Locking Topics

[jb512]

I was going to start this up by replying to a thread already created here:  http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=3765.0 but I got this message, so I'm starting a new one:

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 60 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

I worked very hard and long on a reply to a topic that a fellow cop posted just to find out that the thread had been locked just before I hit the post button.  After considering throwing my laptop out the window, I decided to do a little research to see just what this guy did to create such a ruckus.  I checked the code of conduct: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=13.0 and the only sentence in the entire thing that would've remotely applied to a violation that I could find was "All topics must relate and be of interest to CAP members in a professional aspect."  I read the post and it related to me as a CAP member.  It was also very professionally done.

The topic dealt with a police officer having to perform a law enforcement duty.  I'm not reopening that particular can of worms because someone decided to lock it for a reason.  The poster was relating his own relevant experiences on the subject and a few people flipped out.  There was/were nothing profane, sexually based, libel, slander, name-calling, or personal attacks.  No one was impersonated, nothing was copyrighted, nothing was illegal, and his spelling and grammar were very proper.

It was a topic that dealt with a pretty tough issue, and some people were getting a little mouthy, but we've seen that several times in here.  As one poster pointed out, people have non-CAP specific topics in here quite often about different professions and it sure beat another uniform thread. 

I know the mods reserve the right to lock and they have the final say, no questions asked.  I just wanted to express my dissatisfaction for whatever it's worth and also publicly let the original poster know that I had his back.

[mikeylikey]

 :clap: :clap: :clap:

[shorning]

I read the post and it related to me as a CAP member.

Did it relate to you "as a CAP member", or to you "who happens to be a CAP member"?  Those aren't the same concepts.  Just because something relates to someone who is a member doesn't make it CAP-related. 

I have to ask myself why we're getting our undies in a bunch over such a small percentage of the topics that have been discussed.  Yet, this is the third time (in my limited memory) that we've had complaining about locked topics.  Personally, I don't see that it's worth getting that worked up about. Moderators keep their communities on track as the administration sees fit.  It's that way on every forum I frequent.  Then again, I also think this community is a little out of whack, so...YMMV...

[jb512]

I read the post and it related to me as a CAP member.

Did it relate to you "as a CAP member", or to you "who happens to be a CAP member"?  Those aren't the same concepts.  Just because something relates to someone who is a member doesn't make it CAP-related. 

I saw that interpretation too.  It is not related to CAP, no.  I does relate to me and I am a CAP member... apples and oranges.  Not something that I would see as a violation enough to shut down the topic before some of the comments made were clarified.  There were a lot of questions left unanswered that the original poster never got to discuss.

I have to ask myself why we're getting our undies in a bunch over such a small percentage of the topics that have been discussed.  Yet, this is the third time (in my limited memory) that we've had complaining about locked topics.  Personally, I don't see that it's worth getting that worked up about. Moderators keep their communities on track as the administration sees fit.  It's that way on every forum I frequent.  Then again, I also think this community is a little out of whack, so...YMMV...

I'm sure that it really doesn't matter to most people in here, and other locked topics didn't really matter much to me.  I just saw someone getting stomped on and I was trying to jump in and help out without success.

And yes, this community is quite out of whack sometimes.  This would be one of those times to me.

[mikeylikey]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

jaybird, I want you to know I did not applaud your post because I agree with it.  It was like "applause, way to go I hope you feel better now".

I just saw someone getting stomped on and I was trying to jump in and help out without success.

He was not getting stomped on for his original post.  I do also believe he did some stomping back. 

[jb512]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

jaybird, I want you to know I did not applaud your post because I agree with it.  It was like "applause, way to go I hope you feel better now".

I was wondering about that and glad you clarified.  As I recall, you were doing most of the stomping.

I just saw someone getting stomped on and I was trying to jump in and help out without success.

He was not getting stomped on for his original post.  I do also believe he did some stomping back. 

Yes he was and as I recall, you were the first one to start it.

Disclaimer:  We are remaining civil and having a normal, respectful, adult conversation.  I'm not looking to get the lock thrown on this one too.

You saw his post as bragging, or exploits when it was not.  Then others started jumping in throwing him a combination of misinformation, speculation, and wild, random thoughts.  I was trying to jump in and help, but couldn't because of the lock.... and here we are.

[mikeylikey]

^ here we are indeed! 

It was an inappropriate comment made on the part of Flying Pig.  If you or anyone else feel the need to display your kills to the general public, maybe a COP forum would be more appropriate. 

[jb512]

^ here we are indeed! 

It was an inappropriate comment made on the part of Flying Pig.  If you or anyone else feel the need to display your kills to the general public, maybe a COP forum would be more appropriate. 

A display, sure.  Relating experiences to give more insight on the topic you're discussing, that should be the point of every post no matter what it is or where you're posting.  Those were actions that he was trained and required to do and there was no need to turn it into anything else.

Maybe as cops we don't understand that we can't talk about those things to non-cops and the problem is ours.  I don't think that having to take that action when it's justified is a bad thing, and it's something I wouldn't have a problem talking about.  Maybe it's just us.

Man... there's a quote I was looking for and can't find it.  It says something about how people want cops to go out and arrest a potentially dangerous person but don't want to see how it's done... I'll find it.

[jb512]

And it looks like the guys changed the description of what you can now post in the Lobby.

From:

Feel free to talk about anything and everything in this board.  Get to know one another, chat with other CAPers, and field topics not covered elsewhere.

To:

Get to know one another, chat with other members and field topics not covered elsewhere. All topics should relate to CAP and be of interest to CAP members in a professional aspect.

Change noted.

[shorning]

And it looks like the guys changed the description of what you can now post in the Lobby.

From:

Feel free to talk about anything and everything in this board.  Get to know one another, chat with other CAPers, and field topics not covered elsewhere.

To:

Get to know one another, chat with other members and field topics not covered elsewhere. All topics should relate to CAP and be of interest to CAP members in a professional aspect.

Change noted.

It's simply a case of using the right community for the right topic...

[jb512]

And it looks like the guys changed the description of what you can now post in the Lobby.

From:

Feel free to talk about anything and everything in this board.  Get to know one another, chat with other CAPers, and field topics not covered elsewhere.

To:

Get to know one another, chat with other members and field topics not covered elsewhere. All topics should relate to CAP and be of interest to CAP members in a professional aspect.

Change noted.

It's simply a case of using the right community for the right topic...

I think that has to be the best and simplest way to sum this all up.  We now know where that form of service to the community is not welcome. 

[mikeylikey]

Man.....get off your high horse.  No one was bashing COPS.  We were bashing what a fellow CAP member was letting everyone know. 

It seems that right or wrong, you COPS sure stick together.  I think you are starting to gang up against us non-COPS. 

Whats the matter??

Not once did anyone say "I hate COPS", or flying pig, your a bad cop for using deadly force. 

[jb512]

Man.....get off your high horse.  No one was bashing COPS.  We were bashing what a fellow CAP member was letting everyone know. 

It seems that right or wrong, you COPS sure stick together.  I think you are starting to gang up against us non-COPS. 

Whats the matter??

Not once did anyone say "I hate COPS", or flying pig, your a bad cop for using deadly force. 

Yes, sir.  That's one thing that we do well is stick together.  Much like certain aspects of the RM, when you count on someone with your life it sometimes has that effect on you.

I don't want this to deteriorate into a yelling match, I just wanted to have my say and help defend a brother.  I'm happy I got to do that and glad we have the opportunity to post on this board, although we won't discuss any of the "offensive" details that sometimes occur in our world.

[mikeylikey]

^ OK.  I see no use in furthering this discussion with you.  You made your point, I will back off now. 

[jb512]

I'm happy if you're happy.  I'm just surprised we made it all the way through without getting the boot!

[mikeylikey]

^ Ha.....I was fully expecting a "LOCK" following your original post. 

[shorning]

I think that has to be the best and simplest way to sum this all up.  We now know where that form of service to the community is not welcome. 

I wouldn't post a D&C-related topic on a drag racing forum, and I wouldn't expect a baking-related topic here.  Use the right forum for the topic.  So, yeah, it is simple...

[jb512]

I think that has to be the best and simplest way to sum this all up.  We now know where that form of service to the community is not welcome. 

I wouldn't post a D&C-related topic on a drag racing forum, and I wouldn't expect a baking-related topic here.  Use the right forum for the topic.  So, yeah, it is simple...

On face value, sure.  I'd agree with that.  However, these boards and our organization becomes more of a camaraderie as well and while we have CAP as a common interest, we also have other things going on in our lives that we sometimes share with the group.  It happens all the time and I'm sure if we started searching we'd come up with all kinds of threads in here that people have enjoyed posting and sharing in that had nothing to do with CAP.

Apparently that's not the case for some of us, that's been clarified now, and we will restrict our comments.  Everyone always enjoys a new uniform thread.

[SARMedTech]

It seems what has happened here is that someone is upset that a thread got locked and decided to sneak it in under the mods radar by calling the now locked thread by a different name.

If Flying Pig had, in his original posts, related the cut and pasted article in any way to CAP, cadets, etc., there would probably have been no complaints. But he didnt. Had he related his own personal experience by simply explaining that he has personal experience with the topic of the article he cut and pasted as a post, there probably wouldnt have been the upset that appeared when he felt it necessary to post details about his LOD shooting. Again, that has NOTHING to do with CAP. Cadet safety, issues that affect young people, etc have something to do with CAP if the poster couches the discussion in those terms. But he didn't. It wasnt a post about how the hideous rise in youth violence affects CAPs cadets. It was a post about law enforcement which he then tried to make relevant to CAP when others, including myself, objected to the content of his follow-up posts.

I'm glad to see that the mods have changed the format/requirements for the lobby. If LEOs, EMTs, etc need to decompress or talk about personal experiences and cannot or do not relate them in any way to CAP, then they (the posts) do not belong on this forum. Its not hard to make the differentiation between that concept and a number of LEOs who happen to be CAP members getting upset because someone called out another LEO on an inappropriate (for a number of reasons, relevance and tact among them) posting. As I said in that thread, I grew up in a LE household, but if that had been my father posting that original thread, I would have thought it was just as inappropriate and misplaced in terms of what type of forum it appeared in.

Frankly, I like the idea that the mods change the Lobby requirements to talking about anything not covered in the other areas, as long as they relate to CAP. This is a CAP forum and not a "Talk about anything you want as long as you are a CAP member" forum. I'm guilty of wandering off point on a number of occasions myself and have been called on it when I did so. Had Flying Pig a)posted the cut and pasted article and said "How do we address the topic of youth violence with our cadets" and then refrained from feeling it necessary to include details of the circumstances that caused him to shoot someone (albeit justifiably), I am sure we would not be having this conversation.

And just in case no one has noticed, threads on Locking Topics tend to get locked. I have taken issue with several topics that have recently been locked and the circumstances under which it happened, but lets face it....Mods are going to do what they want to do and/or see fit. I may not agree with it, but I am not a mod and dont have my finger on the Lock button. The membership has asked for greater accountability and some mods feel they need to provide it and some feel that "Ding" etc is sufficient.

I will end here and wait for the black vans of retribution.

[jb512]

You're talking about me, and I didn't sneak it under anything.  I watched as we were typing tonight and saw that there were a couple of mods lurking while we went back and forth.

We had a meaningful conversation that finished off the original topic and we closed it out as gentlemen.  As I said before, we should be happy in the fact that we can discuss things not directly related to CAP activities here because we are a tight group of people.

We may not always agree, but at times it's just as important to agree to disagree.