APD State of Affairs from an External View

[ThatNerdyGuy 5914]

Hey all, most of you know me as the guy that made YouTube videos and some other, let's say interesting things on Senior APD. I've been around here for 8 or so years now, I had no clue when I started playing this game with a High School friend that I would still be around this long. However, over this period of time I've gone from an absolute moron to being what I hope to be seen as a respected and experienced member of this community. I know I've made my mistakes and the saying goes that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones but with the experience I've gained comes some level of understanding and wherewithal to see when something may or may not be in the proper situation. So this comes to the "something", and that something seems to be the Senior APD. 

@ Pledge  always told me that you should always leave something in a better place than it was before you got there. I felt like that was done when I hung things up with the Senior APD. The Senior APD went from a divided mess at which I amplified during my idiocy in forming a coup to a pretty cohesive group of people. The goal was always to be a balancing factor on the server, if anyone reading this got promoted to Senior APD when I was there as a LT or Deputy Chief I had told them that they should always remember that they hold the ability to make balance or to truly destroy said balance. With this being said, I feel like I cannot say the same about the current form or shape the APD is in. Let's hit on these issues:

1. Inconsistency on interpretation of rules.

Let's look at the following statement from the APD Handbook:

"APD Officer(s) can be instructed by an active Staff Sergeant (FTO)/SAPD/Retired Chief not to respond to an active Federal Event and may instead conduct other APD duties."

This is in regards to active Federal Events. The way that I feel like this interprets is that if a member of the corresponding rank feels that the Federal Event isn't a priority or just that they shouldn't respond to said event isn't inline with what they should be doing, this is well within the bounds of their rules. I know there was a situation with @ King  on this very recently that resulted in him leaving the APD(no necessarily on his own terms). Now, I was told that he decided to not respond to the Blackwater Robbery due to being severely outgunned, outmanned and consistently all of the APD were being tased for three times and then killed to just create a really not fun or balanced event for the APD. Look, I get that sometimes it's not fun to be a meat shield and run in and die but this is on a totally different level of stupidity or just a plain lack of enjoyment. Do I agree with @ King  deciding to nope out of the Blackwater Robbery and not respond, no I don't. However, based off of the rules and what is described it seems well within his powers to do as such. A simple correction to this very well could've been, "technically you were within your rights, however, the rule isn't intended for this and we will make a adjustment to the rule to further prevent any misunderstanding." Seemingly this was not the case.

2. PSA System and the Handbook

While playing today it was brought up to me that sometimes "rule-like" changes have been made over status updates, which is very puzzling at the very least. I mean, we have a centralized place for this, that's called the APD Handbook(https://wiki.olympus-entertainment.com/wiki/APD_Handbook). How in anyone's proper mind would they expect someone to sift through copious amounts of status updates for a PSA? When I did a PSA I would make a post on the APD forums, not a PSA unless it was something minor like times not counting or something to that level. Now, I know there was a Wiki page made for PSA's but to be completely honest, if it is regarding a rule and it's not a clarification or added context, it should just be added to the APD Handbook. This isn't difficult to understand, why have information in a multitude of areas to only make it harder for new players? That's not the goal of the Senior APD, or at least not the Senior APD I had a hand in shaping.

3. APD Chain of Command

If you look at this chain of command and cannot see an issue, you may be blind or need an eyesight correction:

There are 6 Senior APD members in the "Senior" or what I'd like to call Administrative role. Leaving 7 other's in what I would call a "Standard" Senior APD role. I believe I've said this before but when you have so many people at the top all you do is consolidate the power to the top, now, it makes sense that the top is where the power is but in my opinion it puts those at the top so far away from everyone else. When I stepped down from Deputy Chief the Captain role was created(which I was never talked to about, in any of my conversations with @ Winters  about the contingency plans of me leaving and who would fill my role or how the selection process would be handled). I was to the understanding that this was done because there wasn't trust in @ Rossco  or @ Headless  as being the "right" candidate for Deputy Chief of Police. Again, I totally understand, however, more than two and a half years later there is still the role of Captain, and this is no disrespect to @ Xlax  he's a good dude and totally deserves the rank he has. But all this seemingly has done is create a continued distancing of the top of the chain of command. I'm not even going into playtime, OIC's, tests, etc. That's not the point that is being made here, the point is that are seemingly so many roles to manage the same amount of people, hell, there is even less active APD now then there were when we had only two Deputy Chief's of Police with 5-6 squads. Look, I was Deputy Chief for about a year, there isn't that much work to need 3 Deputy Chief's, and two Captain's. Not to mention now there's an entire squad missing a Sergeant and a Lieutenant. I can't quite recall the last Sergeant promotion(I believe October) clearly there is an issue if you've got 4 FTO's and you can't make a decision. Either the people aren't the right people or you're not promoting the right people to Corporal to begin with.

 

Now, after all of this rambling and discourse, some of you may pass this post on and care less than they did before. Others may look at this as "old man on his rocker" and if that's the case, maybe you're right. At the end of the day I just want the same APD that I spent a considerable amount of time in to, to be a fair and enjoyable place for all that want to play. Remove the cliques and friend groups that dominate the hierarchy, the nepotism is what kills this server for everyone other than those wanting to join that friend group. 

 

TLDR there are seemingly vast issues with the top of the Senior APD Chain of Command with a lack of transparency and accountability. 

[Garth Flanders 54]

Preach brother, the little bit I played APD I definitely noticed a bit of "Corruptness" one might say.

[Hazardous 532]

[johnny goose 3338]

Lets not gloss over the fact winters is the longest standing most inactive chief this server has seen who shows little to no interest in actually playing the server or moving the apd in any direction besides where it currently is. If someone like @ Ryan  would unironically just get rid of winters and promote rexo, caden, or xlax i guarantee you would hear about 75% less bitching from civs.

[Squeeze 223]

My question really because i’ve always wondered since i’ve starting playing is that, is there to much decision making from the seniors that it gives none of the lower personnel any voice in making decisions. 

[King 104]

God forbid you speak reason and truth around here @ ThatNerdyGuy ... they might come for your head. 

[-dante- 5191]

I 100% agree on the ranking structure. We had SO many less senior roles above SGT when we had 2 FULL servers daily with 20+ cops on each server pretty regularly. As you said, it isnt like the people in those roles dont deserve it. But The top of the CoC's responsibility is the bottom of the CoC. Further distancing that as well as having extra sr ranks just for people to be promoted serves no real purpose. With how many players play now compared to before. 2 Dep Chiefs and straight down to LTs would be PLENTY. That being said, nobody should lose their ranks over that either. But I think future structuring should reduce those top roles as people either step down or are weeded out. If anything, have more Sgts (where most of the actual APD work is outside of Chief), which involved developing and helping other corps. One of my favorite parts about being chief was talking about the POs and Corps at each meeting and making sure we were making seniors play with them and learn who they were. 

I am not directly involved with any sAPD shit these days, so this is my outside perspective from personal experience. I have people I have great relationships with in sAPD now, but that doesn't change my POV. 

 

 

As for @ Pledge , he also was demoted for accidentally breaking wave rule once.. he knows a thing or 2 about it ;D

[Evannnnn 218]

#bringbacknerdy @ knifemaster forsgt @ xsmitherz forsgt

 

[Larkerz 173]

this has been brought up countless times. Ryan literally just needs to kick the fucker off. 

[HyperGoat 827]

I see a lot of "I used to run the APD like this", "I used to this"... But like you said, your time has passed, and it's not your decision anymore. It's up to the new scrubs. Nor am I defending Sr.APD or siding with you. Its just something you'll have to bring up to staff meeting. Ranting/Crying about this won't be like Talindor coup back in 2016-2017   

[TapTap 778]

Issues tend to arise when people with horrible mentalities surround themselves with like minded individuals or those who fail to think for themselves. Where there is no chance for those who disagree to voice their opinions without fear of repercussions you now have for all intents and purposes a tyranny. Disagreements and conversations lead to change, good change. When a leader fails to listen to his subordinates and expects them to be  parrots/robots and those people comply, you will have problems that currently plague the APD. These problems were not caused by a single person nor can be handled with the change of one person. These problems stem from a collection of individuals who refuse to think as individuals.

TLDR; The problem cannot be solved with the removal of one person, those in the sAPD need to think as individuals and use common sense. Not be mockingbirds or the good ole boy club.

[silton 4174]

@ Winters  Needs to go. An inactive chief that is not only out of touch with this own faction but the entire player base of the server. Its time to make room for someone else.

Also its hard to run a faction when the leadership doesn't get along.

[Evannnnn 218]

Just now, silton said:

@ Winters  Needs to go. An inactive chief that is not only out of touch with this own faction but the entire player base of the server. Its time to make room for someone else.

Also its hard to run a faction when the leadership doesn't get along.

Not entirely sure how true this is since i just came back but if a chief is no longer interacting with its PD nor the server then there definitely needs to be room made for someone whos willing. 
 

Push/pull is good IMO however everyone should be able to get along at the end of the day, sometimes we forget this is arma 3

[Billeh 804]

One issue i have noticed which you have mentioned is SAPD interpretation on handbook rules, specifically the loading lethals for all of JRAPD. My understanding from winters interpretation is to only auth if greatly outnumbered or at a great disadvantage. I have been at both ends where either I'm on cop or civ fighting an even numbers fight with 2/3 lethals on, and JRSAPD lethals loaded with over 10+ mins remaining. One example specifically ive been involved in was a fed with 12 cops vs 7 civ's doing the alamo strat, not even the aids dome strat with quilin minigun etc etc. This isnt a rant for all SAPD or even the majority, but when the small minority is on its aids to play civ.

[proud 3674]

yea + they're all bias and lick the taints of their admin buddies to get what they want, and anyone that remembers what the apd used to be can't bear that this is what its like.

in conclusion to what im trying to say, the community killed its own apd. the sr apd killed its own apd. its pathetic.

4 hours ago, TapTap said:

Issues tend to arise when people with horrible mentalities surround themselves with like minded individuals or those who fail to think for themselves. Where there is no chance for those who disagree to voice their opinions without fear of repercussions you now have for all intents and purposes a tyranny. Disagreements and conversations lead to change, good change. When a leader fails to listen to his subordinates and expects them to be  parrots/robots and those people comply, you will have problems that currently plague the APD. These problems were not caused by a single person nor can be handled with the change of one person. These problems stem from a collection of individuals who refuse to think as individuals.

TLDR; The problem cannot be solved with the removal of one person, those in the sAPD need to think as individuals and use common sense. Not be mockingbirds or the good ole boy club.

THIS^^^^^^

[Lucien 3076]

The unfortunate truth is that the game is dead and those in charge just want to ride out the status quo to the end it seems. Absolutely crazy that there is a whole squad without a senior but we needed to create an extra dep chief slot

[SPBojo 6863]

Yet again CC best faction, smh my head

[CaloomClark 1326]

Some great SGT’s and FTO’s coming through currently, I am very confident in the future of SAPD. As for Winters, he is ALWAYS quick to respond with any questions, IA’s or general issues within the APD. While he may not be that active in game, he is extremely active in the background. As for cliques, unfortunately they will always be there. Those who play together will rise through the ranks together and if they don’t, then good candidates will end up being overlooked. Of course there is always room for improvement, but scapegoating winters and just going for his head will not achieve anything.

@ ThatNerdyGuy  as for senior promotions, sevro I believe isn’t accepting SGT, if offered. Myself, smitherz and knife all are fairly new in the FTO role. I assume they are giving it a bit of time to see who is best fitted to the senior spot, or just letting us get a bit more experience before making any decisions.

[Boovin 372]

Already been through this, sAPD need to grow some balls and voice their concerns in numbers instead of one person and only when they’ve been “removed/retired”

 

[JoeL 1296]

Make the APD Great Again! We need democracy!

[King 104]

17 minutes ago, Boovin said:

Already been through this, sAPD need to grow some balls and voice their concerns in numbers instead of one person and only when they’ve been “removed/retired”

 

It’s been tried. That’s how you end up removed/ retired.

[Masonn 2834]

42 minutes ago, CaloomClark said:

Some great SGT’s and FTO’s coming through currently, I am very confident in the future of SAPD. As for Winters, he is ALWAYS quick to respond with any questions, IA’s or general issues within the APD. While he may not be that active in game, he is extremely active in the background. As for cliques, unfortunately they will always be there. Those who play together will rise through the ranks together and if they don’t, then good candidates will end up being overlooked. Of course there is always room for improvement, but scapegoating winters and just going for his head will not achieve anything.

@ ThatNerdyGuy  as for senior promotions, sevro I believe isn’t accepting SGT, if offered. Myself, smitherz and knife all are fairly new in the FTO role. I assume they are giving it a bit of time to see who is best fitted to the senior spot, or just letting us get a bit more experience before making any decisions.

You're just waffling here tbh

Fuckwinters

[johnny goose 3338]

3 minutes ago, Masonn said:

You're just waffling here tbh

Fuckwinters

Mmmm mason

[ThatNerdyGuy 5914]

39 minutes ago, Boovin said:

Already been through this, sAPD need to grow some balls and voice their concerns in numbers instead of one person and only when they’ve been “removed/retired”

 

The issue is that this current group running Senior APD has absolutely no problem disciplining or removing someone for not seeing eye to eye with them. What was lost is someone to speak on a “real” or different level, now there’s seemingly so many “yes men/women” that nothing could possibly be done. This only got worse after Headless’s departure after myself, the only two people who didn’t have an issue with saying no. 

7 hours ago, Evannnnn said:

#bringbacknerdy @ knifemaster forsgt @ xsmitherz forsgt

 

I don’t have the time to commit to this like I used to, however, I wholeheartedly believe the solution is already within the Senior APD. 

8 hours ago, Hazardous said:

The largest issue with this is that what your response is will likely be the largest response from the Senior APD on this post. 

[Hazardous 532]

15 minutes ago, ThatNerdyGuy said:

The largest issue with this is that what your response is will likely be the largest response from the Senior APD on this post. 

Acknowledging the post & letting it reel before I start picking at it . Also have to remember most of the seniors will not respond because the faction is hushed. You can freely take the long list of seniors that were recently “forcefully removed/retired” as the voice of majority of SAPD as they have no limitations.