Police Suggestion Detectives

[Allen Kennedy]

Suggestion Title: Detectives
Suggestion Description: A new whitelisted PD secondary division, with detective gear, similar to TFU and Traffic, with the primary purpose of information gathering.

First and foremost, I believe for this role to be meaningful, supervisors should not have access to the DNA tool any longer. Right now they basically half-fill the role of a detective using the DNA tool already, and that's a role that they honestly don't need, on top of their supervisor duties.

Detectives would have a black or other suitably boring suit, and a police vest overtop of it, or something similar. A unique and interesting uniform that sets them apart from uniformed officers is the primary intended aesthetic.
Policies would prevent detectives from responding to shootouts in detective gear, to avoid them using their non-uniformed appearance to their advantage.
Detectives would have access to unmarked vehicles only.
Detectives would use a Delta 1-3 callsign.
Detectives would not have access to any primary weapons, such as shotguns, and have only light armour.
Detectives would be limited to two in gear at any one time, with the potential for one more to be on duty with a mayoral policy.

Detectives would have a standard DNA tool, as well as "forensics kit" which would permit them to get the name of an individual who:
- Last drove a vehicle
- Last picked up a dropped item/weapon
- Broke a crowbar/bobby pin

This may seem overpowered, and if it had no counters, it may well be, however I believe Acetone, or another, more expensive chemical, should be able to be used to wipe that item/vehicle/debris clean of forensic evidence.
- 10s use time for wiping a vehicle clean
- 3s use time for wiping an item/weapon/debris clean

I don't believe acetone should be able to be used to remove DNA from bodies, as that would make it too easy to get away with murder, but the acetone will allow criminals an effective counter to detective's evidence gathering, should they be prepared, and have the time to complete the purge.
The latest chop shop addition, where the car doesn't immediately disappear, would be perfect for this. Car thieves would have to decide whether they have enough time to clean the car after dropping it off, or if they have to run to avoid police then and there, and deal with the car being linked to them if/when a detective arrives.

I'd really like to hear feedback from the crim mains on how this can be balanced, rather than just rejecting it out of hand. I think the acetone is a good counter, and makes criminals need to think more about cleaning up after themselves, but I'd like to hear some other perspectives.

Why should this be added?:
Makes stealing and abandoning cars carry some weight and risk.
Makes determining who's gun belongs to who in a dispute easier.
Makes determining who broke in possible, in instances where no body is left behind.
It's cool. That's a perfectly valid reason.

What negatives could this have?:
Detectives abusing their civilian appearance to gain an advantage in shootouts.
More difficult to get away with crime.

What problem would this suggestion solve?: Cars get stolen and abandoned all the time, and chop shop right now is pretty damn easy when the only way to figure out who stole the car is by catching them in the act.

 

[HuskyD0G]

As much as I am all for this as I was a detective main myself from another community. I don’t see the purpose in perp, and signing up for a whole different division after I already got TFU is just so demoralizing. If anything supervisors should have the option to be a detective, not a separate division. It’s just more policy writing and more IA complaints inbound if something like this was made.

I love investigating and catching people lacking on duty, but I hate to say perp is too fast paced for this type of gameplay most of the time. It would be cool however to have the option as a SGT.+ to downgrade into a civilian uniform with a vest, and gain access to a forensics kit for further investigation purposes. I just don’t see this happening for the aforementioned above issues.

My questions are, who would be command for the detectives division? Who would write the policy? Who would code the new forensics kit? Who would create the applications for PLPD online? Who would model the new outfit?

So many things need to be done to make this a reality and I don’t see anyone in this community willing to take such a venture to create this.

 

[Allen Kennedy]

I love investigating and catching people lacking on duty, but I hate to say perp is too fast paced for this type of gameplay most of the time. It would be cool however to have the option as a SGT.+ to downgrade into a civilian uniform with a vest, and gain access to a forensics kit for further investigation purposes. I just don’t see this happening for the aforementioned above issues.

I don't see any reason as to why it should be locked to supervisors. It's a different role entirely, and should be treated as such. Supervisors already have a lot of stuff to do, and being called out to get DNA at every cold scene takes them away from those duties.

 

[HuskyD0G]

I don't see any reason as to why it should be locked to supervisors. It's a different role entirely, and should be treated as such. Supervisors already have a lot of stuff to do, and being called out to get DNA at every cold scene takes them away from those duties.

Because supervisors have to pass multiple OR’s in their progression through the ranks. Meaning they already have the investigative skills necessary. See what I mean now?

 

[Envy [SLAY]]

As much as I am all for this as I was a detective main myself from another community. I don’t see the purpose in perp, and signing up for a whole different division after I already got TFU is just so demoralizing. If anything supervisors should have the option to be a detective, not a separate division. It’s just more policy writing and more IA complaints inbound if something like this was made.

I love investigating and catching people lacking on duty, but I hate to say perp is too fast paced for this type of gameplay most of the time. It would be cool however to have the option as a SGT.+ to downgrade into a civilian uniform with a vest, and gain access to a forensics kit for further investigation purposes. I just don’t see this happening for the aforementioned above issues.

My questions are, who would be command for the detectives division? Who would write the policy? Who would code the new forensics kit? Who would create the applications for PLPD online? Who would model the new outfit?

So many things need to be done to make this a reality and I don’t see anyone in this community willing to take such a venture to create this.

supervisors get everything fuck the supervisors.

 

[HuskyD0G]

supervisors get everything fuck the supervisors.

Very constructive feedback, thank you envy

 

[Allen Kennedy]

Because supervisors have to pass multiple OR’s in their progression through the ranks. Meaning they already have the investigative skills necessary. See what I mean now?

Every rank above Officer has to get multiple ORs to get there. Locking an entire role behind supervisor because you don't think anyone who isn't a supervisor can investigate something is a bit silly. Personally, I'd have this be open to anyone Senior Officer or higher, and have the application process weed them out. What that application process will look like is a different conversation.

 

[Smily]

What if the detective division had a more long term goal in mind. My idea would be that the main goal of the detectives is to interrupt (the bigger) organizations from running as smoothly as they do.

As soon as an org would become big enough (high enough level) the detective division could start a case against them. Just like organizations, the investigation can gain and lose points or XP via the following ways:
* solving a crime by, for example, connecting a crime, like murder or a robbery, to a suspect, DNA evidence, and a weapon. (new piece of UI for detectives);
* collecting information on the organizations, like its participants, frequent bases, vehicles used, license plates, etc by performing traffic stops, stake-outs, etc.;
* collecting information from witnesses and CI's (this would also give organizations an opportunity to find the rat and deal with them accordingly);
* if a detective gets killed while on duty, the investigation loses a little bit of XP;
* every day an investigation loses a set amount of XP;

What kind of assets will the detectives be able to use?
That would be dependent on the level of the investigation.

* performing a stake-out by purchasing a nearby apartment building and listening in on other apartment buildings;
* being able to use the camera's in the city for ANPR/facial recognition to more easily gather the whereabouts of the suspects, their movements and what they are up to;
* being able to get phone mast information, aka what is the last known phone mast location the suspects phone has connected to? (with this information you get a grid where a suspect could possibly be, unlocked with a medium level investigation) For example:

* Temporarily tap into the organization communications (Teamspeak and /org) for up to 3 minutes maximum with a long cool down (high level investigation).

What added benefit do the investigations have to disrupt the organizations?
That would also be dependent on the level of the investigation.

* Making organization be able to lose XP or have difficulty gaining it;
* being able to freeze an organizations bank account temporarily;
* being able to seize some assets from the bank account (excluding org storage);
* being able to exclude people who are known to be part of the organization from buying certain properties they use a lot for 1-2 days at a maximum.

The point of the detective division would be to disrupt their operations and not completely destroy them. It could force both criminals and cops to start thinking a little bit outside of the box and the usual game play. A couple examples for this would be leaving your phone behind because you have the feeling you're being tracked, swapping license plates more often or doing a stake out and taking a little more time to look at the scene of a crime and solve it.

What kind of gear could the detectives use?
Most detectives nowadays are plain clothed, many of them unarmored.
They could have a badge that they could clip to their belts and show to people to make them selves known as police and conceal carry a pistol.
If necessary for an investigation they could always go into their normal uniform to, for example, conduct a traffic stop and not alert the suspects that they are being investigated by the detectives.
Furthermore they could have access to the following:
* a wider range of undercover vehicles, with out all the police upgrades to perform their duties covertly;
* DNA tool;
* evidence bag for confiscating weapons (could give half the money but also contribute to the investigation XP);
* a wire they could attach to themselves, CI's or other officers to hear whats going on;
* trackers to place under suspects' cars to follow their path for a set amount of time.

How would they operate?
The detectives would stay away from most frontline action. Sure they can make contributions but in general I think it would be an excellent role for them to be more supporting to the units out on the streets by using the wider range of assets available to them. Moreoften than not they will be called in to investigate the scene of a crime and see what information they can gather.

What would this all be for?
An investigation could be closed via a couple of different ways.
- Either the XP completely runs out (investigation closes due to lack of evidence);
- the organization has lost a level due to losing XP (the suspects have been convicted);
- the investigation has hit a dead end/or has become a cold case (the investigation has been put on hold costing some XP, but keeping the rest of the XP frozen until it is reopened).

The rewards for the officers could vary between a couple of different options, maybe a flat out cash bonus up to a certain point, a couple of % gained in they pay for a certain time, a small discount on buying a property or vehicle, medals or ribbons could be made and given out to people participating in the investigation, etc. Nothing too overpowered of course, but something that could make the endeavor worthwhile and unique.

These are all very rough ideas ofcourse and they can be expanded upon, but in general I think this could add some depth into police roleplay that is more than just a shooting simulator. I don't really know if this has a very practical place in this server since its been a long time since I've taken apart in it, but I was lurking in the forums and saw this suggestion and I was intrigued by it.

I'm all for contributing more ideas and working out all the kinks that this would have too. But this is what I came up with quickly.

 

[Sindarin]

While there are some good points made within this post, and there can definitely be a discussion on improved roleplay when it comes to investigations, after speaking to community management and PD SMT we do not feel as though this approach is the one we want to take