Space Law

Space Law is a fiddly thing, and the recommended arrest procedure and sentencing here is a guideline, not necessarily a hard and fast rule. It is best practice to always try to talk the situation out and make a full investigation first, and when making an arrest to announce who you are arresting and why before simply pulling out your taser and shooting at people. Remember that the crew needs to be able to trust and rely on you if you are to keep them safe and productive.

Note: Space Law is an in-character set of loose guidelines for playing security, NOT the actual server rules.
As a security officer, you are not absolutely beholden to space law so long as you follow the rules.

Arrest Procedure

1) Assess the situation. Ask questions. Make the best effort you can to determine whether an arrest needs to be made before you do it. It's better to lose a perp than it is to arrest the wrong guy.
2) Declare your intention. "John Smith, I am arresting you for the murder of Jane Smith!" or even "Stop in the name of the law!" make it clear to all onlookers that you are performing your job and not just being a jerk.
3) Only stun suspects who show signs of resisting. Once your suspect is cuffed, take them immediately to the brig. Do not use lethal force under any circumstances unless it is to save a life.
4) Processing suspects should take place inside the brig or a security checkpoint. Perform a quick search of their pockets and bag if necessary. This process should take no longer than a minute or two. Do not remove the suspect's headset unless they're being extremely annoying.
5) Processed suspects should be brigged ASAP. If their total sentence is under three minutes, there is little reason to strip them and put them in orange jumpsuits, though it may be necessary to remove any tools that they might use to escape the brig. Start the timer immediately to avoid dragging their sentence out. Suspects who are not getting brig time should immediately be escorted out of security.
6) Brigged suspects must be watched closely. Suicides, fights, and escape attempts are common. An officer should be in the brig whenever any prisoners are present in order to ensure that nothing goes awry.
7) Watch your fellow officers. Lack of adherence to these procedures should be reported to the head of security, head of personnel, or captain, as it may at their discretion be grounds for disciplinary action.

Oh My God This Place is a Shit Show

Yeah, about that. There's just no way that even the best security team is going to be able to hold the station together forever. Communicate with your team, coordinate with other departments (especially medical, janitorial, and engineering) to ensure that order is maintained for as long as possible, and understand that you may eventually have to start ignoring minor crimes. There's not going to be much time to chase down a PDA thief when you're having a shootout with a rocket pod. Just remember that your job is, above all else, to keep people safe, happy, and most importantly, productive.

Crime and Punishment

The following is a list of crimes and the recommended sentencing. It is up to the arresting officer's discretion to choose the appropriate punishment, and as with any security issue, any decisions made by the arresting officer may be overridden by the HoS, Captain, or HoP. The general purpose of this list is to give players a list of admin-sanctioned sentences that they can be sure the admins won't yell at them for using.

Where appropriate, a single action may result in multiple charges. If a chemist makes a firebomb to kill someone who is attacking them with an esword, but also accidentally injures one person and kills another, they'd be potentially looking at an assault charge for the injured person, a manslaughter or second-degree murder charge for the dead one, and of course a murder charge for the person with the esword, all of which might be lessened or commuted by the fact that it was an act of self-defense.

Furthermore, it is understood that an arrest can be a lengthy process, and the recommended brig sentences are set relatively low to reflect this. The arresting officer should do everything in their power to ensure that arrest and processing are as speedy as possible so that the suspect can be done with their sentence sooner, but if they insist on being difficult and dragging the process out, that's on them. They're wasting no one's time but their own.

Crime	Priority	Description	Suggested Sentence
Trespassing	Low	Trespassing is a common complaint and is not a serious crime, though it is good practice to investigate any complaints of trespassing as you may find that the suspect has entered an area they do not have access to in order to commit some further crime. Trespassers should be asked to leave if they do not have express permission from a head or department member to be in a restricted area. They should only be forcibly removed if their presence in the area constitutes some clear and immediate danger to the station (IE a staff assistant in the AI upload). If the suspect caused or exploited some structural damage to get into the area, engineering should be called in to repair it.	None
Disorderly Conduct	Low	Disorderly Conduct is a broad offense that applies to any activity that might be considered wildly inappropriate or unprofessional on the station. Unlike harassment, it only applies if the behavior is untargeted or doesn't seem persistent but is still disruptive. This covers offenses such as public urination, drunkenness, being high in public, excessive profanity over comms, engaging in an unlawful protest, public nudity, and similar offenses. Officers should first ask the person to cease the behavior before applying punishment. If the disruptive behavior is targeted at a specific person, see Harassment	Ticketing, if substance related, detainment until sober
Harassment	Low	Harassment is a broad category that could include any number of disruptive behaviors that don't otherwise fall under other crimes. Harassment should only be addressed if it is repeated, disruptive, and beyond the victim's ability to reasonably stop or avoid. It is Nanotrasen's position that officers should first attempt to verbally de-escalate these cases before resorting to more drastic means.	Ticketing
Dereliction of Duty	Low	Dereliction of duty can be a serious charge on a station where all employees are required to work together for the sake of safety and productivity, but the enforcement of such is generally outside of security's jurisdiction. Any serious dereliction of duty such as the engineers not starting the engine or the captain leaving the nuclear authorization disk where anyone could find it should be reported to the Head of Personnel, who is best equipped to deal with the situation via docking of pay or reassignment. Lesser charges such as the janitor not cleaning messes in a timely manner might only be grounds for a ticket.	Ticketing
Obstruction of Justice	Low	Anti-authoritarian attitudes are regrettably common among Nanotrasen employees, who are often unduly resentful of the opportunities the company has provided them with. If anyone tampers with or destroys evidence, aids a suspect in escaping, or otherwise interferes with an arrest or investigation, they may be charged with obstruction of justice at the officer's discretion.	1:00 Brig Time
Theft	Low	Theft can occur when an object or small amount of money (under $1000) is unlawfully taken from a person or department by a suspect. Most theft is small enough to be overlooked or justified by the exigencies of the situation, such as a staff assistant taking hyposprays from Medbay for legitimate medical purposes. Such acts are to be investigated to the best of an officer's ability BEFORE an arrest is made, as department members and heads will frequently see fit to willingly give away certain items. In most cases, theft isn't something that needs to be addressed, though at the officer's discretion any stolen items may be confiscated via nonlethal force.	Confiscation of Stolen Property, Ticketing
Grand Theft	Medium	Grand Theft is simply theft of highly valuable, dangerous, or sensitive items such as the Captain's spare ID, the HoP's jumpsuit, security equipment such as tasers and stun batons, or sums of money over $1000. For various reasons, it is vital that these items do not unwittingly fall into the wrong hands. As with all theft, it is every officer's responsibility to assume good faith and make an investigation before an arrest is made. For instance, tasers are occasionally distributed among the crew during emergencies, or the HoP may have elected to give away his clothing et cetera.	2:30 Brig Time, Confiscation of Stolen Property
Gross Negligence	Medium	Gross Negligence occurs when unsafe practices in the workplace create a danger to other crew members. Hull breaches, food contamination, chemical spills, unintentional fires, and other hazards may result from employee incompetence or negligence, and such incidents must be taken seriously by the security team. Forensics tools can be used to determine the likeliest suspect in these cases, and if the suspect has not made a good faith effort to report the accident or repair the damage, an arrest may be necessary. Note that gross negligence resulting in the death or serious injury of other crew members may result in aggravated assault or manslaughter charges being levied against the suspect. Additionally, officers may report cases of negligence to the Head of Security or Head of Personnel with the recommendation that the suspect be reassigned or demoted. Any acts of gross negligence by members of security (such as beating a restrained suspect, unlawful imprisonment, et cetera) should be reported immediately to the Head of Security, Head of Personnel, or Captain.	2:30 Brig Time
Assault	Medium	Disagreements among crew members may occasionally come to blows. Assault is a charge to be leveled against any crew member who attacks another resulting in minor damage. Such incidents might include the use of a flash, punches, or even improvised weaponry such as rods or toolboxes. Arrests should be made immediately if an officer witnesses an assault in progress, as doing so may save lives.	1:00 Brig Time
Aggravated Assault	Medium	Any assault is to be considered aggravated if: 1) The assault results in the loss of a limb or organ. 2) The assailant uses a lethal weapon such as a knife. 3) The assault is exceptionally violent, requiring that the victim be given more than basic first aid.	2:00 Brig Time
Possession	Medium	Possession is a blanket charge for any and all contraband on the station, which can be anything from cannabis to unauthorized firearms to syndicate espionage and assault equipment. Note that it is within the jurisdiction of the captain or departmental heads to permit possession of certain kinds of contraband, so as with theft, an investigation must be made prior to an arrest unless the contraband in question poses a clear and present danger. As possession is such a broad charge, care must be taken in handling it. An officer may look the other way if they notice the chaplain smoking a joint, but at the other end of the spectrum, possession of syndicate contraband may warrant a maximum sentence, an Employee of Hostile Corporation charge, or even a treason charge.	Confiscation of contraband, a maximum of 3 minutes of brig time, depending on the severity of the charge.
Employee of Hostile Corporation	Medium-High	EHC is a charge that can be applied to any crewmember involved with the syndicate, criminal gangs, or any other organization contrary to the mission of NT. It is a blanket charge with strict liability, meaning that the crewmember does not have to have committed a criminal act for it to be applied, the only thing needed for the charge is either an admission or evidence that said crewmember is part of a hostile organization. It can only be used once, however.	1:30 in the brig, demotion from roles with high ability to sabotage (IE: Engineer or Scientist), tracking implant, loss of the right to privacy from searches.
Sabotage	High	Sabotage is similar to gross negligence, but implies that the suspect acted willfully to harm the station and/or its employees. Destroying workstations, tampering with the AI laws in a manner that exposes crew members to danger, removing airlock safety features, causing hull breaches, releasing toxic or biological agents, or willfully starting fires all fall under sabotage. This is one of the most serious charges that can be leveled against a Nanotrasen employee and should be taken seriously by the heads of staff and the entire security team.	Up to 5:00 Brig Time
Foreign Activity	High	Foreign Activity is a charge that can be added to any crime clearly committed in furtherance of the objectives of an entity hostile to NT. For instance, if Jane Doe steals a plasma tank and is confirmed to be a syndicate agent, security can charge her with both Theft and Foreign Activity. Assuming that this is her first run-in with security, an Employee of Hostile Corporation charge can also be added.	+1:30 to the sentence for each crime committed under this charge, for repeated and severe offenses, consider escalating to Corporate Treason.
Manslaughter	High	Manslaughter occurs when a crew member unknowingly or accidentally causes the death of another crew member. Certain situations (IE surgery) pose an inherent risk and should not be considered grounds for such a charge, but repeated incidents may be cause for an arrest. Manslaughter charges most often accompany gross negligence charges.	1:00 Brig Time
Second Degree Murder	High	Any act that knowingly results in the death of another crew member but does not prevent that crew member from being cloned or made into a cyborg is second-degree murder. Second-degree murder charges generally stand alone. For instance, if one crew member attacks and kills another with a knife, they should not be charged with both aggravated assault and second-degree murder.	4:00 Brig Time
First Degree Murder	Very High	Nanotrasen stations feature state-of-the-art cloning and robotics facilities. As a result, most employee fatalities result in only a brief interruption of productivity. However, certain circumstances such as spacing, hiding, or completely destroying a body can prevent these measures from being effective. Therefore, if any crew member is found to have both killed another AND interfered with the cloning or borging process, they must be charged with murder in the first degree.	5:00 Brig Time
Corporate Treason	Very High	Corporate Treason is a blanket charge including corporate espionage, mutiny, mass murder, attempted destruction of large parts of the station et cetera. It is the single most serious charge that may be brought against a suspect and must only be used when said suspect is a confirmed traitor, a syndicate operative, or a member of a hostile organization such as the wizard federation. In these cases, security officers must risk their lives to detain or subdue the suspect by any means necessary, which may include the use of lethal force if authorized by a head or necessitated by the exigencies of the situation. As these situations are diverse and hopefully rare, there is no one-size-fits-all guideline for how to deal with the suspect, however, due to the shortage of workers on the frontier, it is the official policy of NT that this charge shouldonly be applied in egregious cases, and should be reduced to an Employee of Hostile Corporation or Foreign Activity charge if the crime is not egregious and they are not presenting a threat. At the ranking officer's discretion, the suspect may be permanently detained, forcibly removed from the station, re-educated, made into a cyborg, or, as a last resort, executed. Note that due to the seriousness of this charge and the potential repercussions of its sentencing, it is Nanotrasen's official stance that a trial should be held for the suspect if at all possible.	Varies

Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

If someone is particularly cool or uncool during their arrest, feel free to adjust their sentence a bit. Here are some loose guidelines.

Circumstance	Description	Sentence Adjustment
Resisting Arrest	It is important to understand that due to the stressful and often difficult nature of working aboard a space station, many suspects will behave erratically when confronted. Some amount of overreaction is expected when an officer draws a taser or announces that they are making an arrest, but if the suspect leads security on an extended chase, attempts to break out of their cell, is highly disruptive during processing, or attempts to use lethal or nonlethal force against the arresting officers, additional charges may be levied against them at the time of the arrest. In addition to assault or aggravated assault where necessary, the generic charge of resisting arrest may be levied against the suspect.	+0:30 Brig Time
Repeat Offense	Often, security officers will find themselves arresting the same person repeatedly during a given shift. These suspects may be given slightly longer sentences, with the hope that they will be less able to engage in criminal activity due to their extended brig time. If the same suspect is arrested more than three times in a single shift, it may be necessary to ask the Head of Security to consider alternative corrective measures.	+1:00 Brig Time
Cooperation	Full and peaceful cooperation with arresting and/or investigating officers may result in reduced sentencing. It is important to apply this reduced sentencing frequently in order to encourage the crew's cooperation and trust.	-0:30 Brig Time
Self-Defense or Emergency	A crewmember committing a crime such as assault, theft, or even murder in self-defense or because of an emergency situation may have their sentenced reduced or commuted entirely, at the officer's discretion. Note that people acting in self-defense often overreact, so depending on the circumstances, some brig time may still be warranted.	Varies

---