Cross-Training Police, Firefighters Rare In Arkansas

FILE PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Derek Crutchfield, left, and Josh Latham, both Tontitown firefighters, test a five-inch hose Feb. 19, 2013, at the Tontitown fire station. Tontitown’s City Council approved last week replacing the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety. The council also wants to add the Tontitown Fire Department to the new department.
FILE PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Derek Crutchfield, left, and Josh Latham, both Tontitown firefighters, test a five-inch hose Feb. 19, 2013, at the Tontitown fire station. Tontitown’s City Council approved last week replacing the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety. The council also wants to add the Tontitown Fire Department to the new department.

Establishing a Department of Public Safety in Tontitown goes against the trend in Arkansas.

The City Council approved last week replacing the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety. Police Chief Kris Arthur became department director. Public safety officers have the duty of responding to police and fire calls, according to the ordinance.

By The Numbers (w/logo)

Service Calls

Tontitown Calls for Service

YearPoliceFire

• 20111083276

• 20121084251

• 20131404288

Source: City of Tontitown, Tontitown Area Fire Department

The only large Arkansas cities known to have had public safety departments in which officers were cross-trained were Texarkana and Maumelle, said Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. Both cities have separated services into traditional police and fire departments, he said.

Sam Williams, Maumelle police chief, became the head of law enforcement in his town when it had a Department of Public Safety, he said.

"It sounds like a great idea when you have a small town," Williams said. "You might not have enough police calls to keep an officer busy and not enough fire calls to keep a firefighter busy."

The Maumelle departments were split because of the growth of the city and increased calls, he said.

"If you have your police officers fighting a fire in their gear, you don't have anyone to respond if anything else happens," Williams said. "Officers can't just walk away from a fire."

Tontitown's change to a public safety model came while city officials were negotiating a contract with the Tontitown Area Fire Department, an entity separate from the city. The council also approved a contract with the Fire Department that would make it a city entity in two years. The Fire Department board hasn't voted on the contract approved by the council.

On-duty police officers responded to fires before the change was made, Arthur said. One officer, Brett Freeland, has several fire-related certifications, and has operated the pump on the fire engine when needed, Arthur said.

The public safety officers have had volunteer firefighter training, Arthur said. The new Department of Public Safety has firefighting gear for several people, he said.

Minimal training is not enough, said Jim Tolewitzke, president of the Arkansas State Firefighters Association.

"It's about safety," Tolewitzke said. "With only 16 hours of training, you don't know enough to be safe for yourself and the other firefighters with you. You want to be able to go home to your family at the end of the shift."

Firefighters should receive at least 50 hours of standard training a year, Tolewitzke said. They also need training for other duties such as responding to hazardous material spills and functioning as emergency medical technicians.

"There is a lot of specialized training for firefighters," Tolewitzke said. "I'm not as familiar with police procedures, but I'm sure there is just as much training with them."

If you are trying to train as both a firefighter and a police officer, it could reach the point were you are training more than working, Tolewitzke said.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport has a Department of Public Safety, said Kelley Johnson, airport manager, but they have moved away from employees performing dual roles, as have other airports.

Law enforcement and firefighting have specialized duties at airports that aren't present in traditional organizations, such as security checks and aviation-specific firefighting, she said.

Cross-training is too extensive, she said.

Three of five West Fork Police Department officers are volunteer firefighters, said Chief John Collins. Those three, however, decided on their own to take the training, he said.

"It's not the policy for the department," Collins said.

The dual roles can create personnel problems, Williams said.

"Most police officers want to do police work," Williams said. "The same is true for firefighters. We lost some people, when we were cross-training, who left to take a job to do what they wanted to do."

Bill Carver, a retired Arkansas State Police captain and former head of the regional airport police, said he doesn't think cross-training works.

"The ones I've seen haven't lasted very long," Carver said. "People want to go back to the traditional departments."

Only 128 jurisdictions of more than 18,000 agencies in the country have merged police and fire administrations, and even fewer are cross-training police and firefighters, according to a study at Michigan State University. Fifty-seven are in Michigan.

The study is part of an attempt to assemble data on how effective consolidated departments are, according to an article in Michigan State University Today. As governmental agencies look at consolidation, mainly because economic reasons, the data can be used to provide facts about the process, according to the study which began in March.

NW News on 03/09/2014

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