Fire police: A statutory comparison of the operational nexus between law enforcement and the fire service in six states
| Author | Wesley R. Attwood |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355720966627 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Fire police: A statutory comparison
of the operational nexus between law
enforcement and the fire service
in six states
Wesley R. Attwood
California University of Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
The disciplines of law enforcement and fire–rescue services have maintained a tradition of performing separately but
together in terms of cohesion at the emerge ncy scene. This can be attributed to differ ing operational focuses and
organizational culture, leaving a response gap in unified command and functional response efforts. In order to bridge
this cohesion gap, several states have implemented legislation that establishes an operational nexus between the two
disciplines. Known as “fire police” in corresponding law, these personnel perform duties that draw upon specialized
knowledge and practice in firefighting and police powers. Although these specialized personnel have been used for the past
several decades, a void remains in academic discourse of the duties they perform, the powers they maintain for exercise,
and where they fit in the emergency response picture. This investigation focuses on fire police within the United States and
performs a statutory comparison of the states where they exist to provide a better understanding of their role.
Keywords
Fire police, law enforcement, firefighter, statutory law, state law
Submitted 19 Dec 2019, Revise received 03 Sep 2020, accepted 25 Sep 2020
Introduction
Emergencies can present a number of unique challenges for
the communities in which they occur and those responsible
for handling them. As a result, contemporary response and
mitigation efforts must set forth unique skill sets to address
the variety of potential challenges that wait for them at the
scene. Within their separate disciplines, both law enforce-
ment and fire–rescue services have positioned their abilities
based upon continuously evolving threats, risks, and cir-
cumstances. Nevertheless, as both disciplines have
advanced, their cohesion at the emergency scene has
remained the same in performing separately, but together.
This can be attributed to the different focuses of their
response efforts. Fire service personnel are highly technical
and patient-focused problem-solvers (Stinchcomb and
Ordaz, 2017), whereas law enforcement officers are more
focused on conflict resolution and neutralizing immediate
threats. Many times, a dichotomous position of “us versus
them” exists within the latter discipline, which can put
them at odds with other personnel such as those in the fire
service (Garcia, 2005). At the scene, the fire service pro-
vides resources for fire suppression, medical triage, rescue,
and treatment. Law enforcement provides resources to
ensure scene safety, perpetrator arrest, evidence preserva-
tion, and traffic/crowd control (Noll and Hildebrand, 2014).
Differences in focus and task often manifest as disorgani-
zation at an emergency scene. As noted by the 9/11 Com-
mission Report on the efforts of the New York police and
firefighters, response efforts suffered from a lack of inte-
grated communication and unified command (National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks, 2004).
Corresponding author:
Wesley R. Attwood, California University of Pennsylvania, 250 University
Ave, California, PA 15419, USA.
Email: att7805@calu.edu
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(4) 428–438
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355720966627
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