User talk:Pmerrill564

Pmerrill564, you are invited to the Teahouse!
This is being posted on your talk page where you can receive messages from other Wikipedians and discuss issues and respond to questions. At the end of each message you will see a signature left by the editor posting. This is done by signing with four tildes ( ~ ) or by pressing or  in the editing interface toolbox, located just above the editing window (when editing). You won't need to sign your contributions to articles themselves; you only need to when using talk pages. If you have any questions or face any initial hurdles, feel free to contact me on my talk page and I will do what I can to assist or give you guidance.

Again, welcome! John from Idegon (talk) 20:40, 9 October 2016 (UTC) John from Idegon (talk) 20:40, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Adding references can be easy
Hello! Here's how to add references from reliable sources for the content you add to Wikipedia. This helps maintain the Wikipedia policy of verifiability.

Adding well formatted references is actually quite easy:
 * 1) While editing any article or a wikipage, on the top of the edit window you will see a toolbar which says "Cite". Click on it.
 * 2) Then click on "Templates".
 * 3) Choose the most appropriate template and fill in as many details as you can. This will add a well formatted reference that is helpful in case the web URL (or "website link") becomes inactive in the future.
 * 4) Click on Preview when you're done filling out the 'Cite (web/news/book/journal)' to make sure that the reference is correct.
 * 5) Click on Insert to insert the reference into your editing window content.
 * 6) Click on Show preview to Preview all your editing changes.
 * Before clicking on Save page, check that a References header  ==References==  is near the end of the article.
 * And check that    is directly underneath that header.
 * 7.Click on Save page. ...and you've just added a complete reference to a Wikipedia article.

You can read more about this on Help:Edit toolbar or see this video File:RefTools.ogv.

Hope this helps, --John from Idegon (talk) 20:40, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * To use this message, place  on User:talk pages when needed.

Talkback
John from Idegon (talk) 20:41, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Don't just copy text
Hello, your article Grand Rapids Police Department looks to mostly be a copy of this book. Please cite the book and write a text in your own words in future. Blythwood (talk) 04:50, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Grand Rapids Police Department


The article Grand Rapids Police Department has been proposed for deletion&#32;because of the following concern:
 * article entirely unsupported by references. Nothing to indicate any notability

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. John from Idegon (talk) 14:47, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Source of photos from Grand Rapids Police Department
Please tell us what the original source of the photos you added to the above article was. The photos of the police chief and of the arm patch are obviously copied straight from the PD's website and as such are copyright violations. The scan of the postcard from the 60's is obviously just that and a copyright violation. You claimed the older photos as your own work, but it's pretty obvious you weren't alive in the 1800's so please clarify the source. I've seen File:Police Headquarters ca. late 1800s Cleaned.jpg in a book but do not recall the title. It certainly appears all the photos on that article are violations of someone's copyright. Please respond. John from Idegon (talk) 19:52, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

I am the author of both of those documents that you just referenced. I created the images, and took the actual photos. I located the old images in collections (boxes) of passed-away officers and family members. I did this over the course of twenty years, and have quite the collection. There is no copyright claim, while the images have been used in other documents. Which, also have no copyright claim. I have also ensured that the City of Grand Rapids Archives have the best copies as well.

Pmerrill564 (talk) 20:01, 12 October 2016 (UTC)


 * How is it you are the author of two works appearing on the webpage of the city's police department which is clearly marked © Copyright 2011 City of Grand Rapids, Michigan ?  Are you an employee of the police department?  If so you need to declare your conflict of interest in accordance to our policies (WP:COI).  If your duties include PR, then you are further restricted by WP:PAID.  In any case, since the two images mentioned (the chief and the patch) appear on a webpage marked as copyrighted, you will need to prove that you are the original owner of said copyright and it was not fully released to the city.  See WP:COPYRIGHTS for further information.  Mere possession of an image does not transfer the copyright to you. The postal card is an obvious infringement of the creator of the postcard's copyright, or are you claiming that you are the original photographer (which you would also have to prove in order to release said copyright under CC BY-SA 3.0)?  And quite obviously you are unambiguously not the creator of the older images, at least one of which has been published.  Publication does not release copyright, and for older images, copyright is dependent on the original date of publication. John from Idegon (talk) 20:16, 12 October 2016 (UTC)


 * The contemporary images mentioned here (the postcard, the chief, the badge, the patch) have been nominated for deletion at Wikipedia Commons as copyright violations. The two contemporary images that have not been published, the front of 300 Monroe and the lineup of officers on the stairs have not, as the metadata for them indicated they came straight from a camera as opposed to being scans, which lends credence to your claim that you own them.  Unless you establish the right thru email correspondence, you do not have the authority to release images copyrighted by the City of Grand Rapids. John from Idegon (talk) 20:29, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Grand Rapids Police Department


The article Grand Rapids Police Department has been proposed for deletion&#32;because of the following concern:
 * no indication of notability

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. John from Idegon (talk) 19:54, 25 January 2017 (UTC)