Security Officer

	THE BIG RED WARNING BOX! READ THE RULES BEFORE YOU MESS UP!
	Shit Security is not tolerated! Security Officers have the power to ruin people's day with ease and are under intense scrutiny from the administration, more so than any other position on the station. Officers who abuse their power and grief or do any of the other bad things listed here will met with zero tolerance. Not knowing the rules is no excuse. DON'T BE SHIT!

Your main base. This is where you spawn and all of your equipment is stored.

A Security Officer is an agent employed by Nanotransen to act as law enforcement aboard its stations. While many restrictions, laws, and customs surrounding due process may be relaxed in space, Security is still expected to maintain the base minimum of Space Law, act within the boundaries of their authority, answer to the station's chain of command, and generally avoid being poo. To that end, they are equipped with bright-red suits to make it easier for the crew to spot them and defer to their authority, as well as a variety of Security Gear to subdue troublemakers or antagonists. Notably, a person who starts the round as a Security Officer cannot be a traitor.

The Basics

Players who are security officers tend to fall into three main categories:

• Power-tripping assholes
• Normal players who got screwed by the RNG
• Hapless newbies

If you are the latter-most, read this article and adminhelp if you need something clarified in-game. This profession has a rather sour and ignoble history in most respects, and without a doubt, this particular job is by far the most scrutinized in the game. Even the Heads don't get nearly so much pressure. By deciding to go into Security you must understand what is expected of you and what is forbidden. Be ready to defend yourself and your actions calmly and rationally at all times. Your overarching motto should be: Don't take it personally.

Your function on this station is twofold. Mainly, you will be expected to keep the rest of the crew from dying at the hands of antagonists. In hectic rounds like Wizard or Nuke you will basically be running around non-stop trying to put down psychopathic rampaging murderers. In normal rounds, respond to cries for help, keeping in mind that you have limited access and will often have to beg the AI to open doors or track someone for you. Less important but still helpful is dealing with griefers, players who are not antagonists but still are trying to make other player's rounds a living hell. You are free to pursue whichever crimes you want at your discretion, acknowledging that you will generally be hated for not doing your job and generally hated for doing your job.

Due to how tough this job is and how reviled it is in some quarters, sometimes you will find your department badly understaffed, and may even end up as the only Security officer on the shift when the round starts. Try not to let this intimidate you too badly; maintain normal patrols, use the radio to stay in contact, call in the Heads to help you if necessary, and try not to let on that Security is weaker than usual to the general population to help keep things under control.

Your Gear

Security is issued with a red-striped Security Headset capable of normal communications activity as well as a special channel, and the Security channel is definitely the most commonly used of the headsets. It can be used, like all special comms channels, with :h before the message to be sent. Command officers can coordinate Security activity and conduct oversight, and in general, having a special channel that doesn't broadcast to every person on the station can be quite helpful.

You start with a couple handcuffs and armor. You will find the rest of your equipment in your locker or in the vending machine. You have three main tools for subduing suspects:

• The Taser is a ranged stun weapon with 4 shots and must be recharged when depleted. When used point-blank on any intent except "Help," it will knock the victim briefly unconscious. The taser can be kept on your belt slot.
• The stun baton is a melee weapon with 10 shots before it needs to be recharged. It has to be on to stun someone. When hitting someone with an active stun baton on the HARM intent, you will instead stun yourself! The baton can also be kept on your belt slot.
• The flash is a melee weapon with a random amount of uses that can stun one person next to you if they don't have proper eye protection. It can fit in your pocket. It's your least effective weapon but the safest to use to keep an already subdued suspect down.

Use handcuffs on a downed suspect to restrain them. Once you start pulling a cuffed suspect, they are incapable of running away, but bumping into someone else may break the hold. The Port-a-brig is the safest way to transport prisoners.

Due Process

The station is not a police state, and there is no rev mode anymore (thankfully for you). You are expected to practice a modicum of due process in detaining, searching, and arresting people. You aren't expected to hold a trail for suspects in space, but you are expected to be able to defend and justify any actions you take. You should only detain when someone is a suspected criminal (witnessed by yourself or another) or there's reasonable belief that they are a danger to the crew. Bring them to your office for search & questioning and, if you have enough evidence to conclude that they are a criminal, apply an appropriate punishment as needed. Your boss is the Head of Security; consult him before considering any punishment more severe than a minor brigging. If there is no HoS, consult the Captain, unless he's a raving lunatic or a traitor himself.

Executions/permabrigging are limited to confirmed antagonists. Either you, a trustworthy officer, or an unsubverted AI/Cyborg personally witnessed the suspect spitting acid/sucking blood/murdering the captain with a c-sword, the Detective has put together a convincing case from the evidence, or you found an unlocked syndicate PDA with their name on it. Always check with a higher authority before doing something irrevocable.

Dos and Donts

An effective Officer should...

• Keep their weapons holstered or in their backpack unless they are about to use them, otherwise they will quickly get disarmed and stolen.
• Be diligent enough to respond to calls from across the station and work with the Heads and AI to get access to dangerous areas if necessary.
• Be measured, reasonable, and tolerant, especially with confirmed criminals.
• Be knowledgeable enough about the different jobs to understand the difference between common work and social behavior and suspicious activity worth checking out.
• Be respectful of normal crew and not hold an attitude of smug or aggressive superiority over them. This is unproductive and can be dangerous if the crew retaliates.
• Be intelligent enough to determine whether a crew member was a victim or a criminal, especially if you didn't witness the crime taking place as this is most often the case.
• Stay in the loop by maintaining radio contact with fellow officers and superiors. Keep informed and keep others informed as well. You're a team.
• Assist fellow Officers with dangerous situations. Even two people is so much better than a lone Sec officer going into a situation.
• Properly lock up and stow Security gear and equipment and try to maintain secured areas and not allow unauthorized entry.
• Check up on prisoners and suspects and listen to their complaints legitimately. Avoid harsh treatment unless necessary.
• Check fellow Security if they're going over the line, carrying a grudge, abusing prisoners, or otherwise getting into terrible Security habits. Change is often most effective from within and a single good Security officer can sometimes be enough to turn his fellows around.
• Obey the Head of Security at all times. If the HoS contradicts the Captain, obey the HoS. The HoS is basically someone the admins trust enough to be sec and not be shit.

An officer should NOT:

• Brig for small offenses - Face farting is not worth a 5 minute brig sentence.
• Brig someone for stealing petty objects - Sunglasses are not exclusively a security object nor do they carry the sentence of stealing more sensitive things like Stun Batons.
• Use unnecessary lethal force - Honestly if you use a laser on someone just to subdue, you need a break.
• Perma-Brig - Unless he is a confirmed traitor, never do this. EVER. The Solitary Confinement is HoS use only.
• Confiscate Job Specific Items - If the Janitor's special boots are taken away from him, it better be a good reason. Otherwise give it back. Catching an Electrician hacking is not an excuse to steal his gloves.
• Hunt Down Past Antagonists - of a bygone round of a 2d spaceman fart game is a giant NO. You might need a break if you do this.
• Strip Suspects or Prisoners - If you need to search a prisoner, bring them to the office, then take off any contraband, their backpack, and empty their pockets. Stripping a prisoner at the site of arrest generally means all their shit will be stolen by the time they leave the brig.
• Torture Prisoners - Beatings, force-feeding alcohol, etc. Also remember the "don't be creepy" rule, you weirdo.
• Remove Headsets - A prisoner always needs a last resort to call for help, sometimes from overbearing security, but even from well-meaning security that gets distracted and leaves the prisoner in a place they can't escape.
• Indefinite / Unattended Bucklecuff - A bucklecuffed prisoner cannot escape of their own free will. If you wander off in the middle of a search & interrogation and then get murdered, your prisoner will be stuck with no way out.
• Get rid of prisoners in the brig by putting them in the disposal unit - The crusher unit and conveyor belt in disposal may be active, potentially gibbing your prisoners.

If somebody is griefing you, then for the most part, adminhelp it. Low-level grief is basically a matter for Security to handle instead of the Admins, so yes, chase around that shithead and stun him a time or two for breaking into the Cargo Bay or Security, but if somebody is making it their mission in life to fuck you over, assault you repeatedly, and stop you from doing your job for no legitimate reason, then you need to get help from the admins, plain and simple. Some admins are willing to look the other way from excessive punishments to people who excessively grief you, but do NOT assume that all of them will!

If other Security won't stop being shitty, adminhelp that too, and promptly. Don't try to cover for them or help them be shit; just simply be a good Security officer and keep things from boiling over if possible.

General Advice

• Speak with the Head of Personnel early on about elevated access, at least to the Medical and Engineering areas, so that calls there can be responded to more promptly. Watch out for HoPs handing out all-access cards, as most crewmembers' first destination will be to loot your office!
• If you have reason to believe there's a cloaking traitor or vampire amok, speak with Electricians about working up some more pairs of thermals to issue to other crew and the rest of the Security shift.
• If you're searching somebody's belongings and/or arresting them, make sure to stun repeatedly. When the stun wears off enough for them to take action you may have little or no warning before they spring on you again. Be sure. Even stunning a lot has no permanent health effects, as far as we can tell.
• When the Escape shuttle is on the way, consider closing in on the Escape and Arrivals areas and defending them. Traitors love to get in some late-game shots or bombs, or just try to escape on the shuttle, perhaps alone. Wreck their plans as much as you can.
• Don't freak out if some asshole steals your gear; stay calm, call it in, and set them to Arrest on the computer. Chances are you'll be able to get some of it back when they're brought in.
• Make good use of the AI itself when it's on your side! Order it to track and broadcast known shitheads/murderers, at least, and often just this can be quite useful. A standard-law setup will also allow an AI to bolt doors, especially if you can establish the person to be bolted in is a danger to life.

Trouble in Paradise

How do you know that trouble is happening, has happened, or is going to happen soon? You're playing on the Goonstation server, that's how. Here's a rundown on the levels of troublemakers, shitheads, and monsters you're likely to run into and the generally appropriate response.

• Class 1: The Hooligan

Most often comes from the ranks of the Assistant classes, those dirty plebians. Can be any crewman, however.
Characterized by offenses that are non-critical. For instance, being reported for harassment or attempting to break into non-critical but secured areas such as Medbay. Stealing non-weaponry items. Messing with the power or wiring. Basically, acts that are annoying but not particularly threatening.
Recommended Action: Take steps to negate their annoyance factor; throw them out of the area, give them a talking-to, perhaps even a stunning. Generally this type is harmless and in a crisis may be ignored by the Security team, although this won't endear you to their victims.

• Class 2: The Shithead

Can be any crewman with a chip on their shoulder, really. Still more likely to come from low-level professions, either from necessity or spite at not getting a better job.
Characterized by offenses that are more worth your effort to respond to and negate, such as assault, theft of important devices or job objects, attempting to gain hacking tools and hack into important areas. Maybe be out to harass the Command and Security staffs. Might have an annoying or shitty gimmick they're playing to the hilt.
Recommended Action: Stern warnings, and if those don't work, stunnings as well as removing them from the area. Light brig times if they persist in offending or seem unlikely to change. Confiscate any important items they may have procured like job items, toolbelts, or insulated gloves. Consider taking away access if they've abused theirs. Consider setting to Arrest status if they're robust or persist in their ways, but always remember to remove their arrest status after locking them up.

• Class 3: The Real Trouble

Possibly a subtle traitor, possibly just somebody doing something shitty. This type of offender is dedicated to making your life rough in general. Names in this category may become familiar over the Security channel.
Characterized by offenses that constitute a serious danger, either to the station as a whole, or to individuals, whether important or not. Assaults, thefts, brutal beatings, and even attempts at murder are conceivable. Will often be hell-bent on stealing Security gear and using it against the crew. Often likes to steal critical items, such as the RCD and spacesuits, which can be used to subvert the AI. They often stop short of technical griefing but are still bad to have on your server. Note that at this level it becomes hard to tell disguised traitors from assholes and the admins may not back you up lest they reveal information you're not supposed to have.
Recommended Action: Often previous action will have been taken and found ineffective on this type; set them to Arrest and go after them, stunning hard, arresting quickly, taking their gear and confiscating any forbidden items, and briging up to five minutes at a time. By the time they hit this stage, they have exhausted most of the benefit of the doubt, and you may act quickly against them if suspicion comes up. Any hint of traitor activity should upgrade a person to this level, if not the next.

• Class 4: Dirty Traitor

This is a person who is heavily suspected of being a traitor, changeling, or vampire, or who was apprehended with actual evidence of such. Anyone can be one of these except Security Officers and the HoS-- even the Captain. Even someone who didn't start out as a traitor might have been mindslaved, replaced by the changeling, or enthralled, so not even your fellow officers are above suspicion.
Characterized by repeated suspicious and nonstandard activities, being unable to explain suspicious actions, commiting gross or obvious crimes, being caught attempting to offend in a big way, or just outright confirmed by the AI and Security to be in possession of traitor gear. This is not for the suspects, this is for people who you'd be willing to bet some credits work for the hated Syndicate.
Recommended Action: These individuals constitute a real and present danger to the entire station. Detain, consider solitary confinement, set them to Arrest, and if they are free on the station, call out their name and order the AI to track them and all crew to engage on sight. Do not outright kill them if you can help it, but at this level, somebody is either a traitor or such a piece of shit that you are unlikely to get much more than a warning for violent actions against them. Offer leniency if they will admit to it and/or unlock their PDA, even if it's empty. If they're a changeling consider seriously a lethal solution. Vampires might be offered a truce.

• Class 5: HOLY SHIT

The obvious and blazingly aggressive antagonist roles, particularly the Wizard, the changeling's Horror Form, and the red-suited Nuclear Operatives. Any NPC hostiles. A traitor going on a rampage with specialist gear or who has just gone full-rambo. This is not for suspicions; this category is for somebody letting blood in the hallways and screaming for your death.
Characterized by being incredibly easy to spot. There is no doubt whether somebody belongs in this category; if they've got robes and are slinging spells, or if they've been seen spitting neurotoxin, or if they're flinging bombs and destroying entire departments. Their names should be household phrases on the main and Security radio channels by now. The AI will typically be broadcasting their every move when they are detected aboard the station.
Recommended Action: It's war. Engage to kill. Stun if possible, although only as a means to disable them until lethal force can be applied. Do not hold back, do not hesitate. Do not try to arrest, detain, or reason with them. Go in quickly, attack in groups, seize weaponry if you can, strip wizards, burn changelings, space vampires or traitors. Note that changelings in Horror Form can shake off stun weapons; consider improvised melee combat instead or relying on support from other crew. It's time to stop messing about in the shadows and have a stand-up fight, and failure here means the entire station may be lost. In some cases, particularly Changeling, the AI and Borgs can be called in to directly attack even on the Standard Laws since they are not human. Swarm them as much as possible and bring them down.

As you can see, the lethal solution (or solitary confinement, even) is definitely your last resort, and only if it's clear there are no other options. Otherwise at least attempt to resolve the situation without anybody getting killed. Sometimes, though, things will get out of hand, and your first priority is to protect the Heads and the rest of the crew.

Supplementary Video

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