TERMS OF SERVICE

    THE LEGAL AGREEMENTS SET OUT BELOW GOVERN YOUR USE OF ChicagoFireMap.net, ChicagoFireMap.com, PublicSafetyReporter.com, Arlingtoncardinal.com, ChicagoFireMaps.net, Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies, and Twitter.com/ChicagoFireMap.

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    PHOTO/VIDEO POLICY
    *** All photos or videos submitted by direct message, comments or posts on the Cardinal Emergencies timeline are considered eligible with permission to publish on associated websites and social media.***
    If you DO NOT want a photo published, please send notification by direct message with the attached photo or video, and specify that you DO NOT want the photo/video published (Write: DO NOT PUBLISH). If you want the photo/video credited, PLEASE SPECIFY: "PHOTO CREDIT: <<NAME>> .

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    The CFM Group refers to social media and website news reports involving public safety emergency news. By using the above websites and social media platforms, you agree that you understand the following terms, practices, and caveats of use of the website information and social media platform information (referred to in this document as the CFM GROUP).

    If you do not agree to these terms, please DO NOT use the services.

    1. The CFM GROUP provides breaking news information about public safety incidents in Chicagoland and around the world with the general mission of providing information to help prevent fatal, injurious and destructive incidents. In the spirit that NEWS is a rough draft of history, BREAKING NEWS is a rough draft of NEWS. You understand that information is provided as it was understood at the moment or moments when the news report was breaking. The reports might not be accurate, and might not be corrected. You are encouraged to use CFM as leads to information that might be updated by other news media agencies, and eventually may appear as a news report about a court case and ruling. In many cases, the CFM GROUP provides the first step of information in a continuum that reveals (with the help of other media and government reports) a complete understanding of the incident, including arrest or charges, a criminal judgement, a legal settlement and/or a report of the most complete physical rehabilitation possible. In many reports, news is aggregated from multiple news sources, including major media agencies, official government sources, and social media accounts.

    2. Information may be provided by public safety emergency communications monitored on a scanning radio that monitors police and fire radio channels. The scanning radio or "scanner" only monitors communications, and doesn't allow a user to ask the source of the message to repeat the message. Additionally, police and fire agencies often DO NOT reply to telephone calls or emails with a timely response for requests for confirmation. The information can be inaccurate or delayed for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

    a) The caller may have provided inaccurate information during the 9-1-1 call,

    b) emergency personnel may have relayed incorrect information,

    c) radio static or digital dropouts may have caused the information to be misunderstood, etc.,

    d) a mix of conversations during multiple unrelated incidents may cause a misunderstanding of a message, and

    e) information may be delayed for a variety of reasons -- including time needed to properly process the information from the incident; protection of scene security, scene investigation, or first responder security; overload of incidents or overload of tasks related to incidents; or systemic overloads including but not limited to equipment failure, Internet service disruption, Internet host failures, and maintenance of equipment, software or personnel.

    3. Addresses reported might not be the actual address of the incident. Addresses reported may be inaccurate for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

    a) The address given could be the address of the caller, not the address of the incident;

    b) the address could be an estimation by the caller;

    c) the caller reporting the incident could have provided an incorrect address; and

    d) the radio signal or digital transmission of the audio may have made the message difficult to understand.

    4. Information is provided to you to increase your understanding of public safety and risks that occur in daily living, or your job-related activities (especially, if you are a first responder). You are encouraged to absorb the information to increase risk awareness, and to avoid risks, and understand how you would manage an incident where and when you might become involved. You are also encouraged to share the information with friends, family and co-worker using the available social media provided in the CFM Group, or by other methods. You agree not to use the information for illegal purposes.

    5. While going to the scene of an emergency is not encouraged, you may find yourself at or near the scene intentionally or unintentionally. You agree not to operate a camera or update text information while driving. You understand that there are risks of approaching an emergency scene (see below). You agree that risks are not limited to those risks suggested below in this section.

    a) You could unintentionally interfere with emergency operations or cause obstruction of emergency traffic responding to the scene or leaving the scene.

    b) You could be arrested for obstructing the scene.

    c) You could be exposed to injuries, hazards or illnesses (such as, but not limited to, downed power lines, broken and sharp objects, body fluids, toxic gases, toxic or harmful smoke or other hazardous materials; violent acts by offenders at large, violent acts by friends or family members of victims, or violent acts by other bystanders; and to secondary crashes caused by errant drivers not paying attention because of distraction of the primary emergency scene, etc.).

    d) You may see something you wish you had not seen, which could cause psychological stress or feelings of hurtful or harmful emotions.

    6. You are encouraged to share photos or videos of the scene legally obtained, but you do so at your own risk, and you agree to be aware of risks in #5. You agree that you are not encouraged to take risks, and you are not compensated by CFM Group platforms in any way, except for the satisfaction of sharing information about public safety incidents with the community.

    7. You understand that when you share or post comments or images, you may be subject to harsh criticism by other people that read the page, and who may react negatively to your post or comment or shared image or video.

    8. You understand that an image or video may appear to show a person involved in a certain light; however, you understand that image or video evidence alone does not necessarily show the entire circumstances, and the image or video evidence alone does not convict a person or presume a person is guilty.

    9. While images published comply with policies of various platforms used by the CFM Group, you may still see an image or video that is disagreeable to you or someone you know. You are encouraged to express your disagreement, but please keep in mind that the CFM Group publishes information about public safety incidents as the primary category of interest. The reason for publishing images applies to #10 below in the interest of safety, reduction of risk, and reinforcement of judgement in activities of daily living and job-related activities.

    While you may react to an image or video and think that it is disrespectful to a victim or their family, you agree that you are open to understand that an image or video could be used in a wrongful death lawsuit investigation or criminal investigation and may provide crucial information that could aid in finding the truth about an incident that could exonerate an innocent person or prosecute a guilty person. In short, you understand that while an image may initially seem disrespectful, invasive or repulsive; discovery of the image may result in ultimate good for the victim or family when used in a court of law. Indirectly, the discovery of the image may also result in ultimate good for society, as informed citizens eliminate or reduce risky behaviors, and/or the image may be used for improved legislation that may support prevention of the disaster or accident that the image portrays.

    You agree that no one is forcing you to look at disagreeable photos (Note: Graphic photos are not published on ChicagoFireMap.net, but a link (with or without a warning) could bring you to page with news or images that you might find disagreeable). ChicagoFireMaps.net and PublicSafetyReporter.com may show graphic photos supplied by media -- including photos of crashes from news helicopters. Disagreeable photos may be posted by commenters, and possibly may not be removed, or possibly may not be removed in a reasonable time period.

    You understand that on Facebook you may see a shared image of something you wish you had not seen, which could cause psychological stress or feelings of hurtful or harmful emotions. You understand that an image that is disturbing to some people, may not be disturbing to others. Reaction to images is very subjective.

    10. You understand that the primary mission of the CFM Group web platforms is to learn from accidents and public safety incidents to improve performance to resolve active incidents (e.g., share missing persons information, share active shooter information, share threatening weather information, share hazmat information and many other threatening public safety situations, etc.), to increase safety practices, to learn to reduce risks, and to reinforce good judgment in activities of daily living, and to reinforce good judgment in job-related activities.

    11. You understand that any critiques of public safety personnel (firefighters, paramedics, flight nurses, emergency physicians, police officers, dispatchers) performances are not personal attacks on individuals, and that failures in performance issues are illuminated in relation to underlying human-machine interface issues, asset availability issues, communications issues, training issues, personnel selection issues, political issues and other issues of the overall system. You also understand that, in general, there is a spirit of utmost respect for the people who have chosen a profession in public safety (firefighters, paramedics, flight nurses, emergency physicians, police officers, dispatchers).

    12. You are encouraged to join the conversation and join a community of people interested in understanding hazards, improving safety and preventing harmful incidents and accidents -- while following social media platform policies. You are also encouraged to provide constructive criticism or compliments of the CFM Group web platforms using the Facebook MESSAGE function of Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies

    13. You understand that sharing an article by an official of any CFM Group social media source is not equivalent to endorsing an article. An article that is shared without a supportive comment (protagonist or antagonist) should not be considered an endorsement or condemnation of an article title, the article content, or any actions shown in photos or videos. Articles are posted and made available for open discussion, and readers are encouraged to respond (including with CRITICISM) when articles are inaccurate or biased, etc. CRITICISM of the choice of articles shared is NOT encouraged, and is not in accordance with the First Amendment and the Freedom of Press, which encourages discourse, solutions to problems, freedom of thought, and creativity of ideas. NOTE: Criticize the content, not the selection.

    14. You agree that you understand the Terms of Service of ...

    Facebook
    (www.facebook.com/policies) and,

    Twitter
    (twitter.com/tos and The Twitter Rules).

    You agree that you will comply with the terms of the social media platforms, and you agree that it is your responsibility to report offenses to the social media platforms, especially when you are a victim of a Terms of Service violation on a social media platform. In general, it is only a violation of Facebook Terms of Service that would get you banned from a CFM Group Facebook page.




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