Not Again: Volunteer Theft and 1st Amendment Violation Caught on Tape
Two New York cases are in the news today, both of which raise the same frustrated response: not again!
In Charlton, New York, the treasurer of a volunteer fire department is accused of stealing between $400,000 and $500,000. Virginia DeCapria, 50, who served as treasurer of the Charlton Volunteer Fire Department was charged with grand larceny and several related charges for writing checks totaling nearly a half-million dollars to herself.
DeCapria’s husband Dean served as the Charlton fire chief and she was secretary and treasurer from 2005 until January 2011.
The department’s attorney, Terry Hannigan, was quoted as saying “Since we became aware of this situation, the board has completely revised the procedures that they use to monitor expeditures and purchases.” Incidentally, Terry is a firefighter-lawyer and we did a mock trial together a few years back.
Thus far Chief DeCapria has not been implicated. More on the story.
In Suffolk County, an EMS officer was filmed trying to wrestle a video camera out of the hands of a newsman. Dave Statter is all over this one – but it leaves me wondering – how do we get the word out about this kind of non-sense. The law could not be more clear. We have no right to interfere with people taking photos at incidents scenes. Worry about the incident and forget about the cameras!!!!
If it weren’t for crooked treasurers and 1st Amendment violations, you guys might have a little quieter action over here.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy your blog.
Hey Chief – if only that were true…. but it just does not seem to ever end. There is ALWAYS another case coming down the pike… something totally new – like the guy in a wheel chair being stung to death by Africanized bees and his family suing the fire department for not doing enough; or the fire chief suing his bosses for misleading him about his pension benefit; or the firefighter who took the severed foot of an accident victim… need I go on???
But when we see the exact same mistakes being made again and again… I mean how many treasurers, presidents, or chiefs have to steal $250,000+ before departments wake up? We are up to over 40 in 5 years and over 80 if you look at smaller amounts – ($20k and over) and I know I do not have them all…
Oh, no- let me be the first to say you have a never-ending supply of discussion over here. But like you said: with some interesting exceptions, the exact same mistakes, over and over again.
Is it a comment on our industry or on society? The hard part to reconcile is that we serve in what is considered to be an honorable tradition. Think of how bad it must be in sectors with lesser ethical standards.
We (the collective emergency services) must strive to seek those with better character, or at least get rid of those who can’t meet those expectations. Again, thanks for your excellent blog. I read it often.
Curt: i was the victim of a police interference of me taking pictures of a fire in manatee county florida “because she she thought it was wrong to take pictures of a fire”. i complained to IAB and the offical response was that “she left the department”. Through my own sources i discovered that she resigned to go to a federal agency so the truth was, it was swept under the rug. this of course has put a sour taste in my mouth. i cannot stand injustice and considering that all i asked for was that “officers be informed of what the law is” i feel i’m facing the “blue wall” (which is right next to the red one). since there is an ample amount of occurances of this type in the mainstream and internet media, i can only say that the public safety community needs to get the message that while you may be uncomfortable being videotaped, its the law and anybody can do it as long as its legal for them to be there to do it.
I’m curious as to your “cure” for this because if it happens to me again, i’m going for my day in court.
RJ
A cure….. I tend to follow the philosophy of W. Edwards Deming, and look at problems – not as isolated issues – but as part of a larger system.
Look at it this way. If we made a graph of firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and police officers – and their understanding of this photo-1st Amendment issue, the large bell-shaped part of the curve would most likely consist of personnel who don’t know what the law is. That is what needs to change.
We can sue and spank dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of isolated individuals each time they screw up but even that might not be enough to reach the hundreds of thousands who remain oblivious.
Both Dave Statter and I have been discussing the best way to help get the word out on this issue but it is going to take time. It is also going to take a serious leadership effort. We have to shift that bell curve – and frankly, there are alot of bell curves in the fire service that need to be shifted, some of which (like those that impact firefighter safety) have more urgency attached to them. Shifting a bell curve is fundamentally a leadership issue. I am hesitent to blame individual emergency personnel for this.
thank you for taking the time to answer me. what i really wonder is what caused this “sudden” war against videorgraphers? we saw none of this a bunch of years ago. i know it began with rodney king but after seeing te incident in upstate NY i was wondering whats going through some cops minds when they do this. they used to ignore photographers and video folks, but it seems now that there’s a war so sorts going on…BTW can i retain you if i get busted again?-lol
I understand that it’s not against the law to video or take pictures of a fire or accident. But, what about taking pictures or videoing the the treatment of a patient involved in the incident. Where I live, we have had problems with the news crews zooming in on the patient being treated, one incident was of a trauma arrest in a MVC. We even had firefighters holding up sheets and the news crew was trying to hold cameras higher to get the shot. Is this behavior accepted? Is this not a violation of Pt’s privacy? I understand its in public but, what about the family of that patient?
Darren
Great question! Just to clarify – not only is it “not against the law” for someone to take pohtos/video at an emergency scene – it is against the law for us to stop or interfere with them!!!
Keep in mind – photographers have to abide by what ever reasonable set back requirements you establish for their safety and so that you have enough room to work without bumping into them. That would be one option so they are not immediately in the face of a victim. We should not go beyond establishing the safety/work zone (caution tape) and asking them to respect it. Let the police worry about if from there.
Part of the problem here may be associated with recognition primed decisionmaking – where responders get locked in on a certain issue due to the emergency nature of what is happening and do not/cannot evaluate their decision.
As for patient privacy, if they are in a public place (public street, shopping mall, sidewalk) the public has a right to be there as well. While common courtesy would cause most people to keep a respectable distance, there is no law to requires people to move away from someone who is injured or sick.