As I’ve said before…
You really should not be playing security if you are new…
…but then again, we all have to start somewhere.
So, the detective. I reckon we introduce him.
The detective is the easiest of the security jobs the second easiest security job. You all know what the first easiest one is. That job is the reason why I had to make a third edition to the seccie guides.
Anyways.
The detective’s job is to investigate the remains of any crime, identify the perpetrator, and then tell ask the rest of security to help you arrest them, as well as be a redshirt in times of need.
That’s right, you have limited security access because you’re supposed to be an evidence collector and hunter of monsters, not a redshirt.
They are not primarily responsible for the pursuit and apprehension of criminals. Nor do they pass sentences on prisoners. Their primary job is to find out who committed a crime and compile all the available evidence for easy access by the rest of the department.
When a crime is committed on board the station, it is generally very obvious who the culprit is. Many murderers lack subtlety. Many saboteurs like to cackle madly about their evil plans over the common radio. And so on.
Unfortunately, there are other times where more subtle crimes are carried out - a lone, desiccated corpse is found in maintenance, or a bomb is found attached to a fuel line, or a cyborg was subverted, or the CMO simply vanishes and leaves behind only ominous bloodstains.
This is where the detective comes in.
The detective has access to a variety of equipment that totally isn’t just the forensic scanner. It is the detective’s job to search crime scenes, talk to witnesses, and examine the resulting evidence thoroughly. Through analysis, they will turn this evidence into a clear description of what happened, who did it, and how.
Once the perpetrator is identified (and, ideally, all the evidence is secured), the detective can simply sit back, listen to the barking of the security mob over the security radio, and bask in the glow of a job well done. Ideally with a good cigar and a glass of good booze.
An unusual staffer
As a detective, you’re a bit different from the other security officers. To begin with, your office is outside of the core of the brig, you have access to a potentially lethal firearm, and you’re generally designed to work with some degree of autonomy from the rest of security.
First, Sucks, try to remember the basics of SecEC.
At its heart, your job is no different than that of any member of security – to stop crime. However, like the warden, you are unique, which means less expendable, so you should be only be physically making arrests alone if you really need to. If there’s another option, let the men in armor and helmets take care of it.
However, as you are still a security member, you ought to also understand the procedures, so therefore, it would still be wise to carry a disabler gun and handcuffs and all the other standard security equipment in case you really do need to make an arrest: otherwise, the AI and borgs will not be too happy about you pumping a full cylinder of .38 bullets into a crew member while they are on crewsimov.
Similarities:
- You have a mindshield implant, like the rest of security.
- You have access to the security radio channel.
- You have access to the security vendors (and therefore things like flashes and handcuffs).
- You benefit from doughnut healing, like the rest of security.
Differences:
- You are naturally sober, allowing you to consume large amounts of alcohol safely.
- Your office is slightly outside of the Brig proper.
- Your job is more focused on finding out who is responsible for a crime, allowing your team to act with conviction, rather than actually stopping those responsible.
- You start out with a surprisingly lethal revolver.
Cracking a case
As a detective, your primary duty is to go to crime scenes and use the tools provided to you to identify the perpetrator. You have a few different methods for investigation, and all of them are important.
The Eye in the Sky
Your cameras are one of the most useful preventative measures against antagonists I can possibly make an example of. (i.e. finding crime scenes or discovering crimes in progress)
You start with a camera console in your office, allowing you to look around the station for crimes, but it’s cumbersome and you can’t move it. If you’re planning on spending much time with this method, grab the Advanced Security Camera from the security techfab if you’ve managed to robust a traitor. With a quick replacement job (screwdriver, crowbar, wirecutter, screwdriver, crowbar, switch out board, rebuild), you can drastically improve your ability to monitor cameras.
The Advanced Security Camera console not only shows you the suspicious areas where cameras have been shorted, but it also makes it much simpler to move (but not switch) between them. The major drawback to this method is that it generally only covers open workplaces as opposed to the darkness of maintenance.
The upside is that most criminals don’t expect to be spotted on camera, it leaves you safe in your office, and you’re able to investigate departments you don’t have access to, which if you ask me, is vastly worth the side effects of sitting in a chair in the detective’s office most of the shift.
The Miracle of the Forensic Scanner
If the X-01 multiphase was my lightsaber, the forensic scanner would be my mastery of the Force.
Forensic science is just as much of an art as it is a science. It’s the science of applying science to criminal law, and it’s the art of confounding culprits by shoving their face down the evidences they inadvertently left behind.
A detective’s job is not necessarily to remain constantly on the preemptive hunt for antags until you detect one, but to be ready to intervene whenever a crime has happened on the station and an unknown crew member is on the run. If they claim they are innocent, it’ll be your job to prove that they’re not. If you do your work properly, you’ll be every antagonists nightmare without even having to chase them gun in hand.
If there was only one thing to carry at all times as a detective, it would have to be this scanner. The best part is that you can always make more at the security techfab. Unfortunately only useful as a reactionary tool after a crime is committed.
Things you can use it on to obtain DNA info:
- Blood slatters
- Drips of blood
- Bloody footprints
- Bloody items
- Bloody mobs (such as humans covered in blood)
- Basically anything that would be some kind of bodily fluid
Things you can use it on to obtain Fingerprints, Fibers, and Material info:
- Items
- Doors
- Walls (if people have been pushing them)
- Chairs (if people were buckled in them)
- Most computers
- Most buttons
- SSU’s
- Carbon mobs such as humans (although you should be able to obtain their fingerprints from the Security Records in your office)
Captain’s antique gun got stolen? Scan the doors, scan anything that the guy might have realistically touched, scan the display case that the gun was in, scan the donut box to see if the guy took one, scan the cigarette butts on the ground to see if they came from someone other than the captain (or you), and don’t mix anything up with the captain’s prints/blood. In case you didn’t know, gloves have a good chance of blocking fingerprints, but leave material of their own.
Your Forensic scanner is located in your backpack, and the closet in your office has a spare, that any responsible HoS would have snatched up already. Go to the crime scene, scan all the surfaces around the scene, such as doors, walls, consoles, and of course, out-of-place items. After evidence has been scanned, place it in evidence bags for storage and later reference. They’re important because they don’t transfer any forensic evidence. Be sure to scan any bodies for prints and fibers as well, provided that they haven’t been hauled off to cloning already.
The Wonders of the Filing Cabinet
The medical laptop lets you check the DNA and blood type of every crew member, while the security records computer lets you check the fingerprints of every crew member.
By using Search Records you can instantly find whose fingerprints/DNA were on that throwing star found at the crime scene.
Going undercover
As the detective, you’re pretty aloof. Use that to your advantage while you roam the station.
You may notice that people tend to underestimate other crewmen, whereas security have a major target on their back. You can easily disguise yourself as a member of the grey tide and fit in with the other lowlives to gather evidence through observing. Stop by the laundry room and a fire room to acquire generic, gray clothing plus a gas mask, which has the benefit of concealing your HUDglasses. Now you just need a false PDA - borrow one from a brain dead crewmember or ask the HoP to make you a false assistant ID, buy a new PDA, and scan the fake ID into it. Now you can slot your detective ID into the false PDA and appear to be someone else while keeping all of your access. This kind of deep cover has several advantages.
- Because of your mindshield implant, your fellow officers will always know you’re trustworthy even undercover.
- While you aren’t outwardly displaying signs of being part of security, the crew may be more willing to speak freely about illicit activities.
- Bad guys may openly attack you or others while you are in the area, as compared to a normal seccie, not expecting you to have a concealed disabler and stun baton.
Remember to use gestures (me) instead of speaking (say), because otherwise your voice will blow your cover. Practice as a mime may help in this regard.
When all else fails, fall back on your spy intuitions. If you can get the HoP to grant you access to Telecommunications, you can monitor all chat logs for all radio channels. If you can talk the CE into sharing the monitor decryption key with you, tcomms is one of only three places with a message monitoring console, and the other two are in space or on lavaland. This will allow you to view every PDA message - an extremely useful investigation tool. The HoS will most likely be interested in your work as well.
The normal staff are also typically full of reports. Mingle. Talk to the bartender, chef, scientists, doctors, janitors, cargonians, curator, engineers, and chaplain. Because their jobs are very relaxed, they have more time to take in the pulse of the station. If they think something is up, don’t ignore it, because it’s your job to follow up.
The types of Evidence you will be looking for
In your work, you’ll be responsible for processing varying types of evidence - some more consequential to cases than others, but they’re all important in the long run. Your ability to collect and identify the following types of evidence will be paramount to performing a strong investigation.
Fingerprints
One of the most important, if not the most important types of evidence you will come across at a crime scene are finger prints. Everyone (for the most part) has hands, and by extension, fingers. These fingers have essential oils on them that tends to smudge off on surfaces and objects that you touch.
All species serving on the station will leave fingerprints if they’re stupid enough to do so, and this will link them to a scene. All crew member’s have their fingerprints recorded by Nanotrasen as a security measure, and so cross-checking with your access to the security records will allow you to identify your suspect once you are able to collect a good enough fingerprint sample to search the database.
Fibers
The less loved cousin of fingerprints, fibers are the most common piece of evidence at a crime scene. Whenever you interact with objects, including doors and switches and rechargers, anything really, depending on how RNGesus is feeling, your clothing might or might not leave fibers behind on the surface that can later be detected with the forensic scanner.
Because it is rare that someone wears a piece of clothing that is completely unique, fibers can help you narrow down your suspect’s general description and support current evidence to get an arrest.
Firearm shell casings
When a ballistic firearm is used, the spent shell casings will usually be dumped out onto the floor below. You can’t really get too much evidence from shell casings themselves, but examining them can tell you what kind of ammunition was used for them.
.38? You.
.357 or 10mm? Traitor.
.50? Syndicate sniper rifle.
7.62mm or 4.6x30mm? Cargo guns.
.45 or 1.95x129mm or 5.56mm or 7.12x82mm? Nuke ops or some fucko with gateway loot.
All shotguns use 12 gauge shells, but different jobs would have access to different types of ammunition, such as the bartender using slugshot from cargo beanbag slugs, security using rubber shot, cargo using basic ammunition, and science & nuke ops using tech shot, such as meteorshot, pulse slug, stun slug, laser scatter, and the dragon’s breath.
There are probably a whole bunch of other types of firearm calibers in this game that I can’t go over since they’re never used, but as with all of security, you’ll get used to things with experience.
DNA
De oxy ribo nucleic acid, or ‘DNA’, is the code in which all natural life is made up of. Everyone, including xenos, have a unique string of DNA that is not shared with anyone else.
The methods of what to actually scan for DNA evidence have already been discussed earlier in this guide - DNA is especially useful if your victim’s identity is for some particular reason, unknown.
Essencial Equipment
The detective has a lot of shit in his office, which might bewilder you. Luckily, the only absolutely necessary stuff that you don’t spawn with are your revolver, which spawns in your locker anyways.
Cigarettes and Zippo lighter - Doesn’t actually provide a real benefit apart from the fact that nicotine slightly reduces hardstun times. You might even get some cigarettes with a bit of esoteric benefits in your travels.
A worn suit, coat, and hat - They act as armor, as well as making you a part of the HoS’s trenchcoat mafia.
Black gloves - as stated above, never take these off if you are planning on being an actual detective and doing your damn job, or you will get your own prints on the evidence and set back your entire investigation.
A security radio headset - This gives you access to the security channel so you can tell the officers to arrest insert-traitor-name-here.
the Police Baton - for kneecap smashing
Your forensics scanner - found in your backpack. Use this to do your work.
A PDA loaded with a D.E.T.E.C.T cartridge. This little thing is important because it gives you access to both security and medical records, and has a built in medical scanner.
Your .38 revolver - which comes complete with the ability to fire 3 different ammo types and modify it to fire the exceptionally lethal .357 caliber rounds. Ammo types available include a basic .38 revolver round, which does 25 brute damage on hit, the .38 HotShot ammo type, which while only doing 20 damage per shot, lights your target on fire, the .38 IceBlox round, which lowers your targets body temperature to -100 degrees, slowing them to walk speed, and finally the .38 TRAC round, which upon impact with a target, embeds a tracking implant in them. Once this is embedded, you can go to a prisoner management console and get their exact location.
A pair of handcuffs for incapacitating a crook after you run out of bullets retaliate in self defense using your gun.
Binoculars - Doubling your view range, allowing you to investigate from a distance and also used by the QM for perfect mosin nagant snipes
If you need any of the actual standard seccie equipment, I’m sure the Warden will help you out there.
An example of the Investigation
While the captain is away, you decide to check on his office and quarters with your camera console. Someone has hacked his door open, left the wire cover open, smashed the display case, and stole the captain’s antique laser gun. As would be responsible, you call up the HoS and captain on your security radio, and say that you’re coming over to the bridge.
When you arrive, the first thing you should do is make sure no one else comes in, since you don’t want anyone else getting their prints or fibers on the scene. Put up a holobarrier or something on the hacked door, and that should be enough.
At the scene you see the hacked door and the broken glass, you also see some drips of blood on the carpet near the broken display case. With the forensic scanner in hand, you quickly scan the hacked door and wait as it processes your hit. You get several fibers and a single set of fingerprints. You also scan the drips of blood on the carpet. You look over everything and think you’ve got all you possibly can from the scene.
At your office/the brig you print out the forensic scanner report. The fibers you see are from some black gloves (your gloves), the captain’s gloves, some fingerless gloves, and fibers from a cargo technician’s jumpsuit.
You also get a printout of a single fingerprint string. You will have to run them in the crew records. You go over to the security records computer and search for the set of prints. Sure enough, the set of prints comes back as Kerbin Fiber - an assistant promoted to cargo technician.
You go through your final piece of evidence, the blood. The scanner report lists the DNA and you run it through the medical records. Yes, the drips of blood came from Kerbin Fiber.
Literally all the evidence show that Kerbin is the culprit. You report your findings to the Head of Security and the Captain via your security radio access, and the HoS and captain both rather quickly rile up a traitor hunting mob.
Case fucking closed.
A summary in conclusion
- If you want to check if a husk was drained or just burned, try extracting blood from it with a syringe.
- Got a husk in genetics? No ID on him? Blood sucked by lings? Use the scanner on the body to get the fingerprints and you know who that poor sod was.
- The built-in Medical Scanner function of your PDA will show time of death
- You can put an empty speedloader back into an autolathe to receive a full refund of materials
- You can use meson goggles to find hidden walls; they show hidden doors as open spaces when not in direct sight of them.
- The detective’s scanner can be used at range, to scan containers and such.
- You can get a person’s fingerprints by directly scanning them with a forensic scanner.
- You can use a screwdriver on your revolver to modify it to shoot much more lethal .357 rounds. Remember to eject the loaded rounds, or it’ll end up going off in your face much like when sawing off a loaded shotgun.