Standard Operating Procedure (Marshals)

Marshals Standard Operating Procedure

The Marshals are the colony's main internal police enforment. Comprised of gunsmiths, police officers, investigators, and weapon specialists. The Marshals maintain a relatively elite yet limited size force within the colony, looking for skilled personnel to fill vacancies. Marshals are expected to work in close proximity to the colony's militia, the Blackshield.

In the case SOP guidelines are violated, a Warrant Officer is to review the case and consider demotion if the offense is malicious or heinous. If no Warrant Officer is present, High Council should be faxed about any findings regarding Marshal or Blackshield violation of SOP.

Blackshield personnel, if acting as an arresting officer, must follow Marshal SOP guidelines.

All Marshal personnel MUST be:

• Able bodied.
• Not serving a current criminal sentence.
• ‘Relatively’ clean record.
• Low to Medium security risk.

General Duties & Guidelines

• On code green all arrests the warrant must be authorized by either the premier, warrant officer, supply specialist, or ranger to be considered valid. In the absence of all the stated jobs a marshal officer may use his own signature and fax the high council should he do so. Failure to have a warrant during an arrest will lead to the offending officer being fined, charged, and/or potentially fired for multiple violations of the colony's Laws.
  • The Warrant Assist program may be used to place warrants and act upon them. If a crime, however, is committed in front of an officer they may use reasonable cause and detain the person. A warrant is still to be filed later, such as after processing, in the case of direct witness to a crime.
  • Note that this only applies to arrest warrants. Search warrants are required to be written, signed or stamped, before the search is conducted. Failure to do so will result in all charges being dropped.
• During an investigation witnesses may be interviewed to support physical evidence gained. Impartial witnesses, such as those with nothing reasonable to gain for such testimony nor relation to either victim nor offender, are desired to support a case. The investigator/arresting officer may do this with their own witness testimony as well, if they observe a crime being committed.
• When confronting a suspect is brought in for any green paragraph crime, you must offer the suspect a chance to pay a fine. If the fine is paid, they are to be released from brig as time-spent, unless otherwise specified by Laws. The fine is to be turned in to the Warrant Officer or Supply Specialist. If the fine is refused, they are to be brigged.
• When arresting or fining a suspect, they are entitled to have their case reviewed by the premier, or lack thereof, any member of the council willing to do so by volunteer. If there is no one capable of reviewing their case, they may still attempt to appeal on their own. Regardless of what type of appeal is made, the suspect is still to be punished until the punishment expires or the appeal passes.
• Refusal of handcuffs does not constitute resisting arrest, as per Laws §202. If a suspect refuses handcuffs and is being arrested, but is cooperative, they are to be escorted to brig. Refusal however to follow legal order may be considered resisting arrest, such as refusing to sit down in an interrogation room or acting otherwise unruly. Attempting to cuff a compliant subject is considered a §117 violation of employee rights.
  • If you cannot handcuff someone that requires cuffs, such as they are using a deployed hardsuit or have a missing hand, you must warn them at least three times to comply with the arrest. If they continue to refuse after the third warning is given marshal personnel and only marshal personnel may subdue and detain them by any necessary means. If death occurs due to the force used, Marshal officers may not be charged for any wrongdoing.
  • Races that are immune to non-lethal stun based weaponry are to have flashes or pepperspray deployed against them. If they continue to refuse to comply, or if these non-lethal means do not effect them, a verbal warning should be given that continued resistance will result in lethal force to subdue the suspect. After the warning, or if they attempt to flee, lethal force may be administered as deemed necessary.
• When confronting an armed suspect, always call for additional backup, preferably prior to the engagement. If the suspect draws a weapon, already has a weapon in their hands, or has used a weapon already, use of lethal force is immediately authorized and you are not required to announce intentions to arrest until after they are subdued.
  • No matter the loaded ammo of a ballistic firearm, fire-mode an energy weapon, or mode of a possibly lethal hand-weapon, all firearms are to be treated as if they are loaded with lethals and being used with lethal intent. A gun loaded with rubbers, or an energy gun on tase firemode, are still to be treated as a firearm capable of lethal intent.
• If a suspect uses a mech to resist arrest, lethal force is automatically authorized.
• If a suspect escapes the colony, lethal force is authorized for any personnel within the marshals or blackshield who attempt to pursue. Blackshield are to be notified to find the suspect. Shoot-on-sight may be granted to them if deemed necessary.
• In terms of dealing with genetically enhanced colonists, Marshals are to switch to lethals if they are too problematic to take down by normal means. This includes illegal genetics such as hulk genes or other extreme body-altering genetics.
• A Warrant Officer may deem an offender of a capital crime as too dangerous for revival and issue a ‘DNR’ - Do Not Revive - order. If the council wishes to override a DNR order, they must vote to do so or the Warrant Officer must be changed for abusing their authority. If a DNR order is overturned, the offender is to be revived.
  • DNR orders are to be used sparingly. Only offenders who have either attempted to escape HUT and died in the process or capital offenders, such as active murderers or terrorists that may risk the well being of others if revived despite containment, are the only colonists who may have a DNR order put upon them.
  • Colony members violating a DNR order are to be arrested as a collaborator in whatever crime the offender has committed. I.e - if a doctor knowingly revives a DNR offender charged with terrorism, the doctor is to be charged as aiding in the crime.

Evidence, Contraband & Confiscated Weapons

Objects confiscated as evidence of a crime, including any confiscated weapons and contraband, are to remain in evidence lockers after confiscation from the offender. In the case of a firearm being confiscated a record is to be made of the gun’s model and serial number on the arrest case-file or incident report.

During a state of emergency, such as code blue or higher, a Warrant Officer or Supply Specialist may issue contraband or guns confiscated as evidence to security personnel to defend the colony. Paperwork should be done listing the officer using the contraband or weapon, the name of the colonist the weapon was taken from, and the serial number - if applicable. After the end of the emergency the gun must be returned to evidence.

Evidence in any previous or ongoing arrest must not, under any circumstances, be broken down for materials or otherwise destroyed. Doing so may result in Providing False Evidence or Testimony (303) charges.

Contraband collected that is not involved in an arrest may be broken down as it is not evidence of a crime.

Secure areas

• In code green, secure areas like the AI core, research server room, telecommunications, bridge, all armories (security, bridge, and church) etc, should never be blocked. Use of deployable barriers to block areas during code green is considered illegal under Laws §307. Trespassing in these areas is covered under §309 or 508.

All armories are considered secure areas and have their own section SOP. Trespassers may be shot lethally on sight upon entering.

• The AI may not bolt its core down without an order to do so by the Chief Research Overseer or in the case of an emergency. The AI must obey orders from Low Council personnel to enter if needed, unless in the case doing so would aid a criminal. AIs that disobey orders as such are to be carded or, if force is used against officers, the AI is to be destroyed.
• The research server room has a variety of sensitive information. Unauthorized personnel in this location are to be captured, searched, and interrogated before being charged and sentenced.
• The brig is considered a high security area. Unauthorized personnel attempting to break in, or any "Hold until Transfer" inmates attempting to break out, are both to be shot on sight with lethal force.
• The telecomms is a highly sensitive area that provides vital communications among the crew and to the high council, thus any unauthorized personnel who have accessed the control room are shoot-to-kill.

Prisoner Processing & Rights

Criminal processing should not take more than a few minutes at most. Don't needlessly waste time with additional questioning and interrogation until they're already properly arrested. Detained prisoners are the responsibility of the arresting officer or, if one volunteers, another officer, the supply specialist, or the warrant officer.

When an offender is officially charged and is to be brigged, the responsibility shifts to the Supply Specialist to oversee prisoner brigging and the application of the decided timer on the cell computer.

• Prisoners are to have all gear placed within the locker.
• Timers and modifiers are to be input into the cell timer and are not to include time spent in processing or detainment.
• Prisoners, if uncooperative, wearing an improper uniform - such as demoted personnel - or otherwise unruly, should be transferred into prisoner clothing found within the locker in each cell.
• Prisoners who pose a risk to themselves or others, such as through suicide attempts or violent outbrusts, should be moved to a solitary confinement cell.

The time you took for bringing the suspect in and the time you spend questioning are NOT to be calculated into this. This is the pure time someone spends in a cell staring at the wall.

• Prisoners are entitled to swift processing when being arrested and put into the brig. Processing is not to take an unreasonable amount of time, such as exceeding the timer of the crime they are being put in for.
  • The Low Council may determine when processing becomes unreasonable time-wise. In cases of excessive processing, charges should be dropped. This does not count, however, if a voting council member is one of those charged. This should be appealed to the High Council via fax.
• Prisoners are entitled to speak to the premier or volunteer council member for legal defense if requested.
• Prisoners are entitled to food and water if requested.
• Prisoners have the right to maintain communication devices, such as PDAs or radio headsets. These, however, may be revoked by the authority of a Supply Specialist or Warrant Officer in the case of a security threat or due to the abuse of said communications to disturb the peace of normal colonists.
• All of the prisoner’s belongings, that are not evidence in a case, should be placed into a respective jail cell for them to recover upon release. Personal property not considered evidence must be returned upon release.
• Prisoners have the right to use the fax machine within brig freely; so long as the machine is used responsibly.
• Prisoners who are injured have the right to treatment by certified personnel. Minor injuries are to be treated in the brig, such as bruising, burns, or non-life threatening injuries. In the case of major injuries, such as an injury requiring surgery or being possibly life-threatening, the prisoner is to be moved to Soteria for treatment.
• Prisoners hold the right to have visitors if their timer is over 25 minutes and if security levels permit. Security may suspend this right on code Blue or Red alert levels. Similarly, security must allow at least one visitor for the prisoner but may limit how many may visit. Visitors should be disarmed of any tools or weapons that could aid the prisoner. These tools or weapons should be returned after the visitation period.
• All prisoners are entitled to safe and reasonable cell accommodations such as functional lighting, a place to sleep, and access to the brig's communal area if serving a sentence longer than 25 minutes.

Executions

Upon low council approval, executions are to start shortly after the vote is held. The prisoner, however, is not to be executed within 15 minutes of the decision unless the high council sends back approval for proceedings to continue. This is done to give a chance of high council review; allowing a hold on execution. Once this 15 minute period has ended, execution procedures are to begin.

• The prisoner is informed of their punishment and is to be provided the decision of their preferred execution method. The normally permitted options include lethal injection, firing squad, asphyxiation, or cyborgification. Other methods may be permitted but are at the discretion of the Lower Council.
• The prisoner may request a last meal. If requested, personnel are obligated to serve one to the prisoner unless deemed excessive by the Lower Council.
• Final requests are to be taken, but are not obligated to act upon if deemed unreasonable by Lower Council.
• The prisoner is escorted to the execution location under heavily armed guards and is restrained.
  • In the case of lethal injection, the prisoner is to be moved to Soteria for the procedure to begin.
  • In the case of firing squads, the prisoner is to be moved to the firing range. Security personnel should be armed lethally to ensure a quick death.
  • In the case of asphyxiation, the prisoner is to be moved to either a secure location at Guild capable of oxygen deprivation, or other means asphyxiation, or moved to Soteria for controlled tank-usage.
  • In the case of cyborgification, the prisoner is to be moved to Soteria and their brain removed. After removal the brain should be put into an MMI and shackled to a lawed AI.
• It is required for the premier and at least three council members to be present, or else an execution may not proceed.

Marshal Armory

The Marshal armory is divided into two sections - the public shop area and the storage area. Everything in the room behind the shop is the storage area. The shop has two sections, the secure area behind the windows that allows access to the display cases and front-room storage, and that of the public area in front of the desk and on the non-windoor side of the display cases. Unless asked to leave or banned from the armory shop, the public shop area is publicly accessible to anyone providing the blast doors are open. Any colonist may buy, sell or trade with the appropriate authorities there. Behind the desk is considered, similar to the armory, a secure area.

• In regards to the storage area of the armory, the Supply Specialist is the controller of the armory. When it comes to the armory, the Supply Specialist’s word is law. The Supply Specialist is responsible for handing out weapons, keeping everything stocked and inventoried, and running the shop. While the Warrant Officer, Commander and Sergeant may have access, the Supply Specialist is to be respected. If they tell you to leave, you leave. Failure to comply leaves you open to legal ramifications such as abuse of powers, grand trespass or other charges that may be levied.
• In case of a weapon request from Marshals/Blackshield, the Supply Specialist must always utilize paperwork that determines what was removed from the Armory. The weapon that gets replaced should also be noted on the paperwork and handed in with all ammo.
• In case of selling items from the armory proper, the Supply Specialist is to keep a receipt on what item(s) were sold and how many credits were made. Any loans to individual Marshals, Blackshield department, or other individuals, are to be kept track of through written receipts. Copies are to be kept by the Supply Specialist or Warrant Officer.
• If no Supply Specialist is present or available, the rank order of ownership goes to the Warrant Officer. If no Warrant Officer is present a CO, Sergeant or Premier may access the armory but only in exceptional situations; such as the need to arm other Marshals in an emergency situation. The marshal armory is not a play-thing.
  • Under normal circumstances no equipment should be handed out for free to non-marshal department staff.
• In a Code-Red scenario, the armory should be fully utilized and weapons should be handed out to Marshal officers first, volunteers of Blackshield second and colonists last. These should be returned when the crisis is over or else the individual may face legal consequences. Abusing access, authority or carelessly using the resources is a reason for demotion under charges 405.
• The Department Account is trusted to the Supply Specialist to use, as well as the Warrant Officer, Blackshield CO, and Blackshield Sergeant. All personnel in these positions are trusted to use the finances responsibly to upgrade or equip the department as required. This may include purchasing weapons, allowing loans for equipment, and so on for members of the Marshal and Blackshield department.
• Due to Marshals and Blackshield shared-budgets, exorbitant spending may result in applicable charges to either the Warrant Officer or Supply Specialist if they are found to have embezzled funds or spent an unreasonable portion of the budget, such as over half of it, on unneeded purchases.
  • If a Commander or Sergeant is present, they are to be informed of any purchases over the cost of 5k credits.
• Blackshield may provide gear from their teleporter or armory for a Supply Specialist or Warrant Officer to sell for profit. All profits from these sales must go into the joint department bank account. Failure to do so will be considered theft or grand theft, depending on the value of said item.