Before I start, I just want to confirm that I do not condone violence. However, using violence in self defence i.e. against someone who is attacking you, IS justified. Even the law of this Land, as well as other Lands, allows you to ‘administer’ a “pre-emptive strike” against people or persons who are hell-bent on unleashing physical harm upon you. And so it should.
When I saw a video (that will be shared on Emergency Services Humour later on today) of some feral inbred youths attacking Firefighters with stones and fireworks, I immediately thought that our brave lads and lasses in the Fire Service MUST be allowed and encouraged to defend themselves. If I was walking down the street, and someone started throwing rocks at me, I would be inclined to use a ‘pre-emptive strike’ to knock the offender unconscious, thus eliminating the ‘threat’.
But can you imagine the uproar that would be caused if say, for example, one of the Firefighters in the video knocked out one of the feral teenagers? There would be ‘uproar’ by a) the civilian media b) a very small section of society who have a very loud voice. But even amongst this uproar, 90% of individuals in possession of copious amounts of common sense, would see that Firefighters have just as much of a right to defend themselves as anyone else.
Just because Firefighters sign up to save lives, DOES NOT mean that they should be seen as ‘fair game’ when it comes to their desire and ability to defend themselves when up against the worst that humanity has to offer.
Next time Firefighters get attacked, then they should be allowed to train their high-pressure hoses on the attackers, in order to thwart their (the attackers) attempts at trying to cause physical harm to the brave men and women manning the thin red line. The same brave men and women who would run into the house of the aforementioned feral teenagers if their house was on fire, to rescue them from an almost certain death.
Such a ‘defensive’ act by Firefighters would also send a message to any delinquent & inbred juvenile who thinks that attacking Firefighters is in some way ‘ok’, that our Firefighting oppos are NOT going to just stand there and take bottles, rocks and fireworks being thrown at them.
It is all very well that certain sections of the media ‘deplore’ the activities of the losers who attack our emergency services, but they need to ponder the question as to whether or not they would support pro-active measures being ‘deployed’ by our Fire Service to defend themselves?
And just because there is a minority of people (who have very loud voices) who would condemn Firefighters defending themselves, then why should everyone pander to their loud and mis-informed voices when most decent folk would defend the actions of Firefighters in the face of incoming missiles in the form of rocks, bottles and Fireworks.
It will be interesting to see, if any Senior Management will have the balls to stand up and confirm that their Firefighters will be SUPPORTED if they do take a stand against the idiots who have a slim hope of ever becoming a decent person. Simply writing about how outrageous these attacks are, will never stop the sort of individual who thinks that it is ok to carry out these sort of attacks.
Defo should be allowed to defend themselves using necessary force/resources to stop said attacks.
My dad has been retired from the brigade around 10 years but even back then they knew if a call went in from a certain area they’d be getting some form of abuse. Some were prank calls just to get them to turn up so they could throw bricks at them and the appliance. Some were fires and as they worked they’d get pelted with bricks and the appliances attacked. This is not a new thing but they should be allowed to protect themselves. However you may then come to the catch twenty two defend yourself or continue your job that might save someone else or their property. The firefighters I’ve known over the years may well have wanted to ‘ring the necks’ of the people attacking them but the job was always more important, finish the job deal with the idiots later. You have to applaud them for that.
What needs dealing with are the morons that think it’s funny to attack anyone, let alone emergency services as they strive to do their jobs.
Feel free to defend yourself by any means necessary.
Of course they must be allowed to defend themselves!! The scum that are attacking them are just that, SCUM. Firefighters, Police Officers, Paramedics/Ambulance crews are working to save and protect the public. They should be allowed to defend/protect themselves from those mindless morons.