I work private EMS for a company that contracts to run the city coverage for many cities around Boston. We have a lot of interaction with the city PD’s. I had a call earlier in the week that STILL has me shaking my head and pulling my hair out and I needed to write it down and address the issues I saw. Some of these problems were due to lack of or poor communication, which happens when messages are relayed and is sadly often unavoidable.
I was dispatched on a hot response to “meet the PD” to pick someone up on a section 12….no further info. Arrive on the block where the address is, a busy street with mostly houses, one small commercial building, and a school across the street. No PD is visible on the scene. I shut down the lights, cruise by the house, make a U-turn and park 4 houses away on the same side of the street. I radio to confirm the address, and am told I am in the right place. Advise that PD is not on scene, and I phoned dispatch to see if I could get any details on the reason for the section. Dispatch relates that the section is filled out with poor handwriting, but was faxed by the patients psychiatrist. He can make out “paranoid delusions, threatening statements, aggressive behavior.” Dispatcher says we can wait for PD if we want….umm yeah. I backed the ambulance off another block, and parked on the opposite side of the street so I could see the front and side/rear of the house. My partner asked why we weren’t going to knock on the door, I explained that we had no idea what we were walking into. He asked why are we so far away….I explained that if this guy was crazy he could shoot at us from his windows. My partner then said…”That’s silly, why would anyone shoot at EMT’s?.” I really wanted to just rest my head on the steering wheel and cry.
We wait 40 minutes, and 4 XXPD cruisers pull up, 2 park a few houses away, 2 park down the side street. Smart. I see 3 officers and a Sgt, and the Sgt is carrying the beanbag shotgun. That was a “clue” that this wasn’t a typical call. I approached and asked what the deal was, they explained that this was a Vietnam Vet, he was having paranoid delusions, and he threatened to “shoot up anyone who came to get him, and go out in a blaze of glory”. Gee thanks for that tip, dispatch. They relate that they are familiar with him and that they think he’s just “upset about something”. I went back to the ambulance and put my vest on. Up until now, it’s a simple miscommunication that could have potentially ended badly had we not been aware of our approach.
Now….this large, city PD… Two of the officers and the Sgt stand on the side street, without visual of the house, in a huddle facing inwards at each other while they LOAD THE SHOTGUN FROM EMPTY. As they are doing this, the 4th officer goes up and knocks on the front door BY HIMSELF AND OUT OF SIGHT OF HIS BACKUP while they still dick around with the shotgun. A woman answers and says the guy hasn’t been home for hours. I then watched the three of them look puzzled as they tried to unload the shotgun. So they say he usually hangs out at a Dunks, we caravan over there and find he’s not there either. Officer says “I have his cell number, let me give him a call….” No answer, so they shrug and clear up and leave. I stood there for 10 minutes trying to process all the fail I just witnessed.
He’s making threatening statements…enough it warrants 4 cars and deploying the LL shotgun…you have his CELL PHONE number, and you don’t call him and ask him to step outside and talk. Worse, you knock on the door alone and completely out of sight of your backup….who would have only been reactionary anyway?? WTF???? These weren’t young kids either, they all had years on. The Sgt clearly seemed unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the LL gun…which you should be able to load/unload/clear blindfolded. Not to mention deploying a LL gun ONLY to a person making lethal threats. No other rifles/shotguns present, but it wouldn’t have mattered as they had no visual in the first place.
And no debrief afterwards, no discussion, no “hey, what were the rest of you guys doing while I was on the porch by myself?” Complacency kills, everything around here seems to be run on luck and “hey, it worked last time.” There’s nothing heroic about taking a bullet because you were using shit tactics or had your head up your ass. Please, step your game up.
I was dispatched on a hot response to “meet the PD” to pick someone up on a section 12….no further info. Arrive on the block where the address is, a busy street with mostly houses, one small commercial building, and a school across the street. No PD is visible on the scene. I shut down the lights, cruise by the house, make a U-turn and park 4 houses away on the same side of the street. I radio to confirm the address, and am told I am in the right place. Advise that PD is not on scene, and I phoned dispatch to see if I could get any details on the reason for the section. Dispatch relates that the section is filled out with poor handwriting, but was faxed by the patients psychiatrist. He can make out “paranoid delusions, threatening statements, aggressive behavior.” Dispatcher says we can wait for PD if we want….umm yeah. I backed the ambulance off another block, and parked on the opposite side of the street so I could see the front and side/rear of the house. My partner asked why we weren’t going to knock on the door, I explained that we had no idea what we were walking into. He asked why are we so far away….I explained that if this guy was crazy he could shoot at us from his windows. My partner then said…”That’s silly, why would anyone shoot at EMT’s?.” I really wanted to just rest my head on the steering wheel and cry.
We wait 40 minutes, and 4 XXPD cruisers pull up, 2 park a few houses away, 2 park down the side street. Smart. I see 3 officers and a Sgt, and the Sgt is carrying the beanbag shotgun. That was a “clue” that this wasn’t a typical call. I approached and asked what the deal was, they explained that this was a Vietnam Vet, he was having paranoid delusions, and he threatened to “shoot up anyone who came to get him, and go out in a blaze of glory”. Gee thanks for that tip, dispatch. They relate that they are familiar with him and that they think he’s just “upset about something”. I went back to the ambulance and put my vest on. Up until now, it’s a simple miscommunication that could have potentially ended badly had we not been aware of our approach.
Now….this large, city PD… Two of the officers and the Sgt stand on the side street, without visual of the house, in a huddle facing inwards at each other while they LOAD THE SHOTGUN FROM EMPTY. As they are doing this, the 4th officer goes up and knocks on the front door BY HIMSELF AND OUT OF SIGHT OF HIS BACKUP while they still dick around with the shotgun. A woman answers and says the guy hasn’t been home for hours. I then watched the three of them look puzzled as they tried to unload the shotgun. So they say he usually hangs out at a Dunks, we caravan over there and find he’s not there either. Officer says “I have his cell number, let me give him a call….” No answer, so they shrug and clear up and leave. I stood there for 10 minutes trying to process all the fail I just witnessed.
He’s making threatening statements…enough it warrants 4 cars and deploying the LL shotgun…you have his CELL PHONE number, and you don’t call him and ask him to step outside and talk. Worse, you knock on the door alone and completely out of sight of your backup….who would have only been reactionary anyway?? WTF???? These weren’t young kids either, they all had years on. The Sgt clearly seemed unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the LL gun…which you should be able to load/unload/clear blindfolded. Not to mention deploying a LL gun ONLY to a person making lethal threats. No other rifles/shotguns present, but it wouldn’t have mattered as they had no visual in the first place.
And no debrief afterwards, no discussion, no “hey, what were the rest of you guys doing while I was on the porch by myself?” Complacency kills, everything around here seems to be run on luck and “hey, it worked last time.” There’s nothing heroic about taking a bullet because you were using shit tactics or had your head up your ass. Please, step your game up.