Ambulance Gets the Boot in NYC

JPolston

Member
Mar 27, 2012
512
Indiana, USA
Last I knew, all emergency vehicles(while on duty) had a park anywhere card. The fact they are ticketing any emergency vehicle is pathetic. Just saying. I hate when people park in fire lanes, but if I pull up in the engine to run in and grab a handful of groceries for the dept., you can bet your ass I'm putting that truck in the lane.


I don't know the entire story, and just where they're parking this bus, but unless it's in the middle of the street, or going the wrong way, how the heck can you get off on ticketing ANY emergency vehicle?
 

FSEP

Member
Nov 11, 2012
844
DE
“The vehicle’s markings as a volunteer ambulance raised a question as to whether it was in fact defined as an emergency vehicle. Regrettably, the booting of the vehicle, turned out to be inappropriate,” he said.

That cool, dude. Screw with the people that might come save one day... Definitely a good idea as a cop in NYC. :hopeless:
 

Steve0625

Member
Jun 23, 2010
1,213
Northville NY
Solimine had no comment, but Michael Woloz, a spokesman for the NYC Marshals Association, called the boot blunder a “unique instance.”





“The vehicle’s markings as a volunteer ambulance raised a question as to whether it was in fact defined as an emergency vehicle. Regrettably, the booting of the vehicle, turned out to be inappropriate,” he said.



Ya know, I may be looking through rose colored glasses, but where I come from a volunteer ambulance is an emergency vehicle, period. There ain't no question 'bout it. That is truly the dumbest piece of back-pedaling I've ever heard.
 

JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
Steve0625 said:
“The vehicle’s markings as a volunteer ambulance raised a question as to whether it was in fact defined as an emergency vehicle.

He probably doesn't like VFDs either.
 

tvsjr

Member
Oct 7, 2012
611
TX
Irsh42 said:
I'd like to see them do it to piece of fire apparatus.

"Today men were going to learn a new type of forceable entry..."

Yep... two training opportunities here. First, removing the boot. Second, using the tools to turn the city marshal's vehicle into a convertible.
 

mcpd2025

Member
May 20, 2010
1,557
Maryland, USA
I've stayed out of the fray until now. I don't think it was the right decision to boot the ambulance. There are, however, a couple issues that people are glossing over.


That particular fire company owed $747 in unpaid tickets. This isn't just a matter of one violation and a boot. This was an ongoing issue that management failed to correct. Either pay the tickets or fight them in court. If the ambulances were illegally parked while running a call for service, there should be documentation of the call in the area at the time and a judge can dismiss the ticket. That was not done. Perhaps the volunteers are routinely parking illegally while not on calls? I don't know, but its obvious that they aren't following the procedure for satisfying the citations that were issued.


It doesn't sound like the ambulance was on a call when it was booted, yet it sounds like it was illegally parked when it was booted. How did it take HOURS to figure out it was booted and fix it? I'm not sure of the procedure up there, but down here the boots have a phone number on them that you can call and a keypad on them. You can call and pay over the phone and they will give you a code to remove the boot and you have 24 hours to return the boot to the issuing agency. If you don't wish to do that, you can have a parking enforcement officer meet you to collect payment and remove the boot. It doesn't take hours, it can be done in a matter of minutes.


Emergency vehicles are exempt from any and all traffic laws when on a call. Going to lunch, taking a dump, running errands, etc aren't justifiable reasons to park illegally. I'm not going to lie and say that I never do something I shouldn't, but if I get a ticket for something that isn't covered under the law, the ticket is mine to pay. I know that things happen. I know that sometimes we park where we shouldn't, drive faster than we should, say things we shouldn't. When you get caught, you gotta own it and accept responsibility.


They shouldn't have booted the ambulance, that was a poor decision by the city marshal (whomever that is...) However, the volunteers never should have amassed $750 worth of parking tickets. Once again, BOTH sides made poor decisions in this case.
 
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Phillyrube

Member
May 21, 2010
1,272
Flatistan
nightwolf said:
What's a "City Marshal". I know NYC Fire Marshals are LEOs, are "marshals" peace officers?

Robinson, 73, immediately sounded the alarm, reaching out to activist and Corps volunteer Kirsten John Foy, who alerted Chief Gerald Nelson of Brooklyn North precinct, who got the word out to the Department of Finance, on whose behalf city marshals collect unpaid debts.
 

FireEMSPolice

Member
May 21, 2010
3,429
Ohio
mcpd2025 said:
I'm not sure of the procedure up there, but down here the boots have a phone number on them that you can call and a keypad on them. You can call and pay over the phone and they will give you a code to remove the boot and you have 24 hours to return the boot to the issuing agency. If you don't wish to do that, you can have a parking enforcement officer meet you to collect payment and remove the boot. It doesn't take hours, it can be done in a matter of minutes.

So not only will they give me the code and I pay my fine, then they expect me to wait for parking enforcement to pick up the boot after I remove it or run it out to wherever they are? Nah. I will pay my fine, unlock the boot and tell THEM where THEY can come get it.


Ain-t-Nobody-Got-Time-Fo-Dat-sweet-brown-31241125-480-330.jpg
 

FireEMSPolice

Member
May 21, 2010
3,429
Ohio
I remember when I lived in northern Ohio. A neighboring townships unmarked PD cruisers got so many parking tickets by a neighboring PD that went unpaid, an arrest warrant was issued for the township trustees. A private citizen came forward and paid the fines for the township to end the issues.
 

fyrboy

Member
May 24, 2010
589
NC
mcpd2025 said:
Emergency vehicles are exempt from any and all traffic laws when on a call.
Not in NC if a vehicle is operated without "due regard for safety":


§ 20-145. When speed limit not applicable.


"The speed limitations set forth in this Article shall not apply to vehicles when operated with due regard for safety under the direction of the police in the chase or apprehension of violators of the law or of persons charged with or suspected of any such violation, nor to fire department or fire patrol vehicles when traveling in response to a fire alarm, nor to public or private ambulances and rescue squad emergency service vehicles when traveling in emergencies, nor to vehicles operated by county fire marshals and civil preparedness coordinators when traveling in the performances of their duties. This exemption shall not, however, protect the driver of any such vehicle from the consequence of a reckless disregard of the safety of others. (1937, c. 407, s. 107; 1947, c. 987; 1971, c. 5; 1977, c. 52, s. 3; 1985, c. 454, s. 5.)"
 

mcpd2025

Member
May 20, 2010
1,557
Maryland, USA
fyrboy said:
Not in NC if a vehicle is operated without "due regard for safety":
§ 20-145. When speed limit not applicable.


"The speed limitations set forth in this Article shall not apply to vehicles when operated with due regard for safety under the direction of the police in the chase or apprehension of violators of the law or of persons charged with or suspected of any such violation, nor to fire department or fire patrol vehicles when traveling in response to a fire alarm, nor to public or private ambulances and rescue squad emergency service vehicles when traveling in emergencies, nor to vehicles operated by county fire marshals and civil preparedness coordinators when traveling in the performances of their duties. This exemption shall not, however, protect the driver of any such vehicle from the consequence of a reckless disregard of the safety of others. (1937, c. 407, s. 107; 1947, c. 987; 1971, c. 5; 1977, c. 52, s. 3; 1985, c. 454, s. 5.)"
How fast was the parked ambulance moving? Was there any allegation of not being parked with due regard for safety?


I was making a reference to this specific incident, where the speed limit and due regard don't come in to play.
 

LLS

Member
May 23, 2010
517
NYC
Who's ready for a good one?


Starting in 2007 a scandal broke. The NY Daily News ran an article which stated that people were walking into the DMV, and registering their car as a government agency, getting the coveted NYS "Official" license plates.


Official License Plate Problem Gets Officially Worse: Gothamist


The problem is, that many quasi-official agency's such as the ASPCA, Lindenwood Volunteer Ambulance Service of Ozone Park, Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Service, Several Public Libraries, and several Volunteer Fire departments all used the "official" plates, which also have no renewal fee.


The brains at the NYS DMV, (all .0001 of them) decided that the best way to handle this is to allow all Volunteer Ambulance and Fire Department owned vehicles to register them as "official plated" vehicles.


http://www.broomefire.com/news/otherNews/2008/080819.pdf


Now anyone who lives the the "Suburb of Traffic Hell" knows that an official plated car will allow you to park practically anywhere in NYC, most PD's will give courtesy, even before they run the plate to find out what agency they belong to.


Along comes a dying Volunteer squad, that doesn't have enough members members to cover their shifts , and doesn't have money to insure but one ambulance of their 3 ambulance fleet. He realizes he now has an opportunity to raise revenue. For $500 he will give ANYONE a placard for their window, sign their DMV paperwork for VAS (Volunteer Ambulance Service) License Plates, and will give you an BedStuy Volunteer Ambulance Service ID card that says "volunteer" (instead of EMT or Paramedic)


Now for $5,000, he will register your private vehicle to the Ambulance Squad, allowing you to get the "Official" plates.


Now if anyone thinks I'm making this up, why would a Volunteer Ambulance Corps. That has zero money to pay for insurance for the Ambulances, have money to pay for several high end luxury vehicles (people that can afford to pay $5,000 every 3 years)? How can they afford to have such vehicles registered to them? I'm talking un-marked, high end Toyota's, Cadillac's, Lincoln's etc.....


These vehicles which are registered to the Agency have accumulated parking tickets, (some officers run plates)


The Agency (BSVAC) didn't pay the tickets, cause they never got them, the guys running around in their vehicles did.


And that's the story as to why their Ambulance go booted.


Ambulance corps van booted on Greene Ave.


White Plains Man Arrested After Irvington Police Chase - Police & Fire - Rivertowns, NY Patch


"Bed Stuy: Do or Die" - Trailer on Vimeo
 
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mcpd2025

Member
May 20, 2010
1,557
Maryland, USA
LLS said:
The Agency (BSVAC) didn't pay the tickets, cause they never got them, the guys running around in their vehicles did.

And that's the story as to why their Ambulance go booted.
VEEEEEEEEEEEERY interesting...
 

Turd Ferguson

Member
Jul 3, 2011
2,250
Sumner, Wa

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
FSEP said:
That cool, dude. Screw with the people that might come save one day... Definitely a good idea as a cop in NYC. :hopeless:

nightwolf said:
What's a "City Marshal". I know NYC Fire Marshals are LEOs, are "marshals" peace officers?

The NYC marshals are NOT Peace officers; they only handle civil matters. IMHO, they are essentially like a civil "bounty hunter" that makes money for each item seized, residence evicted, etc. I really don't like their title, because it makes many people think that they are true peace officers.


On the other hand, NYC Fire Marshals are employees of FDNY, but they are LEOs that carry weapons, make criminal arrests/investigations, & work in conjunction with NYPD.


MCPD, they are not a fire company & they were parked in front of their quarters when they received the boot. We don't know how they accrued the parking tickets in question, so we cannot say that they acted poorly. I do know people that have volunteered at BSVAC, and it is probably the most under appreciated & overlooked org/assoc. in that area. FDNY EMS response times in that area are long, Bed Stuy is a rough neighborhood with lots of trauma/assault & medical, & their program is one way to keep kids off the street. They have such a limited budget from donations (which aren't that much in a neighborhood with low income residents), & they have kept their doors open despite some of the hardest times...they can barely afford to keep their trucks on the street let alone pay $750 in fines (think about how many medical supplies or gas they have used that for). At one point a while back, the founder went as far as to operate the dispatch out if his own residence when they were having problems with their office. In upstate NY, I was once ticketed by university meter maids for parking my marked Fly Car (EV) in a "Life Safety Zone" and the local FD was ticketed the following week for parking in a "Fire Lane." Needless to say, neither agency paid those absurd tickets. The marshal was flat out a heartless ba$t@rd that was just looking to earn a commission, rather than think about the potential lives (of residents who truly depend on that VAS) placed in danger, and I guarantee there was no question in his mind about the validity of this vehicle as an ambulance because it is a well-known org in that area, it was marked as such, & parked in front of their officer (trailer).
 

mcpd2025

Member
May 20, 2010
1,557
Maryland, USA
pdk9 said:
MCPD, they are not a fire company & they were parked in front of their quarters when they received the boot. We don't know how they accrued the parking tickets in question, so we cannot say that they acted poorly.

Regardless... they owed a ton of money. Someone has to accept responsibility for that. They can shift blame all they want, but they screwed up (and it sounds like they screwed up OFTEN to rack up those fines) and ultimately it is their own fault. When I get hit with a speed camera ticket, I am responsible for paying it.
 

alr22508

Member
Dec 17, 2010
137
New York
They also give all their members who are not EMTs or Paramedics red light cards for their personal cars. They run around the city lights and sirens as they please. 
 

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