Steward / Cop Clarification?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Probably a dumb question, but are the Stewards the Pact Worlds' police, are there Steward beat cops? Do Stewards pull over speeding spaceships. or are they more like a military force? I'm just not sure what kind of law enforcement PCs will encounter on a day-to-day basis on places like Absalom Station and if the Stewards should be regarded in a similar way (i.e. ACAB=ASAB)?

[Garretmander]

I think they'd be more like Interpol than beat cops. Absalom's beat cops are probably just station security.

[Metaphysician]

Yeah, the Stewards are more Space FBI than Space Highway Patrol. You don't routinely run into Stewards as the first line of law enforcement unless your crimes are either taking place in a specifically ambiguous jurisdiction, or are very high level. And even in a place of ambiguous trans-planetary jurisdiction like a major space port, you probably will still *mostly* encounter local law enforcement, just with actual Stewards being present and potentially available to deal with messy cases.

So, the good news for a criminal PC: you probably won't run into the Stewards. The bad news? If you *do*, your day is going to *suck*, because you just caught the attention of people notable more skilled and resourceful than the local law enforcement typically is. Its a good thing the Stewards prioritize maintaining peace and order over a strict obedience to enforcing law, because you are probably going to want to try and make a deal rather than shooting your way out.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So who DOES do the routine traffic stops and stuff in Starfinder? Do they have a name?Who IS the local law enforcement that my more radical PCs can say are all B-words?

[BigNorseWolf]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

So who DOES do the routine traffic stops and stuff in Starfinder? Who IS the local law enforcement that my more radical PCs can say are all B-words?

Probably a planet wide thing.

[Garretmander]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

So who DOES do the routine traffic stops and stuff in Starfinder? Do they have a name?Who IS the local law enforcement that my more radical PCs can say are all B-words?

The _____ Police Department probably.

I don't think traffic stops really happen out in space. There are probably customs inspectors around planets and stations that stop suspicious ships for random searches, but that's probably it.

["Dr." Cupi]

Laws are a bit hinkey in the Pact Worlds. There exist Pact-wide laws, but they are very few. Most laws depend on the planetary government. I suspect there is a short distance from a planet where the relative government still has its authority. But for most of space, I suspect that most laws do not apply.

The Stewards, as mentioned above, are like the FBI, CIA, NSA or whatever. They have the ability to enforce the local laws, but likely defer to the local authority.

[Hawk Kriegsman]

"Prepare to be searched. Maintain speed and course."

"Contraband detected! All units close and terminate!"

[Metaphysician]

Yeah, in interplanetary space there isn't any routine law enforcement. Jurisdiction wise, it falls under the Pact government, and thus the Stewards, but its a big space, and there is no practical way to patrol the whole thing ( especially when any number of Pact members wouldn't necessarily want this to happen ). There is a *reason* essentially every space ship is armed; if something goes wrong and you aren't either right next to civilization or incredibly lucky? You are on your own, for hours or possibly days. Hopefully a ship will come by eventually to pick up survivors and figure out if some kind of retribution is needed.

In terms of planetary "local" law enforcement, it varies by planet. Remember, the Pact Worlds are *not* a single unified government, they are a confederation of mostly-independent states. While I made a comparison to the FBI early, it'd probably be better to think a treaty alliance like NATO. Thus, each polity has its own law enforcement, with widely varying structures. For instance:

-Both Aballon and Bretheda are ruled by singular megastates composed of immortal hive minds. Thus, in both cases local, planetary, and near-space law enforcement are probably pretty much indistinguishable. The same organization patrols space and gives parking tickets, just different branches.

-Absalom Station likewise probably has a single Station Security that handles space patrol and "ground" patrol. . . but note that unlike the above two, Absalom Station is *not* a singular unified state. Its a loose hodgepodge of thousands of "represented bodies": corporations, religions, neighborhoods, criminal gangs, etc. As such, while Station Security is the one stop law enforcement, they have a ton of official and unofficial limits on jurisdiction. In practice they are probably limited to "Keep the docks and spaceways running smoothly", "Protect against existential threats to the station", and "Prevent open battles in the more civilized decks".

-Akiton in theory has a planetary government that would handle planetary and near space law enforcement. In practice, its completely and utterly nonfunctional, and I strongly suspect what legal remnants of the old planetary government remain? Spend most of their time keeping anyone *else* from enforcing order. After all, if someone else came in and imposed peace and order on Akiton, that might step on the affairs of the numerous corrupt and criminal elements benefiting from Akiton's anarchy. Thus, local law enforcement is "Whatever form an individual community on Planet Mad Max happens to favor", and anything above is simply absent.

-Castrovel only stopped being at war with itself within recent memory. As such, there are probably still *three different* law enforcement bodies with planetary and space jurisdiction, one each for the Lashunta, Formians, and Elves. The Elves probably limit themselves strictly to crimes in Sovyrian and attempts to smuggle into or out of, mind. If you are trying to get into trouble, try to get caught by the Lashunta police. It will probably go better than if you get caught by the Ruthless Insect Communists or the Paranoid Isolationist Kinda-Racists.

-Apostae? The "police" are the wholly owned enforcers of the drow Great Houses/Megacorps. Who enforces what depends on exactly whose turf you are on, space or ground. The only universal rule is that its going to suck to be you. . . unless it doesn't, because you have the right friends and the right fix. I cannot imagine *anyone* in the Pact Worlds pretends that Apostae law enforcement is anything but the capricious enforcer of the interests of the rulers.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Is there a name for Absalom Station's law enforcers that doesn't result in an embarrassing acronym like "Absalom Station Security" would?

[Telok]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Is there a name for Absalom Station's law enforcers that doesn't result in an embarrassing acronym like "Absalom Station Security" would?

Probably not. The acronym is probably accurate based on how they're represented in the APs.

Our games runs it as the real security being heavily armed neighborhood watches and personal bodyguards. Station/national security tends to only be able to deal with the most incompetent and lightly armed criminals. Police forces in SF are probably all just cr 1 and easily intimidated or bribed.

[Pantshandshake]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

So who DOES do the routine traffic stops and stuff in Starfinder? Do they have a name?Who IS the local law enforcement that my more radical PCs can say are all B-words?

Just tell them to fly the A.C.A.B. flag high, if someone gets mad about it, call them a B word.

[Ventnor]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Is there a name for Absalom Station's law enforcers that doesn't result in an embarrassing acronym like "Absalom Station Security" would?

Absalom Station Police Department? ASPD sounds all right as an acronym.

[BigNorseWolf]

Law and order SVU Space Victims Unit

Hillstreet Bluerise tower

C.H.I.R.P.S. Cyber Humanoid Individual Rapid Placement Squad

NCIS Nullspace Criminal Investigative Service

Haan Wi Fi 0

[Pantshandshake]

And a new list of weird WiFi names was born!

[thecursor]

I have always defined Absalom's security by where you are in the Station:

On the docking ring? Port Police and Customs Inspection

In the rest of the station? Station Security

Flying around the Armada? Harbour Patrol, an extension of the Port Police.

Flying around inside the station or on the people moving systems? Transit Police

In the Spike? *sarcasm* Silly human, poor people don't get Public Services

[Archpaladin Zousha]

thecursor wrote:

I have always defined Absalom's security by where you are in the Station:

On the docking ring? Port Police and Customs Inspection

In the rest of the station? Station Security

Flying around the Armada? Harbour Patrol, an extension of the Port Police.

Flying around inside the station or on the people moving systems? Transit Police

In the Spike? *sarcasm* Silly human, poor people don't get Public Services

I like this. May I steal it?

[thecursor]

YES!

[thecursor]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

thecursor wrote:

I have always defined Absalom's security by where you are in the Station:

On the docking ring? Port Police and Customs Inspection

In the rest of the station? Station Security

Flying around the Armada? Harbour Patrol, an extension of the Port Police.

Flying around inside the station or on the people moving systems? Transit Police

In the Spike? *sarcasm* Silly human, poor people don't get Public Services

I like this. May I steal it?

If you like you can also use this:

Absalom Station feels a lot like "New York City" so I divide up law enforcement similar to NYC divides its law enforcement.

The Absalom Port Police, Harbour Patrol, Absalom Customs Inspectors, and Transit Police are all organized under the Absalom Transit Authority, which enforces a large number of customs or transportation laws that govern the station. Just because you CAN drive an LCX Skyhopper Swoop Bike through the main maglev highway doesn't mean you SHOULD and these are the guys in charge of stopping you. In my conception, the Port Police are the best-armed members of the station's security force because they deal with the heavily armed or armoured ships in the Armada. But they also deal with humdrum matters like making sure everyone's "Orbit Stability" inspection stickers are up to date and also ensuring that the ships in the Armada are adhering to the very loose Armada Governance Policies. In my head, the Armada is a much more wild place where Station residents go to do things that are technically illegal on the Station (drugs, gambling, etc).

All other Station crime is investigated by Absalom Station Enforcement which is in charge of the Uniformed Station Security officers, as well as the Criminal Investigative Bureau and the Orbital Security Directorate. The CIB investigates premeditated crimes such as murder or robbery while the OSD deals with organized crime, terrorism, piracy, or other serious issues.

[kaid]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

So who DOES do the routine traffic stops and stuff in Starfinder? Do they have a name?Who IS the local law enforcement that my more radical PCs can say are all B-words?

Normal law enforcement is covered by the planet/city you are in stewards enforcement is more for higher end issues or inter planetary type crime.

[LBHills]

I'm doing some inference here, with Pact Worlds as my starting reference point. There are several different levels of police before you get to the "unlimited jurisdiction" of the Stewards and the Pact Worlds fleet.

Station security: On most stations these would rate as metro police, mostly concerned with the health and safety of the inhabitants. However, for political powers like Absalom Station and the Idari, these guys would rate as 'federal' instead.
Metro police: Practically every planet (as well as odd cases like the Burning Archipelago and Diaspora colonies) is likely to have local cops with a small jurisdiction. In the cases of the Sun, Liavara, Akiton, Apostae, and the less-habitable moons, they're probably the only cops on the planet (not counting Stewards).
National police: Feds can only really exist on planets where the ecology and society allow cities to clump up into nations - Aballon, Castrovel, Verces, Eox, Triaxus, and a couple of the outer moons like Arkanen and Dykon. They'd coexist with, but rate above, metro police - those worlds are likely to encounter more bureacracy and disputes about jurisdiction.
Planetwide police: It seems unlikely that international-but-not-interplanetary police forces still exist for planets that are Pact World signatories. They'd be redundant since the Stewards could do everything they do. But in cases where there really is a single 'world government' - like Nchak or Bretheda - you'd find a level that ranks above 'national' but is still answerable to its planet's overlord, not the Primex of the Pact Worlds.
Local fleet: The Pact Worlds with enough resources to maintain an independet fleet surely use those ships for orbital law enforcement. The Sun (as seen in the Dawn of Flame AP), Aballon, the Idari, and Eox definitely have local fleets: the others seem to rely on the Pact Worlds fleet (sometimes augmented by the Iomedean church, the Hellknights, and/or the Xenowardens) for orbital defense and enforcement.

[Qui Gan Dalf]

thecursor wrote:

I have always defined Absalom's security by where you are in the Station:

On the docking ring? Port Police and Customs Inspection

In the rest of the station? Station Security

Flying around the Armada? Harbour Patrol, an extension of the Port Police.

Flying around inside the station or on the people moving systems? Transit Police

In the Spike? *sarcasm* Silly human, poor people don't get Public Services

thecursor wrote:

If you like you can also use this:

Absalom Station feels a lot like "New York City" so I divide up law enforcement similar to NYC divides its law enforcement.

The Absalom Port Police, Harbour Patrol, Absalom Customs Inspectors, and Transit Police are all organized under the Absalom Transit Authority, which enforces a large number of customs or transportation laws that govern the station. Just because you CAN drive an LCX Skyhopper Swoop Bike through the main maglev highway doesn't mean you SHOULD and these are the guys in charge of stopping you. In my conception, the Port Police are the best-armed members of the station's security force because they deal with the heavily armed or armoured ships in the Armada. But they also deal with humdrum matters like making sure everyone's "Orbit Stability" inspection stickers are up to date and also ensuring that the ships in the Armada are adhering to the very loose Armada Governance Policies. In my head, the Armada is a much more wild place where Station residents go to do things that are technically illegal on the Station (drugs, gambling, etc).

All other Station crime is investigated by Absalom Station Enforcement which is in charge of the Uniformed Station Security officers, as well as the Criminal Investigative Bureau and the Orbital Security Directorate. The CIB investigates premeditated crimes such as murder or robbery while the OSD deals with organized crime, terrorism, piracy, or other serious issues.

Thanks for sharing this. I like it and plan to incorporate it into my version of Absalom Station. I started something similar but haven't developed it as far as you have. If you have more information that you've created for each of these law enforcement units and are willing to share, I'd love to see it.

[Qui Gan Dalf]

Incident at Absalom Station has a section describing Absalom Station in some detail. Page 41 provides an overview of the government and law enforcement organization. Throughout most published sources I've seen, the local law enforcement for all of the station, whether street cops or port authority, is simply referred to as "Absalom Station security" or "station security". They don't provide an official proper name for it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So the cops on Absalom Station really ARE called A.S.S.!

[Qui Gan Dalf]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

So the cops on Absalom Station really ARE called A.S.S.!

Apparently so. Probably the reason for the station's general vibe of lawlessness. Who could take the police seriously with an acronym like that? :)

[thecursor]

Qui Gan Dalf wrote:

Thanks for sharing this. I like it and plan to incorporate it into my version of Absalom Station. I started something similar but haven't developed it as far as you have. If you have more information that you've created for each of these law enforcement units and are willing to share, I'd love to see it.

Sure:

Absalom Station Security has a corruption problem on the lower level precincts.

The Stewards and OSD have a serious rivalry, the Stewards are annoyed that the OSD doesn't respect their jurisdiction while the OSD regard the Stewards as too slow and bureaucratic.

The Harbour Patrol and Port Police desperately need new ships and hovercars but the station's politicians don't regard public services for the Armada and the docking ring as a priority, this could lead to a strike.

There's a new trend among the station's kids where you try to "tag" a security officer with an RFID tag that lets you monitor that officer through the ship's intranet. This trend has resulted in numerous casualties as the Station's organized criminals and gang members also track down cops they hold a grudge over. Some suspect the "Trend" is actually the result of Golden League Propaganda.