QUESTION ... What would your team do differently?
The following news article paints a poor picture of a team/agency that has made a "correct call" not to jeopardize the lives of officers/firefighters. Unfortunately they are getting terrible PR and the family is going to be the agancy's worst adversary for a number of years.
I am curious to know if any teams have a creative way to remain in the good graces of the family when the "no dive" decision is made.
Family's agonizing wait
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By RICHARD COWEN and DOUGLAS CROUSE
STAFF WRITERS
For the relatives of a man feared drowned, finding him was matter of urgency.
For police, it was a matter of pragmatism: It was no use endangering searchers' lives until the roiling Passaic River quieted down.
As a result, there were no police boats on the Passaic River in Little Falls on Monday. No police divers in the water. And no helicopters whirring overhead.
But there were frantic relatives of Joseph Rivera of Stanhope trekking up and down the muddy river bank.
A combination of bad weather and a fast-moving river continued to hinder the search for the 27-year-old Rivera, presumed to have drowned after the canoe he was in with three other men capsized early Sunday morning.
Police scuba teams have been unable to dive or even take a boat onto the rapidly moving Passaic, leaving frustrated family and friends of the victim to mount their own desperate search.
"We have been out here for two days, going up and down the river," said Rivera's father, Jose, 56. "Not once have we seen a police boat or a helicopter. Why aren't they doing something?
"I just need to see my son."
"I'll bet if it was a police officer or a fireman in the river, there would be a big rescue operation going on," added an angry Emilio Vega, the missing man's cousin. "But it's like my cousin is nobody important."
But the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and the Little Falls Police Department had been on the accident scene since minutes after the Rivera's three friends swam ashore around 3:30 a.m. Sunday to report their friend missing.
The Sheriff's Department has set up a command post on the river and, with notions of rescue now turning into a recovery operation, has scuba teams ready to go should the missing man be spotted.
But police say they won't take any foolish chances with the rough water.
"We're doing everything we can to find him," said Capt. Jim Hearney, head of Special Operations for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department.
"But the water is moving very rapidly now, and we cannot do anything to jeopardize the safety of the men," Hearney said. "We won't do anything to add to this tragedy."
Hearney said poor visibility due to low-hanging clouds made it impossible to summon helicopters on Sunday.
And rain that fell Sunday afternoon had the river moving at a quick clip, making it dangerous for divers and rescue boats.
Police were concerned that frustrated family and friends might take matters into their own hands.
"The river is moving so fast right now that you wouldn't be able to stand up in only two or three feet of water," he said. "It could knock you down and carry you off."
Rivera lived with his father in Stanhope, along with his girlfriend, Jill Gasco, 21. The couple had an 8-month-old daughter, Nevaeh. Rivera, who was unemployed, was a drummer with the heavy metal bands Psypher and Fallout Shelter.
On Saturday night, the couple went to visit a friend, Omar Manaya, who lived in a house on Greylock Avenue in Little Falls.
Manaya kept a canoe in the back yard, which ran along the Passaic River. Around 3:30 a.m. Rivera and Manaya set off in the canoe with two other men, Erick Mendez of Paterson and Cesar Castello of Wayne.
Mendez said they began paddling upstream away from Beattie Falls, but soon got swept up in the current.
"We lost one of the paddles, and I began rowing with my hands. Then we turned sideways and flipped over," he said.
The last time Mendez saw Rivera he was flailing about in the water. "I tried to save him but I couldn't," Mendez said.
On Monday, Mendez was one of about two dozen people who combed the banks of the river looking for Rivera.
Also joining the search was Rivera's girlfriend, emotionally drained by the thought her infant girl may never know her father.
"Right now, I just feel so dead," she said.
The following news article paints a poor picture of a team/agency that has made a "correct call" not to jeopardize the lives of officers/firefighters. Unfortunately they are getting terrible PR and the family is going to be the agancy's worst adversary for a number of years.
I am curious to know if any teams have a creative way to remain in the good graces of the family when the "no dive" decision is made.
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Family's agonizing wait
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By RICHARD COWEN and DOUGLAS CROUSE
STAFF WRITERS
For the relatives of a man feared drowned, finding him was matter of urgency.
For police, it was a matter of pragmatism: It was no use endangering searchers' lives until the roiling Passaic River quieted down.
As a result, there were no police boats on the Passaic River in Little Falls on Monday. No police divers in the water. And no helicopters whirring overhead.
But there were frantic relatives of Joseph Rivera of Stanhope trekking up and down the muddy river bank.
A combination of bad weather and a fast-moving river continued to hinder the search for the 27-year-old Rivera, presumed to have drowned after the canoe he was in with three other men capsized early Sunday morning.
Police scuba teams have been unable to dive or even take a boat onto the rapidly moving Passaic, leaving frustrated family and friends of the victim to mount their own desperate search.
"We have been out here for two days, going up and down the river," said Rivera's father, Jose, 56. "Not once have we seen a police boat or a helicopter. Why aren't they doing something?
"I just need to see my son."
"I'll bet if it was a police officer or a fireman in the river, there would be a big rescue operation going on," added an angry Emilio Vega, the missing man's cousin. "But it's like my cousin is nobody important."
But the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and the Little Falls Police Department had been on the accident scene since minutes after the Rivera's three friends swam ashore around 3:30 a.m. Sunday to report their friend missing.
The Sheriff's Department has set up a command post on the river and, with notions of rescue now turning into a recovery operation, has scuba teams ready to go should the missing man be spotted.
But police say they won't take any foolish chances with the rough water.
"We're doing everything we can to find him," said Capt. Jim Hearney, head of Special Operations for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department.
"But the water is moving very rapidly now, and we cannot do anything to jeopardize the safety of the men," Hearney said. "We won't do anything to add to this tragedy."
Hearney said poor visibility due to low-hanging clouds made it impossible to summon helicopters on Sunday.
And rain that fell Sunday afternoon had the river moving at a quick clip, making it dangerous for divers and rescue boats.
Police were concerned that frustrated family and friends might take matters into their own hands.
"The river is moving so fast right now that you wouldn't be able to stand up in only two or three feet of water," he said. "It could knock you down and carry you off."
Rivera lived with his father in Stanhope, along with his girlfriend, Jill Gasco, 21. The couple had an 8-month-old daughter, Nevaeh. Rivera, who was unemployed, was a drummer with the heavy metal bands Psypher and Fallout Shelter.
On Saturday night, the couple went to visit a friend, Omar Manaya, who lived in a house on Greylock Avenue in Little Falls.
Manaya kept a canoe in the back yard, which ran along the Passaic River. Around 3:30 a.m. Rivera and Manaya set off in the canoe with two other men, Erick Mendez of Paterson and Cesar Castello of Wayne.
Mendez said they began paddling upstream away from Beattie Falls, but soon got swept up in the current.
"We lost one of the paddles, and I began rowing with my hands. Then we turned sideways and flipped over," he said.
The last time Mendez saw Rivera he was flailing about in the water. "I tried to save him but I couldn't," Mendez said.
On Monday, Mendez was one of about two dozen people who combed the banks of the river looking for Rivera.
Also joining the search was Rivera's girlfriend, emotionally drained by the thought her infant girl may never know her father.
"Right now, I just feel so dead," she said.
....So, what would your team do differently?
