Newgrounds Police Department

The Newgrounds Police Department (abbr. NGPD) is a currently inactive club in the BBS founded by MrCrawford on November 30, 2005. The NGPD revolved around the workings of the Flash Portal, where members were encouraged to gain B/P points and report suspicious or abusive flashes which were then independently investigated by other members. The Force maintained a comprehensive yet extremely selective recruitment process to ensure that only highly qualified users might enter their ranks. The NGPD was usually around 20 members strong, though these numbers tended to fluctuate. Elite Guards frequented the thread as well, many of whom were former members themselves. The Newgrounds Police was one of the most successful and longest running Portal-related crews in NG history.

Mission Statement

There are three primary goals that the NGPD strives to achieve, as follows:

1. Protect the Flash Portal from abusive submissions and convict those who violate the portal rules.
    
2. Train members to become active and experienced in portal duty.
    
3. Teach members to serve the Portal with integrity and honor.

The purpose of the Newgrounds Police is not to be confused as that of a moderative, backseat-modding, or administrative branch; being a member of the NGPD does not endow any authority over either the BBS or the Portals. The "Police" element is merely for the namesake of the badges required to join. Furthermore, the Police do not assert any ability to influence or control the Portal.

At first, the NG Police was actively anti-spam, meaning that poor quality and/or spam submissions were meant to be blammed. However, they have since taken on a more egalitarian perspective after spam became an officially recognized category for flash submissions. Members are now only expected to vote in accordance to their own opinions regarding said flashes.

It is also important to note that neither the NGPD nor the Elite Guard Barracks condones the use of mass-coordinated activities such as, but not limited to, mass-voting or mass-flagging. Members from either crew risk expulsion by inciting such efforts.

Early History

The beginning of the NGPD actually starts with the advent of the Elite Guard Barracks, founded by EGSC EagleRock on November 29, 2005. The Barracks was a crew for Elite Guards who were interested in serving the Portal by keeping crap and abusive submissions out. The following day, a young man by the name of MrCrawford created a parody crew of the EGB. Thus, the N.g. Police Headquarters came to be. The main distinction being that instead of having the b/p badge requirement being inclusive only to those of Elite Guard status, the NG Police was a place for users within the Police badge ranks, including Portal Security.

Concerned by MrCrawford's OP, which stated that the NGPD was a place where "the common portal protectors can lounge without being muscled about by the elite guards", EagleRock personally paid several visits to dispel any potential animosity, since the two crews were essentially serving the same purpose. Since then, the NGPD and the EGB have maintained strong ties and have recognized a formal alliance. However, at around the same time, one of the early police members named Puzzled provoked the NG Mafia by threatening to close them down which nearly brought about a flame war, a conflict which the NGPD would surely have lost and paid heavily for. Fortunately MrCrawford intervened and reassured the Mafia that the NGPD would adopt a policy of mutual neutrality, further backed by the fact that none of the other police members neither supported nor were even aware of the aggression. Puzzled took full responsibility for his actions, but was ultimately never punished for his reckless behavior.

With the initial drama now behind them, the NGPD was able to settle down. Officers were appointed and members were organized, enabling the newborn crew to grow and evolve. The decree that all members who rank into the Elite Guards would receive an "Honorable Discharge" was established, which is now a hallmark of the full NGPD experience.

Recruitment

Initially, the Police Dept. had an open-door policy where anyone could join immediately upon request. However, this led to many absentee members and a very non-comittal member base as a whole. In an attempt to resolve this problem, an oath was established. All recruits would be required to swear an oath to remain active and abide by the BBS and crew rules. The oath was only marginally effective, as recruits still had a tendency to go AWOL after their vows. A quantum leap was made when member SonicSheep suggested the "apprenticeship", a probationary 7-day period where potential recruits would be observed for their activity and contribution to the NGPD. Almost immediately the new system was adopted and is still in use today.

The NGPD is known for having one of the most rigorous recruitment process on Newgrounds. It takes, on average, 10 days to fully complete the procedure and requires not only qualifying credentials, but performance as well. The process can be divided into three major components:

• Preliminary Inspection:
  - B/P Badge: Portal Security through Police Captain (400 - 2499 b/p)
  - Post Count: Minimum of 50 BBS posts.
  - Post Quality: Must meet or exceed Commissioner's and/or Unit Ops.'s standards.
  
  

• Apprenticeship:
  - Seven day probationary period. Members and staff observe the apprentice's activity in the crew throughout the week to help determine if he or she is qualified for full membership.
  
  

• Recruitment Evaluation Poll (REP):
  - Members, excluding the Commissioner and the Unit Ops., report to the private forum and vote on whether or not the apprentice is ready to become a full fledged member. The poll is open for three days. After the poll closes, the results are announced on the BBS thread. The Commissioner and Unit Op. (if applicable) have the power to overturn the popular vote, granted they both explicitly disagree with the outcome, though this has yet to occur.

If an applicant successfully passes through all three phases, then he/she is officially inducted into the NGPD. Along with the pride and accomplishment of joining the greatest consortium of police ranked NG'ers, members gain the benefit of being fully included in the weekly rosters; accessing the NGPD's private forums; and being able to vote in REPs.

Appointed Officers

The Newgrounds Police Department is heavily influenced by the members, though, like any club, there needs to be members to take voluntary positions that keep the club moving. In the NGPD, these members enforce crew rules, maintain order, manage the memberlist and decide whether members are allowed into the club, amongst other responsibilities. The following members are those in charge:

TailsPrower - Commissioner:

The Commissioner is the highest appointed office in the NGPD, synonymous to first-in-command. He has the final say in whether or not an applicant passes the preliminary inspection or consequently the Recruitment Evaluation Poll (REP), administering disciplinary action, and appointing a member to the position of Unit Ops. or any other officers. Historically, successors to incumbent Commissioners have been through direct appointment.

PowerPrower - Unit Ops

As the Unit of Operations (which is effectively a term for second-in-command), this appointed officer helps the Commissioner run the NGPD. The Unit Ops. shares much of the same power as the Commissioner, such as being able to accept/decline applications and administering disciplinary actions, thus serving as an administrative back up when the Commissioner is unavailable, but also working in concert. To become a Unit Ops. one must be offered the position by the current-acting Commissioner and accept the responsibilities.

Deactivation and Inactivity

In 2012, several updates occurred which effectively removed the users' ability to whistle and flag abusive content, causing a stir among the ranks who relied on their whistles to perform their duty. Eventually, this absence was resolved through implementation of Portal Moderators sometime that year.

It became clear from that point onwards that the need for a whistle-count threshold by the collective flagging of the community was obsolete. Effectively, the whistle system itself was rendered ineffectual. This in turn made the NGPD's vigilance in the Portal less necessary due to the fact that any single user could directly report an abusive flash submission to a Portal Mod for review and deletion. Furthermore, the Elite Guards Barracks made the continued operations of the NGPD significantly more redundant now that the whistle system was out of the equation.

Having accomplished their mission to the best of their abilities, the NGPD was no longer needed and is presumed to be inactive as of November 30, 2012 - after seven years of devoted service to Newgrounds. In closing, Commissioner TailsPrower expressed hopes that future site-wide updates will present new opportunities for the NGPD to rise up and serve the Portal once more.

Until then, the Beast slumbers.

Triva

• There are currently two NGPD threads. The original thread made by Crawford, known as the old thread, and the new thread made by then-Commissioner Tails. The new thread was to start over with a new, fresh and solid OP. Tails theorized that a completely revamped OP would serve as a more stable foundation which would last the crew far longer. This has since turned out to be true as of April 18, 2010; the new thread exceeded the old thread's page count and continued on for an additional 2 years.

• The NGPD was founded precisely 21 hours and 50 minutes after the EGB.

• The leaders from the NGPD and the EGB both sported light (now Gamer/blue) auras and derive their usernames from animal themes.
• The title of "Commissioner" is the actual designation for the highest position in the Philadelphia Police Dept., along with several other police forces in the United States. Interestingly, the position title "Unit Ops." (Unit of Operations) is not an actual rank, thus invented by the NGPD.

• Tails was the last of the original NGPD members who was active until the deactivation.

• Many former members went on to hold important offices in the Barracks:
  - Gen. RohanTheBarbarian is Lt. Chief Barracks Officer
  - Col. Lizzardis is the NGPD Liaison (Ret.)
  - Capt. Ismael92 is the Lt. Records Oficer
  - Lt. SlntCobra1 is the Lt. Portal Violations Officer

• Sirtom93 was a former member of the Newgrounds Police Department. He received an honorable discharge on January 10, 2009. Despite popular notion, members from that time recalled Sirtom as being a level-headed and respected member of the force.

External Links

• 2010 Interview