Impound Security Options

[Mystical_X]

I can't seem to find any info on LS or KE car impounds in any of my source books so I was wondering what kind of security measures they are likely to have.
Would they have Security riggers or regular guards? Motion detectors? Mages?
Any info or just plain speculation would help allot.

[Dende]

Our GM made it rather insecure...We kinda used modern tactics...a guy at the gate, with a card pass required to get in...cameras and the like. Of course there were also keypads and swipers to get in... Nothing really high tech...but that depends, it may be right off the police station...LS building, etc, not a stand alone outpost like ours was... If this is the case, they would probably have lots more security.

Of course all of this is speculation since we dont' really know.

[Mystical_X]

[Dende]

Not being in law enforcement or corporate security, I can but speculate.

But realistically you would have to plan it given a few things...

My fake-ass builder...

Start off with my local Des Moines Impound yard... 2 gaurds 24 hrs a day. Video surveilance...AFAIK no keycards/etc

Assume move into year 2060 maybe still 2 guards, now add keypad/card locks at gates and maglocks at the doors to the buildings which actually house the goods/cars...

Bigger city = more security...
If it is a huge city, I would say a guard at each gate, and a guard in every corner, then another at each door into the buildings. Video still, maybe higher ratings maglocks and such. Base of good doors, probably metal. From there, fit to your campaign. If it is Seattle, or they have anything particularly worth guarding, maybe add a mage, or better/more guards.
Normally though impound yards aren't that hugely secure.

[The Jopp]

This is just my 2 cents but this is LS in 2060, shouldn't they be equivalent to a large corporation and thus protecting their assets which includes impounded vehicles and equipment.

If I remember correctly from the little I have read about LS when I glanced at the sourcebook they have a large building protected by wards, spirits and whatnots.

Think about what they have impounded (probably down in an underground garage below their own patrolcar garage). Let's see...


1. Enough impounded small arms to equip every gang in seattle
2. Anti-tank weapons
3. Explosives
4. Heavy weapons (All those brainless Streetsams they shot and killed)
5. Rigger vehicles (You already KNOW how much weaponry one of those things can be equipped with)
6. The usual amount of impounded drugs
7. Focis. Sustaining foci, weapon foci etc.
8. Illegal spell formulas
9. Ammunition to the above weapons
10. Personal items pending investigation.

I personally think that they will have more, a lot more than just two guards and a fence between all that and every salivating runner in seattle.

On the other hand. What kind of rep would a runner team get after SNEAKING in and out of LS without firing a shot and getting away with stealing a car full of goodies?

[Hero]

I have to go with what The Jopp said, I read a source book that had the outlay description of the floors of the Lone Star building. Any important impounded items are where stored in the very secure basement, and would be watch continually.

Oh, I like the Sig. If I remember correctly that is either from the Warhammer 40k rule book or the Space Marine Codex.

[thunderchild]

Impound would be a very secure facility, probably a old multi story parking garage converted. every floor bricked in, the thing would look like a solid pile of concrete, no doubt painted in bright colors and covered in billboards to disguise its true nature, once inside the impound lot, there would be cameras on every major junction, pressure sensors, door sensors, motion detectors, and the guns and explosives would be kept on the middle floor. I.e you either have to fight your way up to them, or down to them.

Guards would be heavily armed, and the wront rolladoors would opperate like an airlock, you drive in through one armored gate into a waiting area, the rolladoor comes down, the identification is verified and the vehicle is searched, then a pair of guards escort the person to the designated thing your after and escort you out with it.

The guards would be paid well to ensure their loyalty, and the security systems would not be accessable from the matrix, Onsite Rigger access only.

[Frag-o Delux]

I believe Mystical_X is talking about cars. From my experiences. Cars are kept on a lot, surrounded by a fence and barb wire, one maybe two guards depending on the size of the lot and size of the police force. Almost all cars impounded are for stupid things like to many parking tickets or drug raids and siezures. Meaning that most people are not looking to add to their troubles to steal their car back, besides who is stupid enough to steal from the police. :D So in the future I don't see any reason for security to get much higher for impounded cars. Of course if the car is involved in a crime they will put it some where so it can not be tampered with and comprimise the DA's case. Also if a rigger is stopped and his sedan/tank is impounded it to will move onto a secure site, because it to will more thank likely be evidence in a crimal case. But if you are just looking for a Ferrari or a Porshe for an evening on the town, they will be sitting right next to the Americars and Elektras. Chances are also they have a rent-a-cop on the lot as security because a $6.00/hour high school drop out is cheaper then a trained law enforcement officer who is better serving the community out in the field impounding cars not guarding them. The guard may sit in a hut with some cameras but not much else.

[thunderchild]

[Frag-o Delux]

It is your game, go for it. :D

But most municalpilities just can't afford losing all that money to guarding cars. Your dooms day senerio would happen maybe once in very blue moon, and would them lead to a major investigation which would pull down so much heat that it really is not worth it unless you can get all those cars onto a ship and out of the country in less then a day. You had better hope no one needs the reward money. Lone Star is a corporation looking to protect their profits. Don't forget a lot of the cars impounded today become "state" property when it is impounded so explaning to Mr. CEO why junior lost his Maserati might not be a problem, because it might not belong to Junior anymore. :D Then again if Mr. CEO is really powerful in the area he will have connections in the local government to have Juniors car released almost right away.

I know it is also a game and need to provide a challenge to your players so I guess I would put close the same type of security on it also.

[toturi]

I agree with Frag. I mean since LS is a money making corp, they'll try to cut costs. So paying a ton of cred just to guard impounded stuff seem too much of an overkill to me. Maybe if the stuff was being kept in a high security compund used to store LS's own goodies, maybe it would be reasonable. But most of the time the really good stuff wouldn't be in the impound yard, it would be in the evidence room of the local station or in the parking lot of the local station.

[Frag-o Delux]

In the LS sourcebook, they talked a lot of about how LS would cut costs. Like Seattle is on the water so they built a Water Patrol, after the PR shine wore off they scrapped the whole thing but are still getting the contracts for the water way security.

Also going back to Junior's Maserati. I am sure the cops will know tha name of thekids father and take special care of it while it is being held. It is amazing how much the local cops know the rich and famous of the area, after they too are also devient and need police protection. :)

[Siege]

Cars are one thing, but the other, high-risk stuff listed like:

Guns, BTL chips, decks, anti-vehicle weapons, body armor, cybernetics

would all be stored elsewhere -- either in evidence lockers or storage facilities in the basement of the precinct.

The really expensive vehicles might have wheel-locks or some sort of blocker circuit preventing the internal electronics from working. But that kind of individual, high-end security would only be put on the really nifty vehicles -- the Spyder rather than the Honda Civic, to use today's examples.

Now, if you wanted to be nasty, try breaking into a LS building to loot the evidence storage. :grinbig:

-Siege

[nezumi]

I realize the question was about LS or KE car impounds, but 90% of the time it won't be there. After all, most LS or KE places can't afford to build an impound, and it costs money to tow and store these things.

Yes, if your car is being held for a high profile case, is somehow illegal or of a lot of value to the police, expect it to be with the police. If your car is impounded because you lost your license, got into an accident or left it on the side of the road somewhere for weeks, it won't be at the police station it'll be at the closest towing service impound. When it doubt, I'd bet on the local tow impound. If your bison was taken towed by the police expect:

Some place off a dead end, by the train tracks.
Security includes a parking lot with dangerously large pothols
ten foot fence topped with consierge or barbed wire.
no less than 3 cats
2-4 overweight men (during the day) who sit around on lunch break from 10:30am-2:30pm. They all have big towtrucks and pickups around the back, most likely they'll have handguns and/or shotguns somewhere
1 slightly overweight, quite unattractive 30 year old woman behind the counter.
Your car will be surrounded by other beaten up cars, so it won't be easy to get it out unless you plan on driving over the other cars, or can spend at least half an hour maneuvering them with a tow truck (if you're waiting on a driver, expect to wait 1d6-1 hours beforehand for them to finish 'lunch').
1-4 probably defunct video cameras spread around the area looking at nothing in particular.

You can expect to pay $100 for towing plus $20 a day for holding. They probably don't care if your car is actually 'drivable' as long as you get it off their lot (after paying). If your car is nice, expect a new aroma and several inexplicable stains you can't get out with bleach.

[Frag-o Delux]

The guy I know that runs an impound lot has a few beaten dogs, not cats. The dogs look like death warmed over and nasty as all get out. The are covered in grease, dried blood, scars and missing patches of fur. You would almost thing he watched a movie and went to the pound and freed the dogs that he saw in Kujo or something. I know I wouldn't mess with those freakin' mongrels. They look and act like they don't give a rats ass about chewing your legs off and eating the rest of you later.

And I think a few of the guys he has working for him have dependency of some sort or another so they would probably would be a good way in during your SR session.

Cool thing, he has some sort of contract with the insurance companies, that when a car is totalled out he has to finish the job. Some people don't know but some damage will make a car totalled, meaning the cost of repair is more then the value of the car. But most of the car could be stripped and sold for parts because there is nothing wrong with the rest of the car. The want the car destroyed because once they pay the bill on the car it is technically the property of the Insurance company and they are not set up to deal with the stripping and selling of parts, so they pay him to finish the job the origanil owner couldn't. So he drives them into piles of junk to blow the air bags and just has a ball destroying what is left of a car. I think he has been in at least a hundred head on collisions. :D

[nezumi]

Are you serious?? I mean granted, if my $300 car (don't laugh, it WAS worth $300) is done $250 of damage (dented bumper or a broken window) it IS better for the insurance company to do another $51 of damage, buy the car and get $100 back in parts (net cost of $200 instead of $250). But somehow that seems grossly illegal.

[Dende]

Think of it grander...

If I have a 25,000 car which labor and parts on a full totaling job, redetail, body work, engine repair, etc etc...Very easily could go above 30k...

Assuming you actually have a 300 car, if the engine goes, labor alone would be 400 or 500 dollars...

Mind you usually this is moot in an impound lot, as most cars are from traffic violators, not from cars which no longer can be driven out of the lot.

[Frag-o Delux]

Ok the guy I know does impound, and automotive work so he has his hand in all of it.

nezumi, I guess I didn't explain it right. Like Dende said if you car is worth $300 dollars and you did something to cost more then $300 in damage your would be labled totalled. Which means the Insurance company would give the $300 buks and call it a wash.

Now the cars he gets are pretty new, in the $20,000 to $35,000 range. Well people have done a lot of damage to these cars. The $20,000 car once driven off the lot might drop in value to say $15,000, if do that much damage to the car they call it a wash. Now to keep people from taking these cars and selling the parts they pay him to wreck the remaining parts (what I meant when I say he finishes what the origanil owner couldn't finish). He isn't trying to push the damage higher to purposly total it. The car has already been declared totaled. He just destroys the tires, body, windows, electronics, engines, drive train, whatever. For some reason instead of selling the scrap out to him and let him strip it for parts and sell it, they pay him to break it down so no one can. I guess their philosophy is if it is worthless to me I'll make damn sure it will be worthless to you. It is probably a liability issue also. An air bag is considered a dangerous explosive and you need a special permit to take them out, but since he doesn't want to get that permit and can't legally resell them he just drives the wreck into a pile of junk to set it off. One time him and one of his employees did a head to head to set 2 off at the same time, very cool.

[nezumi]

Wow... I want that job... I seem to be pretty good at crashing cars to begin with *blush*

But I really did think that if the car company buys the car because its totalled, its THEIR car, and THEY sell the parts. If my $300 car got a broken window and is 'totalled', I can't say to the insurance company 'give me $300... and my car, thanks.' Can I? If so, it would make more sense (I just bought a used car for $300, demolish it, get my money back for it and sell the parts for another $100... good for me, mister insurance buyer!) How much do they pay that guy? I know some people who'd do it for free...

[thunderchild]

[Frag-o Delux]

[Saintgrimm]

[Lilt]

Umm. Drawing likenesses of impound lots in RL and impound lots in SR is all well nd good, but AFAIK most security in SR is much higher than in RL.

1 mage per lot may be a bit much (not everyone is awakened) but you could easily expect some watchers or bound elementals guards. Drones (or concealed gun emplacements) would also be probable. As it's a lot linked with LS or KE, I'd expect backup to arrive fairly fast from patroling units if the alarm was sounded.

I also doubt that lonestar would subcontract to people who are not fully-lonestar-owned, and in 2063 I wouldn't be at-ll surprised if impounded cars became lonestar property. IE: Corp orders would probably be to send valuable vehicles to a secure impound where there probably would be a better-equipped security team (including a mage).

[Lilt]

I should probably explain the stationary gun emplacement thing:

Basically they're body 1 or 2 drones that range in size from fire-hytrants to telephone boxes.

I gave them a 0.1 to 0.15 markup multiplier, making them very cost-effective. I know this is particularily cheap but it makes sense for most of the stuff you want to put on them as the armor can be havier (cheaper materials) the pilot rating and sensors don't need to factor in themselves moving (simpler = easier to make) ETC.

They usually carry either a pop-up microturrets on the small ones and mini-turrets on the large ones. The small ones are sometimes found on street-corners in AAA neighbourhoods and sometimes indoors in foyers or secure areas. The large ones are found on the perimiters of military/secure corp complexes.

[Lindt]

Ok, Im seeing this get outta hand. A major city (since I live there) like Boston has a police impound lot. 2 story parking garage (with high ceilings for tow trucks) with a chain link fence, some razor wire and one very tired looking guy (with sidearm) sitting in the booth at the gate. This is not where they put people who dont pay for parking tickets. They park cruisers here as well as the nicer cars that are gotten from crimes (often they are held here pending investigation) The local guys (Joes towing) has an 'impound' lot. In this case its a bit of flat ground with a sagging chain link and a slding gate that might work. Oh, and a fat balding man named Joe.
Either way, a competent running team will have close to free reign over both areas. However, the police lock-up has much better survailance (multiple stationary camaras, and Archei the Cop that walks around once every few hours), where as Joe's has one camara, and a mangey rotwhilier. I find it VERY hard to belive that leathal force (of the remote turrent varity) would be used to protect a towed car. This isnt the basement lock-up or the wepons cage.