobba you need a psychological and mental evaulation and someone should take your gun away. Go work at the mall for security or something. What a waist of our tax dollars

It appears the officer in question has parked his motorcycle in such a manner that if the Engine and BC’s vehicle had been moved, the pretty flashing lights on his motorcycle would have offered no warning to oncoming motorists (in the fast lane) of the upcoming obstruction.

I suggest the officer in question be reassigned to Pen Island (read it slowly), he seems to have the personality that would serve the residents of that island well.

Was that CHP even concerned about the persons involved in the accident might need immediate medical care? Would he take the responsibility if someone did die because of the delay?

Ive said it before…if the cops want total control on a scene, pack up the gear and leave, making sure to inform all involved that Officer Butthead is now in charge and all questions and requests for extrication, medical care and firefighting should be directed to him, Meanwhile we are leaving!

Listen to the press report, and both the CHP and FD spokespeople carefully. This sounds more like the clash of two Type A personalities that BOTH were spending more time flexing their muscles in a childish yes you are, no I’m not confrontation that is better left to the sandbox at the playground. This could have all been avoided with simple, open communication between the two of them. Two lunkheads, now everyone has egg on their face.
Oh, and if the battalion chief shown handcuffed is so concerned with the safety of his crew on a highway incident, then why is only one of his firefighters in the picture wearing now mandated high-visibility apparel? (I’ll bet that’s in their SOP’s too) The BC has nothing other than station apparel on. Chiefs – the first step in incident safety for your personnel is that you LEAD by example. http://www.respondersafety.com – read it, learn it, practice it.

A similar incident cost a Hazelwood P.D., MO police officer $17,500 in a civil suit brought against him by the Robertson F.D. Captain he arrested at an accident scene. See http://www.firerescue1.com/firefighter-safety/articles/350877-Fire-captain-arrested-for-apparatus-placement-awarded-17-500-in-Mo/

I have been in law enforcement since 1982. Both as a local cop and now as a fed. I can honestly say that this is one of the most unbelieveble things I have heard in a long long time. Arresting a FF ON the scene of a TC and leaving him in cuffs for all the passing traffic to see? Are you kidding? There HAS to be more to this than what we are hearing about. This is a HUGE lawsuit against the CHP and the State of CA. At a time when CA is bankrupt. My PD in OK got along great with the FD. If one of our guys had done this (if there are no further causal reasons forthcoming) he/she would have been a pariah on the job. He/She would be given desk duty no doubt about it. When the FD showed up on TCs that I worked they were given anything and everything they needed to help the victims. I did not care one bit about “impedeing traffic”. My God. How would that CHP trooper like it if it were his kid, wife or parents in the car crash? Man oh man. I would not want to be him right now. I remember what happened to a officer in NM when I was a brand new federal agent. Enroute to a triple homicide on the reservation he stopped me in my vehicle as I was running to the scene (to help the res cops by the way due to the suspect still being in the area and armed) Code Three. I thought he was following me to the scene but he pulled up next to me and motioned me to pull over. I did so and he started to berate me and wanted to know why I was driving so fast. I only had about a year on the job so I just sat there. Now, after 20 years on the job I would not have even stopped. But he wrote me a ticket even though I was enroute to a 10-33 call. Thank God everything was OK at the scene. The bad guy offed himself. Once the officer’s chief found out about it (from the Indian PD) he came unglued. Last I heard the guy has never been promoted and is still languishing in anonymity and has never lived it down. Discretion folks. Plus a little common sense might help too. Wow.

I agree with what has been said so far but If the Captain had said Tow it as I would have .. would the tow operator have told the chp officer – I cannot do that safely – find another hook.

Then what would have happened ???

My brother is a FF and my brother-in-law owns a tow truck business. Around here the tows are used to block traffic for the safety of all responders.

The B/C should have called for a fire marshall and had the cop run in for interfering with a fire fighter or better still the B/Cs should have thier own arrest power and hand cuffs.

Much of this problem was caused by the narcissistic, cavalier, and arrogant attitude of Career FFs who think they can do whatever they want because they are empowered by their corrupt union (IAFF). Cooler heads should have prevailed on both sides. There has to be a balance between having traffic flow at a reasonable pace vs. the overprotection of the accident scene which may cause a dangerous situation to other drivers and restrict the free flow of traffic. It is obvious that a reasonable buffer zone is required between the traffic and the accident scene. I agree with USAsince1680 that the fire truck did not have to take up an additional full lane which would certainly affect traffic.

CHP is the commanding agency at an accident scene on the Freeway. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Fire Department to be respectful of the CHP and their decision when safety was not compromised. And it looks like in this case, it was not. Turf wars happen when powerful unions overprotect their members at the expense of the public. Of the Volunteer FFs that I know, they would not have acted in this bigheaded manner.

What is a Battalion Chief doing (at a minor accident scene) without the proper protective clothing when a whole engine crew is there to do the job? I guess he wasn’t needed after all because for most of the time, he was handcuffed to the guard rail where he belonged after behaving like a child, and disregarding the commanding officer’s orders.

Loads of great comments,the truth is this guy should never work for any emergency service again, ever! That “law abiding” cop may want to look over the Fed guidelines for highway safety/response like we have and I hope he gets to do it from a jail cell.

It looks from what other people have wrote so far . That when your In trouble you call 911 but when this cop needs help and lets face it he will, he might want to call a crack head in stead of the fire dept. Every man and woman who dons a badge wheather it read police , fire , or Ems they lay there life on the line every minute of every day . They help the rich and the poor and lets speak the truth that fire dept will even help that cop one day . I have been in need of saving twice I will back up any one no matter what . I am true BLUE but I bleed blood RED . I thank god for each person who is out there .

you guys should find out all the facts before just running your mouths about something. its called 148 PC thats what the BC was arrested. people find it pretty easy to monday night quaterback something before they actually find out the real facts. an old man has a bloody nose from an air bag and like always fire tries to “body snatch” the BC was a joke and got what was coming to him and the officer has been working in SB since 2005 maybe the paper should do a little thing called real reporting before they print that crap