Unit 6 Writing Assignment: HAZ-MAT Scenarios

Unit 6 Writing Assignment

My position on this situation is that the Mayor made an ill-informed, but well-intentioned decision that will undoubtedly result in confusion and frustration. With that being stated, I think that the decision to put the NYPD in a position to take full initial command in situations involving hazardous materials is a terrible idea for two reasons; these reasons are because fire departments are better equipped to handle these emergencies and it unnecessarily fuels the fire in the feud between police and firefighters.

I think that fire departments are more equipped to handle HAZ-MAT situations because more often than police officers on average, firefighters are more highly trained in HAZ-MAT situations and techniques.

Moreover, the fact of the matter is that when dealing with the chaos involved in responding to an emergency, those in charge need to be the most knowledgeable, capable, and effective people available—and in this case, I think it would be the fire department. Another reason why I think it would be beneficial for the fire department to maintain on-scene command is that leadership at the fire department will know the dynamics of the personnel and their experience of past HAZ-MAT situations and will be able to use this information for the betterment of the current situation.

Also, another benefit of letting the fire department maintain control is that the fire department will already by familiar with the ICS and SOPs/SOGs-- which we all know, already can be confusing for those who deal with the situations regularly, let alone for someone who isn’t familiar at all—like the police department (Jr.,

Works Cited

Adwar, C. (2014, April 21). Why NYC Cops And Firefighters Keep Getting Into Massive Brawls. (Business Insider) Retrieved September 25, 2016, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-nypd-and-fdny-have-a-long-history-of-disputes-2014-4

Jr., J. B. (2013, November 26). Communication & Personnel Accountability for ICs: Keeping track means more than knowing where team members are. (FireRescue) Retrieved September 2016, from Firefighter Nation: http://www.firefighternation.com/article/incident-command-0/communication-personnel-accountability-ics

McIntire, M., & O 'Donnell, M. (2005 , May 10). Fire Chief Challenges New York Emergency Plan. (The New York TImes) Retrieved September 25, 2016, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/10/nyregion/fire-chief-challenges-new-york-emergency-plan.html?_r=1

Phibbs, W. M., & Snawder, M. A. (2014, November). Embracing the Incident Command System Above and Beyond Theory. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from