COPS NOTEBOOK: Both (top) guns are blazing

<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>

For as serious as the swearing-in of new firefighters and police officers can be, there was no lack of good-natured ribbing Friday morning between Niagara Falls’ top firefighter and top cop.

Fire Chief William MacKay fired the first volley at the unusual joint ceremony that saw four new police recruits sworn-in while three new firefighters were elevated to the line along with the promotion of two new fire captains.

The firefighters are fresh on the job after completing their 12 weeks of training at the state Fire Academy in Montour Falls. The new police recruits won’t head to the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy until early February.

If you want to find out what your training will be like,” MacKay said to the rookie cops, “ask the group (of firefighters) who just completed theirs and yours will be a little less.”

As the firefighters in the room chuckled, MacKay added, “That’s why they give you guns.”

Not to be taken back, Police Superintendent John Chella noted that the Fire Department had provided the honor guard for the ceremony.

“Since the Fire Department provided the colors, maybe we should have provided the doughnuts,” the police chief suggested.

Stung by recent defeats to the firefighters in recent charity football and hockey games, Chella said Falls police have added some new civil service qualifications for their candidates.

“When we interview (candidates) now, we ask about their football and hockey experience. That can be a determining factor,” Chella sad.

Even Mayor Paul Dyster got in on the comedy as he worried that the new fire captains were putting the wrong hand on the Bible as they were sworn-in.

“If you get the hands wrong,” Dyster said, “you actually become a captain in the police department.”

Hey look at me

This week’s teachable moment comes to us from Sarah McDonald.

The 23-year-old Falls resident is a shining example of what not to do if you happen to be driving without a license and happen to have illegal drugs in your possession.

The rule in that case is, do not draw attention to yourself. Don’t do things that might cause a police officer to stop you.

Sadly for Sarah, she was apparently unaware of this rule. So as she motored down Pine Avenue near 17th Street on Thursday afternoon, not only wasn’t she wearing her seat belt, she was talking on her cell phone, too.

It was two strikes and McDonald was out as an officer pulled her over and, in addition to the traffic violations, discovered prescription pain killers in her possession, without a prescription.

Oops.

Crazy crime spreads

Not much surprises me in the Falls police blotter.

But in the Town of Niagara, I tend to think of crime as pretty petty stuff. Unless, of course, they import someone from the Falls.

That’s what happened two weeks again, when a Porter Road resident decided to bring home a suspect decried in the town police report as “ an unknown female from the downtown area of Niagara Falls.”

According to the report, when the resident got home with his new found Falls friend, things got a little, well, crazy.

“Victim stated that the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing him while engaging in a sexual act, the report read.

The man fought the woman off, sustaining wounds to his head and hands. Somehow, the victim managed to lock himself inside his home after the woman ran from the residence.

Town police responded and began an investigation. They got a huge lead, when they got a call from two other Porter Road residents who said a naked woman was knocking on their doors, asking to use the phone.

One of the residents apparently let the woman in, because he later told police that phone numbers the woman called were stored in his phone call logs.

Town officers were unable to locate their in-the-buff attacker and their investigation continues.

We’ll keep you posted on their progress.

Contact reporter Rick Pfeiffer

at 282-2311, ext. 2252.