Working the motivations, So, why? Options

[Penta]

Hi all.

I'm writing up a character. Trying to figure out why they would enter the shadows.

Character is:

A former KE street cop, who served basically everywhere. While his internal preference is for oldstyle "protect and serve" policing (the ideal), he's a pragmastist.

Now, I'm trying to avoid the usual "the corp tried to kill me" shtick, because, well...why? He was just a beat cop.

So, why would he enter the shadows?

Help?

[ShadowDragon8685]

Hmmmmmmmm...

Maybe he was forced out of KE by a scandal? Maybe one he had nothing to do with, but was in fact a scapegoat for?


Maybe he has to go outside the law to get justice for something that KE in general is not interested in getting, and then decides that the way he can best serve and protect is by working outside of a group of what is essentially armed thugs for hire?

[Kagetenshi]

An addiction? Illicit love affair with a 14-year-old? Person who murdered his brother/wife/whatever got away from the law, he wants to make sure he doesn't get away from him? Leaves in disgust at corruption and greed?

~J

[Supercilious]

I see moral crisis leading to scandal...

Perhaps he had the moral Dilemma Hardigan (Sin City) had....

[Fortune]

Maybe he just doesn't want to work with Bugs.

[Ryu]

Maybe he wanted to nail down a criminal that falls under Lonestars jurisdiction but Lonestar does nothing against?

Would allow for your char to keep loyal employees of KE as connections.

[Talia Invierno]

Maybe he was trying to hold true to his "protect and serve" ideals in a place where law had fallen apart, and the KE profit bottom line didn't allow for any efforts which were more than window dressing.

Or maybe the roots of the problem began outside the area KE was contracted (paid) to protect, which forced him into a holding action against something he could see how to fix, but was kept powerless to actually do anything about it.

[Penta]

[PBTHHHHT]

[Talia Invierno]

SR short story reference involving KE and a couple of mantid spirits.

[Wintermancer]

[Siege]

Pragmatic - his inability to address serious issues from his side of the badge?

Particularly if his inability to address the issue does not fall subject to the law but whimsical corporate directive?

He found out a KE manager was involved in running an illicit BTL operation and instead of being able to bring the manager to justice, the company hushed the whole thing up to avoid the PR fallout.

Make it a snuff BTL ring with kids and obscure musical stars, if you want to make the offense grievous enough to warrant a dedicated beat cop cast aside his badge and disappear into the shadows.

-Siege

[hyzmarca]

Racist Rich Human beats an ork kid to death in a nightclub.
RRH makes racist comments as the ork goes into fatal seizures as he is being wheeled into the ambulance.
KE cop punches RRH in the face.
Racist rich kid gets away with it due to his family's money.
KE cop throws is badge like a shuriken imbeding it into the wall, barely missing RRH.
KE cop joins his uncle John's detective agency due to his disgust with the system.

[CountZero]

[Wounded Ronin]

Maybe he wrongfully shot someone by accident once and was drummed out of the force.

[Lenice Hawk]

Well, all the above are very interesting and noble, but in the interest of playing devil's advocate, here are a few alternative suggestions.

He's bored. Sure, saving innocents is great and all, but how often does that really happen? This adrenaline junky is sick of pulling corporate hoop out of the fire. Besides, if he, as a well trained KE operative, were to run the shadows, he could save the innocents in another way, by replacing those who don't give drek about them to one who does...a little.

This is based a bit on the Katrina tragedy, and many NO officers decisions to walk.
He has a near death experience, or great personal tragedy, and takes a long hard look at what he's doing. He finds he is not getting the rewards he thought he would. Altruistic save the world drek just isn't real. He's in a for profit business where only those who can pay get protection. And the money sure isn't good enough for him to risk his life for. So he turns in his badge and leaves.

[hahnsoo]

You can always play the Internal Affairs card. Someone has to take the fall for "insert scandal here", and who better than the Boy Scout? Internal Affairs comes after the cop, cop escapes with his life but a tarnished career and no chance of getting back into the system. He turns to the shadows, hoping to get revenge on the corrupt bastards who ruined his life.

Hilarity ensues. :)

BTW, I really don't see KE having too many of the "typical street cop" type contracts. In my mind, they are a high-end corporate security firm (I will note that the fiction does say that they hold a handful of city contracts for municipal law enforcement, but not nearly as many as Lone Star). I think Eagle Security and Lone Star are much better options for a "typical beat cop" archetype.

[Nemo]

@hahnsoo

KE has a number of police-contracts, NY for example (sharing with two other security providers), IIRC

[weblife]

[Penta]

Or, something much simpler (and less ego-bruising):

Our Hero was a decent cop. A cop who was on the way up.

As a cop, he was a professional. A bit odd in his insistence on working like they were still government cops, but it didn't effect anything, and he got the corp good PR on occasion.

However, he was unfortunate.

Cops are notoriously clubby; The best way for a cop to get ahead would be to have a "rabbi", as NYPD jargon puts it. A Friend in someplace higher.

OH had that.

Unfortunately, OH would be betrayed. OH was a SWAT cop. OH was leading multiple elements on a high-risk warrant service. Unfortunately, OH's unit was ambushed, by perp elements who had been tipped off by an enemy of OH's Patron.

OH survived. Many of his team did not. And evidence of the set up survived.

OH was not enough of a threat to be dealt with. But it was pretty clear to OH that his career had just become stopped.

But OH was pissed. So OH left KE, on more-or-less amicable terms, and entered the shadows.

His goals: Go legit. Eventually, he hopes to exit the shadows, and resume his legit life. He can't really do that yet, though.

His helps: He was well-thought of within KE, and his Patron's Enemy has plenty of opponents. He has plenty of contracts.

Situation: He's now working the shadows. And I have writer's block.

[Siege]

Writer's block with?

-Siege

[Ed Simons]

He goblinized. Now his buddies don't talk to him anymore, the cute secretary has stopped flirting with him and says if he speaks to her again she'll consider it sexual harassment, he has to endure openly racist slurs from other KE cops that don't know him, and a less talented but human officer gets the promotion he deserved.

[Cynic project]

[Kesh]

Why not go with the most realistic reason ever?

KE was seeing money problems in his division. So, they laid people off. Including him.

Now, he could try to sign up to Lone Star, but he'd be an outsider there. Who's going to trust a guy who worked for the competition? He may be too old to join the military. He could sign up as a beat cop in some podunk jurisdiction that can't afford LS, or he could sign up to be a corp rent-a-cop... but that's a far cry from where he was.

And, why should he trust a corp anymore? If KE is willing to do that to their good employees, why wouldn't another one? So, he's got the skills for investigation, dealing with threats and other training. He can put that to solid use on the outside of corp life, and even pay them pack a little bit.

It becomes more plausible if he already had 'runner contacts. Maybe snitches, or just people who occasionally did jobs for KE. He's out of a job, runs into someone he's done "work" with, and they offer him an opportunity to pick up some money on a run.