Chief MP

COMMAND
Chief MP	Difficulty: Very Hard Supervisors: Marine Law, Command Officers, High Command Rank: Not defined Duties: Administrate the brig. Coordinate the MPs. Ensure Marine Law is properly enforced. Keep the ship and crew safe. Guides: Marine Law, Server Rules, Rank Unlock Requirements: Not available. Detailed Description: |__________| Not defined |__________|

"Dura Lex, Sed Lex" ("The law is harsh, but it is the law") - Ancient Roman proverb

Duties

As the Chief MP your main duty is to ensure Marine Law is being properly enforced. You are the second to the final authority on Marine Law aboard the ship, but with that authority comes responsibility. You're responsible for ensuring all prisoners are safe, given proper sentencing and that their rights are not violated. You may perform arrests yourself if needed, but you shouldn't be running about investigating crimes and chasing perps. You're much more valuable at the brig, coordinating and ensuring no breaches of procedure occur, leave the grunt work to the grunts.

You should ensure that all records are properly updated with timers, crimes, and status, that no prisoner rights are violated and that all prisoners get a fair hearing on their appeals. You may lower sentences for crimes set by your MPs if they exceed the minimum timer if you believe the circumstances warrant it. Remember, your job is to uphold justice, not be an evil tyrant. You are also able to authorise prisoners with timers equal to or higher than sixty minutes be moved to permanent confinement.

You are also one of the two people (the other being the acting Commander) who can authorise lethal force against dangerous suspects as well as the one who must agree with the acting Commander to an execution so that it may be carried out.

Supervisors: The CoC and you

You may have final say on Marine Law aboard the ship, but that does not mean you can do whatever you want. First off, you are bound to Marine Law. This means you cannot break it, and while you may have some leeway in enforcing it you should not let serious crimes go unpunished, lest you invoke the wrath of those above. By this very same token, you are bound to follow the orders of High Command. They are the ultimate authority in the USCM and have control over everything in the Corps.

As for Almayer Command, your relationship is rather more complicated. You have final say on the enforcement of Marine Law on the ship. This means that you may override even the Commander in situations such as appeals or which charges or times are to be applied to a prisoner. However, Command Officers are still your superiors, un while they may normally be unable to order you to go clean the restrooms, you still have to heed their orders on matters not related to Marine Law such as ship security, so if potential hostiles are on board and the Commander wants an MP guarding medbay they have to do it so long as this doesn't countervene Marine Law (for instance, if you're the only MP and there are prisoners in the brig).

Finally, bear in mind that you cannot arrest the acting Commander unless you have permission from High Command, so if they commit a crime and you want to arrest them you'll have to use your fax machine and wait for a response.

Your Workspace

The Brig is likely where you will spend most of your time as CMP. You should already be familiar from playing MP. The Chief MP's office provides an excellent view of the brig cells and is in a central location, meaning you can get to perma, the armoury or the cells without issue. In it you can find your locker which has some MP tools and spare gear, paper and a pen, a fax machine, a records console, and a camera console. To the north (or starboard) of your office are the brig cells with timers, to the south (port) you can find the general work area, which includes the armory, some vendors, MP lockers, the evidence room, some general gear and the forensics computer. Finally, to the west (fore) is the infirmary where prisoners can be treated, the execution room and the isolation cells or perma.

Your tools

Being the Chief MP is not an easy job. You are ultimately responsible for the security and law of the ship. Luckily, you have plenty of tools at your disposal to help you fulfill your duties.

• "MPs:" Your most important tool are the MPs serving under you. Their job is to perform the dirty work for you: conduct investigations, search areas, chase suspects and arrest lawbreakers. Like any tool, it is important to keep it in good working order, so you should be monitoring them to ensure they're doing their job correctly and in a timely manner and that they don't break procedure. An excellent tool in the wrong hands won't do much good, and a true master can make excellent works even with mediocre tools.

• "The Fax Machine:" This is used for contacting High Command. Primarily used to ask permission to remove the acing Commander from their position, it may also be used to inform High Command of unusual circumstances and receive instructions on how to proceed.

• "The Records Console:" You can find this console both in your office as well as in the general brig area. It is used to review and update records and as such is one of your most important tools. Use it to make sure people have their status (arrest, released, incarcerated or none) as well as any crimes they may have committed up to date. Status and comments may also be edited by examining someone if you have a secHUD on.

• "The Camera Console:" There's one of these in your office and a few more scattered around the ship in checkpoints and other work stations. This allows you to see through any camera in the USS Almayer, and it's useful to find or follow fleeing suspects as well as to keep an eye on your MPs while they're performing their jobs outside the brig.

• "MP tools:" Like normal MPs, you have access to a variety of items such as flashes, handcuffs and tasers to help you control and subdue hostiles. You shouldn't need to use this often as your MPs should be doing most of the dirty work for you while you administrate them.

Appeals

All prisoners have the right to an appeal. Appeals are hearings meant to determine guilt or innocence for the listed crimes of a prisoner. They are not meant to be pardons for crimes committed and prisoners should not be pardoned of any crimes they have committed (unless you're releasing them to defend the ship in an extreme circumstance as outlined in Marine Law).

Appeals may be conducted by either you or the acting Commanding Officer. While you may override their decision, in the interest of fairness you should allow the Commanding Officer to perform the appeal if you were involved in the arrest of the prisoner in question. You may want to use the recorders found in the brig to record appeals for record-keeping.

When a prisoner requests an appeal, you should first hear their side of the story. You should also contact the MP who performed the arrest, any potential victims and available witnesses and hear them out. Review physical evidence such as forensic records if they exist. After that, put it all together and determine whether the prisoner was innocent or guilty and inform them of the veredict. If they're innocent, remove the time for the crimes they were found innocent of from their timer. If they're guilty, leave the timer as it is. Remember that they must still serve the timer for any crimes they're found guilty of, so if they resisted arrest over a crime they were later found innocent of, they must still serve the time for resisting arrest.

Your Skillset

To find out about how the skill system works head over to the skills system page.