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Standard Operating Procedure

Standard Operating Procedure, or SOP, defines the rights, responsibilities and restrictions placed upon the working crew and each department.

Command

Command is expected to:

  • Direct their department, ensuring each position has the necessary equipment, resources and knowledge to exert their role.
  • Ensure compliance with Standard Operating Procedures within their department, and prevent their violations.

Commanding officer's authority

The CO has sole authority to modify SOP as deemed necessary in an emergency. The CO may also pardon any crimes of others, including capital.

Line of succession

If there is no Captain on station, it is responsibility of the present command members to elect a Commanding Officer among themselves. Normally the Head of Personnel should be the first in the line of succession, and in their absence another member of command must be chosen for the position.

A signed and stamped document by the majority of command staff must be faxxed to Central Command requesting the unlocking of the spare Captain ID, as well as the official promotion of a new acting CO. The document must be professionally written and it must mention the new elected CO by name.

Hiring procedure

The Head of Personnel is normally in charge of hiring new staff and transferring current staff from one department to another, if necessary. Should the Head of Personnel be busy or unavailable, each department head is expected to respond to requests for a new position within their department, and cooperate with other heads regarding transfers.

Each department head is also responsible for promoting acting personnel to critical positions where officially appointed assignees aren't present, and demoted once one does arrive.

Department heads also reserve the right to demote or fire anyone in their staff where not doing so would hinder the department's ability to function, or in cases where the individual fails to act out their duties.

Security

Security is expected to:

  • Maintain safe functioning of the station by elimination of dangerous pests.
  • Inform arrestees of their charges.
  • Detain with minimum necessary force.
  • Respect the rights of prisoners.
  • Search detainees and store evidence and possessions safely.
  • Inform department heads of criminal behavior of employees.

Arrest procedure

An arrest of a suspect may be done with "probable cause". Probable cause to believe a suspect has committed a crime is achieved when: a credible witness report is given, such that the individual has the means and ability to perform the crime reported, and was present at the crime scene OR an officer has witnessed the crime in action.

Probable cause is also given when the only possible explanation for something occurring is that the individual to be searched was in possession of contraband. For a suspect to be under arrest, they MUST first be hailed and informed of their charges.

If a suspect does not stop and ignores attempts to be hailed, security is then allowed to forcibly stop the suspect via non-lethal methods.

Brig procedure

When confining an arrestee within the brig, they should be transferred to a Warden for processing if possible. Should the warden be unavailable at the time, any security personnel may carry processing in their place:

  • A full search of the arrestee and their possessions
  • The confiscation of any controlled items or items used in commission of the crime, along with any equipment not befitting a prisoner, such as tools or weapons.
  • The confining of the arrestee within the brig, or a holding cell.
  • Sentencing of the arrestee.

The arrestee must at a bare minimum be allowed to keep a set of clothes and a headset with an encryption key for common radio channel.

Sentencing

Any officer is authorized to sentence non-capital crimes. Multiple crimes within the same category generally do not accumulate, with the exception of possession charges stacking within themselves. In either case, only the most severe charge is to be sentenced.

Improper sentencing may incur abuse of power charges.

Rules of engagement

Security personnel hold an unrestricted armaments license, and are authorized at all times to use lethal force to the extent necessary to neutralize adversaries under any of the following circumstances:

  • If the adversary's number or strength leave the officer at a dangerous disadvantage.
  • If the adversary poses a significant threat of serious bodily injury or death to the officer or innocents.
  • If the adversary cannot be reasonably subdued through non-lethal means without great bodily harm to the officer or innocent crew.

…Wherein an "adversary" is an entity that demonstrates a hostile intent, commits or directly contributes to a hostile act that does not constitute an actual attack, or is actively attacking the officer or innocent crew.

Despite their allowance of lethal force, security personnel are required to follow the rules of engagement proportional to the current alert level.

Armory procedure

The warden is responsible for stocking, distributing and recording the collection of weapons used by the station during the shift. They are also afforded the authority to arm security at their discretion, so long as the weaponry distributed is in accordance with alert procedure.

While issued, the weaponry remains as station property, and the wielder assumes a duty to protect the weapon and return it to the armory when ordered. No non-crew may be issued weaponry from the armory.

Any weaponry issued during a heightened alert level must be returned when the alert level has been lowered, or when the threat is no longer present. The weaponry issued must be proportionate to the threat posed, and explosives should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

Treatment of prisoners

Prisoners must have access to food, water, clothing, medical care, common radio, safe containment, freedom of movement, and legal council if desired.

Prisoners in extended confinement may have visitors, approved or denied at the Warden's discretion. Visitors are subject to a search before entering the confinement area.

Prisoners that repeatedly attempt to escape, or cause harm to other prisoners or officers may have their sentence elevated to preservative stasis. The prisoner's life signs are terminated, and the body is kept preserved in a body bag or in a morgue unit. In the event that a prisoner is put into preservative stasis, Central Command must be notified via fax or other means, and the prisoner must be revived before embarking on the shuttle back to Central Command. Preservative stasis must be avoided if the prisoner cannot be revived by regular means.

Trial

Prisoners sentenced for permanent confinement have the right to request a trial. In case of a trial, the Commanding Officer must appoint a judge and a prosecutor, as well as an acting attorney if there isn't one available.

The time of the trial (within the shift's clock) must be announced, and the appointed judge must organize the trial. Regardless of the details decided by the appointed judge, both prosecution and defense must have access to all relevant evidence, and any evidence that was not previously mutually available must be discarded.

Trial must not take longer than 20 minutes at most, and the appointed judge must issue a ruling by the end, which can include execution. Whichever ruling is made, the decision must be signed and stamped on a document by the appointed judge and Commanding Officer.

Medical

The medical department is responsible for:

  • Keeping restricted chemicals safely stored, either within a Chemmaster or Chemdispenser unit, or in a securely stored, labeled container.
  • Providing medical care and attention to crew to the best of their ability.
  • While suit sensors are encouraged, they are not mandatory, and medical professionals should not threaten, coerce or activate sensors without consent.

Post-mortems

Medical personnel must check their medical records console for patients' post-mortem requests, and honor them if possible.

  • In the case of a requested DNR, attempted revival is not permitted.
  • If cremation is requested as a post-portem, medical personnel must cooperate with the Chaplain to make use of the chapel's crematorium.
  • If post-mortem instructions request to return home, the patient must be taken to Central Command in a body bag.
  • In cases where an extreme post-mortem request is provided, medical personnel reserve the right to deny it.

Mental evaluation

The CMO or Psychologist, if officially appointed, may perform a mental evaluation to determine a crew member to be unfit for duty, including the Commanding Officer, who may not overrule their decision.

The CMO must review the assessment and notify the corresponding head of staff, or central command, and proceed with the demotion.

DNR orders

The CMO may issue DNR orders, and must sign it officially in a document with stamp if possible.

A crew member may be designed as "Do Not Revive" (DNR) if:

  • They were lawfully executed.
  • Sentenced to preservative stasis.
  • Committed suicide in custody.
  • If the patient refuses medical treatment (or specifies a DNR in their post-mortem).
  • If the CMO deems medical treatment unfeasible.

Cargo

Cargo is reponsible for:

  • Processing purchase requests of crew and approving them if budget permits it, and if it serves the interests of the station as a whole.
  • Safe processing of shipments, whether it's lockboxes shipped for selling or incoming orders, so that they reach their destination without incurring damage or loss of its contents.
  • Providing a sustainable supply of materials, resources and equipment to other departments, so that they may carry standard operations without long period shortages.

Science

Science is responsible for:

  • Researching new technologies according to the crew's needs and requests.
  • Fabricating and distributing new technologies, so long as they are not restricted items.

Engineering

Engineering is responsible for:

  • Providing the station a steady, sustainable and safe source of power.
  • Repairing, maintaining and upgrading the station to the best of their ability.
  • Ensuring the station remains pressurized, and free of thermal or atmospheric hazards.
  • Expanding the station and cooperating with other departments on station modification projects.