Media Statement Released July 10 from Stephen Cassidy, UFA President:
Last night a firefighter attempting a water rescue could have been killed after an NYPD officer showed flagrant disregard for the firefighter's safety, despite a warning. We have been told that this situation was so dangerous that if the grappling hook thrown in the direction of FDNY diver William Murphy (Rescue 4), by a police officer, was four inches to the left or right it might have killed FF Murphy instead of just ripping his face piece off, and dragging him to the bottom of the Newtown Creek.
Just two weeks ago in another incident a firefighter was injured and then needlessly arrested while trying to do his job and rescue a person lodged in a chimney. Such behavior and acts of freelancing are dangerous and unacceptable, compromising the safety of firefighters, police officers and the public we are sworn to protect. I am calling upon Commissioner Kelly and the Mayor to take steps to clearly delineate the difference between what jobs firefighters and police are responsible for and protocol for command and communications.
The federal government requires municipalities to have an incident command structure in place for such occurrences and yet the administration has ignored implementation of an ICS here in New York. This is not acceptable and it is something sorely needed in our city, especially considering two serious incidents, one that almost cost us one of our firefighters.
