KE being both the cops and private security, how does that work? Options

[Bearclaw]

We had a situation come up in game that got me thinking.
KE had lots of contracts within Seattle before they were "the cops".
So, how does that work now?

ex: KE has had a long term contract with the Dripping Willow Boarding School for Gifted Youngsters. There was a break in and kidnapping that they needed investigated but not publicized. So, I had Detective Tosh Athack on the scene, as a representative of Knight Errant Security, but not "the cops". So instead of being a standoffish dick who didn't want the team muddying up the waters, he was happy to have any off the books help in retrieving the missing kid quietly.
My idea was, if they could handle the situation before word got out, it would never have an official police report. But he sealed the crime scene (more or less, he let the characters in for a minute), and did all the regular police procedure, in case it had to be made into an official police case.

I guess I'm looking for validation AND criticism. Is that how you would do it? Do you think maybe they would have guys that weren't part of the Metroplex Police bureaucracy to deal with stuff like this? I kinda pulled the whole thing out of my butt as I went along, without a chance to think it through.

[Warlordtheft]

That's a valid assumption. An evil gm could have the Johnson use the runners as fall guys should the case go public.

The only sticking point here is that the school also doesn't want the word to get out in regards to this kidnapping---but what are the kids going to tell their parents. Keeping the word from getting out is going to be difficult, and it is only a matter of time before it does.

[Bearclaw]

Yea, I was going with that assumption. So Tosh dotted all the i's and crossed the t's, just didn't call it in.
The party got the call at 7 pm, and I figured that the jig would be up by 7 am. So 12 hours to track down a just grabbed kid.

[Stahlseele]

"so, ok, you ran into that corp building. because of the whole exterritoriality stuff business so knight errant would not be able to follow you. right? guess who has the security contract of that corp?"

[Nath]

It depends on the Seattle police contract terms, if and how the Seattle administration has a say on the personnel Knight Errant use for law enforcement. It's unlikely they would have none at all, at least if the government wants to avoid ex-convicts and Sioux spies patrolling the streets, investigating crimes and accessing federal agencies files. I guess the Seattle administration either does a vetting on every Seattle police officer, or the contract sets requirements (such as US or UCAS origin, speak English, no conviction, etc.) and Knight Errant perform the background check. In the later case, any Knight Errant employee fulfilling the requirements could become a Seattle police officer almost instantly if needed.
The same goes for private security contracts. Except that most small companies wouldn't care about the personnel assigned to their facilities. Those who would have reasons to do so wouln't hire Ares in the first place.

The problem with moving personnel between the two activities is the outside hierarchy. A Seattle police officer has to obey the district attorney. A private security guard has to obey the client corporation head of security and top management. If a Seattle police officer enters extraterritorial corporate offices as "reinforcement for the security service, he would have to obey the corporation management, even if they ask for illegal acts. And if a private security guard follow intruders outside, he would have to read them their Miranda's (now, just kidding, he can shot first, but you get the idea).

According to Seattle 2072, Ellen Ward, vice president of Knight Errant Seattle, is Seattle's Chief of Police Services. Thus, the same person oversees both police and private security activities. They likely share training facilities, and maintenance and support services. But law enforcement in an area the size of Seattle is too much business not to be its own subdivision. So you would probably have three "subdivisions" within Knight Errant Seattle : Seattle police force, private customers security, and Ares Group security.

The rest depends on how VP Ward and the people heading each subdivisions, and the people below them, each manage their respective career. Seattle police contract is one big contract to be renewed in ten years, while private security is hundreds of yearly contracts, and Ares Group security would have to answer to Ares Seattle division head Karen King directly, as well as the Ares head of security in Detroit. And let's not forget Hard Corps, the other security services company in the Ares group, which is separate from KE and thus are not under Ward authority (but still answer to King).

[Chainsaw Samurai]

Quick reply to either add too or rebut Nath, depending on your point of view.

Money. Sweeping things under the rug.

If you think politics and police organizations are capable of being difficult or corrupt now, it is nothing compared to the world of Shadowrun.

If the contract with the school pays well enough to make it worth Ward's time to ensure it stays quiet, it stays quiet. Period.

All those hackers and riggers that are deployed by security or the police likely have their hands full when not dealing with Shadowrunners fudging official documentation and camera feeds. The government of Seattle only knows a crime has occured if it is reported, or so flagrantly obvious as not to be ignored (things exploding or large scale urban combat). This kidnapping is neither of those things.

So if the school is keeping it quiet and paying KE to keep it quiet, then I don't see any reason for the "cops" to be involved at all at this point in time. Once the kid has been missing for so long as to no longer be ignorable (eg. the runners and NPCs involved fail), who cares what the original crime scene looked like? Falsify a new one. If the kid doesn't get found based off the falsified crime scene and data, oh well. One kid's life certainly isn't worth that much to a corp (life is cheap, cyberpunk remember?) and if the school really cared about the kid they should have thought about that before asking to keep things on the down-low, she was casualty to them trying to protect their reputation as a safe school.

In other words, I think you're handling it fine.

[Mäx]

"so, ok, you ran into that corp building. because of the whole exterritoriality stuff business so knight errant would not be able to follow you. right? guess who has the security contract of that corp?"

Thats why you do your homework and run to ones who's security is handled by Lonestar, just like before the change you ran from the lonestar to KE secured buildings (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

[Eratosthenes]

It's called a conflict of interest.

If the private police force (KE) is investigating a violent scene at a site whose security is an affiliate of said police force (again, KE), then odds are good that the police force will find in favor of the security force (i.e. appropriate use of force).

Regarding the kidnapping, if the school doesn't want it investigated, why would they even bother to call the police in? They might still call in some investigators on contract (i.e. police officers looking to make some overtime, which KE may or may not encourage generally, but is likely more lenient if they're helping one of their own), but if it's hush hush, they'd not want to officially involve the police.

(In the end, it's the same effect, just different semantics)

[Mäx]

It's called a conflict of interest.

If the private police force (KE) is investigating a violent scene at a site whose security is an affiliate of said police force (again, KE), then odds are good that the police force will find in favor of the security force (i.e. appropriate use of force).

Well thats nothing new, as lonestar also has a corpsec division.