Domelight lives in spirit on Twitter

"Domelights.com ain't dead yet!"

So says a Twitterer who semi-resurrected the online police forum that police brass abolished in 2009 because commenters so frequently sunk to racist rants and other offensive diatribes.

The Domelights Twitter account as of yesterday had 350 followers - far fewer than the thousands who checked out Domelights.com during its nine-year run. The identity of the Twitterer is unclear; Sgt. Frederic McQuiggan, the cop who created the controversial website, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

A Facebook page also inspired by McQuiggan's site seems more popular; it has 4,756 friends. But that site appears largely inactive.

On Twitter, Domelights is a place to find links to police news around the globe, tallies of the year's homicides, Philadelphia news and an occasional sports comment.

But there's lots of grousing and sarcasm too, suggesting its creator hasn't yet gotten over the demise of the Domelights website. Some recent posts:

* "What was I THINKING letting pro-cop people TALK to each other? But at least Internet is 'hate-free' now."

* "First Amendment apparently only applies to 'nice' people with 'happy' thoughts. Who knew?"

* "... MY posts on domelights REGULARLY encouraged civil discussions. But moderating 7000 users easier said than done."

* "Should Philly.com's reputation be based on WORST user commentary? Because THAT is the standard being applied to domelights."

About the Police Department's new social-media directive, the Domelights Twitterer wrote:

* "Government employers going to have VERY difficult time regulating #SocialMedia use by employees. Domelights just tip if [sic] iceberg."

* "Note to self: Must delete those Facebook pics of me wearing my Philadelphia Police hat & zebra thong underwear" (in reference to a June 24 Daily News story about a female officer under investigation for violating the social-media directive because she posted racy photos of herself on Myspace and Facebook).