Colors.

[Sago]

Colors. You may think that this is a moan topic but Kirby is serious about this one. Listen up and listen good, i will give you the reality of the different rank colors.

Back in June 26, 2009 i remember seeing these dark blues in squad cars. Even the cyan cadet colors stood out to me. I thought "Hey, i want to be that". This dark blue was a goal for me, i lusted for it, i worked for it and on August 2nd i finally received it. Boy was i happy, i felt like i accomplished a great goal. This color represented that i worked for it and earned it honestly. I've earned my stripes and worked harder then i have ever before with SACS and Los Santos. I idolized about becoming an Academy trainer and a Sergeant throughout my career and was eventually reformed into LSPD. I walked around as a role model to the light blue free officers and cyan Cadets, those were the good days.

I remember logging in and seeing all the cops the same color. I thought this was some sort of joke because surely everything i have worked for was ripped from me until it was official. Man was i pissed, confused and disoriented but i learned to cope. Neither me or any of my team mates of the ARPD were role models anymore. In retrospect we were all equal. Sure, everyone being equal sounds great but the reality is that it caused more imbalance than the Colors did. Many people despised it and many approved of it. I was sort of in the middle leaning towards disapproval. I was willing to give it a chance to see how it works out, not that i had any say in it at all.

Now its almost a year since the colors have been removed. The effects are devastating and just ridiculous.

The ARPD is dwindling. our officer count has lowered substantially to the point where SFPD is almost staff less and LSPD inactive. You may be looking at our members list and saying that we have a lot of members. Yes, we have 19 but only 5 of them are truly active. "Its your job to motivate your Officers". With what? Promotions? Money? There is absolutely no difference between a Free cop and an Officer today. Official recognition in the eyes of the ARPD maybe, but in the eyes of a normal citizen we are all the same. Its a common misinterpretation that people judge others by who they are and not what they are.

If you are still lost on what im talking about, here is an example:

Jimmy wants to become an Officer today because he wants to be Official. He goes on duty and obtains a Silver badge with an Eagle and 5 feathers on it.

Jimmy becomes a Cadet and receives his badge which is still silver and with an eagle but with 1 more feather on the eagle giving him 6.

Jimmy becomes an Officer and receives a new badge which is silver with an eagle and 7 feathers on it as well as SMG.

Jimmy eventually becomes a Sergeant with a silver badge and 9 feathers on it.

Jimmy realizes that there is no distinct difference or improved responsibilities.

There is no difference between Free cop and Officer or even Senior Officer. I look at myself and then i look at a Freecop in game and i wonder, what has he done to deserve that badge. What has he done to have the same color, to be equal to me. The answer is nothing. "But colors caused freecop abuse" keep on thinking that. Yeah, i heard that the leaders got shitted on when they went on free cop duty. So did i. But did i give a shit? I wanted to strive for the best. I even had a gentlemen named Maladoi say to me that i should just give up. I kept going regardless and here i am today telling you what happened.

Im not going to say this nicely, the point of the colors was to make us equal. Unfortunately we are all treated like shit today. Everyone. Freecops, Officers, etc are all suffering because of this color change. I do my best to keep the ARPD at the best quality but i'll be honest, its hard. Very hard. A person in my position has very few chances to try and make a change. Abilities were stripped, this taken away, that changed. No more frisk, no more illegal weed. Our job is slowly being rendered useless except to engage suspects in gun fights, which is f**king ridiculous.

"Kirby if you don't like it, why are you still in the ARPD?" I've had a rough and bumpy career and the only thing that kept me going and still does is the possibility, even if its a slim one, that things can change and improve for the better. Today i am a Sergeant and Academy examiner and i look at free officers and there is a small difference. My experience has allowed me to gain these small abilities such as /cancelsuspect and forum abilities. This topic is coming from a person at the top of his career.

I've been asked by my department leader Vince to help recruit officers into LSPD because of our inactivity and i told him it was impossible. I tried to explain to him why but he didn't get the whole picture. This topic is the root cause of why i can't accomplish that goal and can only accomplish my other goal, which is Internal Affairs work with cop bans and punishments.

The respect is just gone. This video is just horrible disrespect and a prime example of why we need to change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZXnS3xnYwA

The ability to be a cop on this server is a privilege, not a right, not a given and definitely not a part of Argonath you should abuse. We will take it away from you.

There is a solution, however. And im sure by now you have figured it out. Remove the free cops or bring back the colors, bring back our pride. If we can't do this then the department as a whole will dwindle apart and lose hope. Change for the better.


Sincerely,

Kirby

P.S I can explain the situation better in voice then through text. Come talk to me about it on team speak if you want.

[Boozman]

Kirby, I'm glad this has been addressed.

I could not agree more with you.
People say its only a color, but it impacts the SAPD alot, just look at it now.

There is not all that much to be gained from going fron Freecop to Cadet to Officer. Colored names were one thing that stood out, that gave you respect, that you are willing to work towards. I remember myself as a freecop thinking the same thing.

It would motivate Officers, It would interest new Cadets, and it would better the SAPD.

I hope this is really taken into consideration.
As Kirby said, Change for the better.

[SKenney]

Well said  

I remember those days. What glorious times. I remember first comming into Argonath and learning all about the cops. Whenever I saw a dark blue name, I knew it was someone that knew their shit. I remember getting Officer and being part of the well built police machine of the ARPD. I remember alot back then. Way before I was in SACS.

But, im a Freecop these days. Its still a great idea to bring back the original colors. Why were they changed anyway? It slipped my mind somewhere...

[Ed_Lane]

I also remember it people treat me as a free cop nowadays due to the name colour cause they don't know i am an officer

[smey]

I don't care about colors, but you do have a point about the SAPD. But I wonder if that has to do with colors, or more with the new divisions.

[Sushi]

The activity sure has dwindled and many people have been promoted simply because there wasn't anyone else to fill the position. I am one of the prior who have dwindled because of studies but that isn't the point.

It's true though, our colours meant something, the colour of cyan represented a new player or someone who couldn't be bothered becoming an officer, most importantly it was a symbol of someone striving to become one of the dark blues like many other officers. Hell, because of my timezone I strived so hard to become an officer and now it's all gone.

I don't mind too much, I get it, the Chiefs wanted equality and this has been preached numerous times by many different people. We all say, our badge is a symbol of qualification, hardwork and determination. It isn't a product of time and although patience is a factor in the officer process, time should not be the determining factor in why we get our badges. Our colours represented someone who was willing to aquire the neccessary skills before becoming an officer or higher.

I'd just like to say, our ranks, they're losing meaning, it's becoming more of a competition of who can be someone elses better friend etc rather than displays of skill as an police officer and this is not targeted at anyone specific.

Moreover, that video is blatant disrespect towards someone who honestly wants whats best for the ARPD, the comment about SASD/ACSD being treated badly, I can't comment on that seeing as I was not around during the formation of SASD and my comments may be seen as biased due to my past association in SACS.

As Kirby said our RP roles are slowly fading, we try to differentiate from the usual gun fights and integrate into genuiene roleplay.

I've been around for a fairly long time, although my activity seems miniscule because of my timezone, I've tried my best to make any sort of impression upon the ARPD, because of my now exam period I cannot be active, but I sure as hell would like to be around right now and help hold the ARPD up with everything I've got.

Unlike Kirby, I've had a little less turbulent career, again this isn't targeted at anyone or aimed to praise myself. People, because of the lack of position have been promoted purely because the position had to be filled. It's another symbol that our ranks like or colours need to be formatted and restored to their previous nature or a new one at that.

I, have honestly tried my best to display my talents as an officer to no avail, my best achievements have been my medals and my now long gone dark blue symbol of acception.

To close this dreary extention or summarisation of my thoughts on Kirby's well said post, I'd like to say: I've tried my hardest to become what I've become, I don't have too much to show for it, but those who know me; know me well enough to know that I am good at what I do.

(Also in Australia we don't say over and out, over is said after every radio message but when you say over and out, you're saying broadcasting please reply and out. Not sure how it is in America)

Sushi

[[R*]EliteTerm]

They removed the dark blue color because it is harder to read on main chat. I don't even care about the colors, as long people cooperates together I'm happy.

  If you have a youtube account, flag it please.

[Sushi]

They removed the dark blue color because it is harder to read on main chat. I don't even care about the colors, as long people cooperates together I'm happy.

  If you have a youtube account, flag it please.

Done and done.

[Sago]

as long people cooperates together I'm happy.

Wake up

They removed the dark blue color because it is harder to read on main chat.

Are you kidding me? You're telling me they couldn't just change it to a different shade of blue/purple? Changing it because it was "hard" to read is unrealistic.

[Freightliner]

I miss those color differences

[Sago]

I don't care about colors, but you do have a point about the SAPD. But I wonder if that has to do with colors, or more with the new divisions.\

The root is colors and /frisk. In combination with legalizing marijuana and ripping our jobs away to where we can only enforce traffic laws and catch suspected people, this is the outcome.

Even with /frisk we had no power to take anything. You find it on them, its up to them if they want to give it. Instead of bringing the same script back, alter it.

[Kenny]

This is really true, the reason we have SUCH low acitivty within the whole SAPD is there is no absolute interest to join SAPD nowadays, i remember wanting to become officer for the dark blue name and the ability to frisk..

80 percent of cops on duty at one time arent official SAPD members, As an Application Interview i ask alot of free officer's if they would like to join and they all answer in somewhat similar ways "I dont really care", they just see no point in gettin only 150 smg when they could just respawn and use deagle all the time and the hassle of not being regulated.

I am not asking frsik to be bought back, but the dark blue names should be brought back on a trail bases for maybe a month or so and see how things work out, i can almost certainly tell you right now alot of free officer's will be asking how to get dark blue names and they will try their best to join SAPD. I Highly recomend that thisi dea is looked at once more before jumping with "denied"

PS: Not only normal freecops dont care about join, but a once professional group (ACSD) who strived to join SAPD nowadays didnt really care because they saw no different from being a freecop or an officer

[Mack]

I agree about this one, that most freecops are just like playing for "temporary" reasons, but there are a few of us who really want to get into the SAPD and rise above the "freecop" level. Maybe for Kirby the goal was the dark blue color but for us new freecops its the "Officer" rank and being associated with a department in SAPD to roleplay "properly" as a cop. There are few freecops who still take SAPD seriously

[Alan Demarest]

Couldn't agree more, Kirby.

[Joseph_Allen]

I agree with this. It would make people more of a reason to work for.

But if I remember right, this was removed because said colors caused a lot of discrimination.
Admins said in this right?

If Officer colors were to be brought back, what would happen to the colors associated with Freecops? And the consequences brought about by said events?

[Andrew_R]

I agree, but I am 100% sure that the Chiefs will do nothing about it 

[Leroy Hudson]

As much as people may oppose this, this is very true. Things have changed, because of this little difference.

[Frank_S]

I remember first starting Argonath over a year and a half ago as a medic. It was really cool to see all the different colors on patrol in the city, working together. The basic human endevour is to be "better", to be on top. If we are all the same color "tag" then there is no reason for said freecops to really care. All they know is "hey free guns and I can't be suspected".

I encountered a freecop last night who showed that type of attitude. Remember when the colors was different, not only a symbol of hard work and determination, but respect and authority? I know to some people this may sound rediculous and others may agree, but to some officers, myself included, I looked at the dark blue tag the same way I look at the red admin tag, it means authority, knowledge, leadership. If i had an issue with an officer, I knew exactly where to go. It wasn't on practical but reliable, it brought people together, freecops could look at that color of you "badge" and know, "this guy knows what he is doing, I want to be like him" and they would contact you asking to be your patrol partner. Now you have to less-than-knowledgeable freecops patrolling in the same vehicle doing what they want.

I have also noticed, when I was a medic and I was on the scene of shootout or something of that sort, criminals gave up a little easier when they seen a cluster of dark blue names, they knew what they were dealing with. Now it's as if they treat all cops as if they are freecops, like we know nothing about what we are doing. I have been told many times by freecops how to "do my job properly" when they themselves had no idea what to do.

I understand and support the idea of equality, but that has to be to a point. Some of us are at the rank we are today because of hard work, dedication, working with others, and long hours on the computer. Is it fair to show someone such as myself, a Sergeant, equal to someone who doesn't care? I dont think so. It gives us a bad reputation. I think the color system was awesome, it was just like a badge system. You can see stripes on a uniform indicating whether or not someone is a high ranked officer, well, maybe the color can be our stripes?

Signed.
Frank Serin
DPD Sergeant

[Mack]

The way Frank explained it, I have to agree with him.

[Kenny]

I looked at the dark blue tag the same way I look at the red admin tag, it means authority, knowledge, leadership. If i had an issue with an officer, I knew exactly where to go.

This is something really true, something that caught my eye, well said frank