police vs Pirates

[Archelon]

Seriously, this is beyond absurd. Implement a way to stop a ship short from utterly destroying it and you will see most police/military forces using it instead. All this drama is ridiculous. The game simply doesn't support, as is, this detailing of action you guys require. There's simply no stopping a vessel short from destroying it, period.

To all the righteous. Suggest another course of action then. If you really do have a good alternative, let's hear it.

Um ... what are you going on about? This is a role play server. If the police (which the LSF are not) cannot catch the smuggler with the loot before he docks, too late and too bad. Don't take it out on the innocent passengers. If he undocks with something else (like commodities or something not breathing) then by all means make an example of him.

Pirates chasing a trader who docks and sells his goods and then undocks with empty holds would be a waste of time to kill ... so I really don't see what you're getting upset about.

Its what had to happen.

Besides the guy obviously wasn't RPing if he docked on a HOSTILE planet. (Not hostile to him, but it should have been, since he was caught smuggling by police and shouldnt have been able to dock)

If he was RPing he wouldn't have landed on Manhattan, and headed for Rochester/surrendered.

Um ... a base or planet is not "hostile" to traders / smugglers just because they carry contraband. They only go "hostile" (temporarily) if scanned and they do not respond to demands to drop cargo. Even NPCs give upwards of 30 seconds to make a decision whether they wanna drop the cargo or run. That's plenty of time to dock and sell the goods before they go "hostile."

Oh, so, Police can stop you only if they already have evidence that you are smuggling?
Don't think so.
Not logical.
If a police tells you to stop, and they are 10k away. You have 2 options.
You can stop, if you are innocent.
You can run, if you are guilty.
Either way, Police will know what to do with ya.
If you start running, ofc they will suspect that you are guilty, and pursue you.
It is so in real world as well.
First, you stop the guy, and then search the vehicle.
Not the other way around.

Simply because, there is NOT enough people on the server, so they can be like a real Police, patrolling and so.
If they have like 5 people online, they are lucky.
And with that number, it is not easy to secure the whole system, again.
Especially if you chase a guy trough 5 systems only to scan him, because he refused to stop.
It's silly.

And, when are we going to have a first Disco Police Faction? I think that would be a very interesting thing to see.
But i guess all of ya lawfuls prefer Navy, because you have more options what to do.
Maybe i make a Patriot char, a Police officer:)

Um ... yeah ... you kinda have to have evidence. If the police are outside of scanning range and yell "stop" and the guy docks and sells his goods ... the cops can't do anything because they have no evidence. The only thing they can do is charge them with not stopping. They can't do anything if they did not see any contraband. And for role play (ie: simulating reality) you need probable cause to stop someone. And after you have probable cause, you'd need a reason to conduct a search (more probable cause). After you have the probable cause, then you can cease the contraband. But you cannot yell all the way across the system to halt if you have no reason to stop them. If this person is a known smuggler, you might have probable cause. Why would a police officer stop every car on the interstate to see if they are carrying contraband? Its not realistic.

A suspect who runs is not guilty. It won't hold up in court. If you catch him, you still have to prove he had contraband. There are many people that run when they see a cop. That's probable cause to stop them. But that does not mean they have something illegal on them. You can stop them and search them for weapons (something that can hurt you). But you cannot necessarily search them for anything illegal without probable cause.

Here's a hint: If you watch the chat window (as many do) and see a certain character departing Omicron Alpha or Gamma and later on they enter "your" system ... you have probable cause to search them. Same as if a cop spots somebody departing a known drug dealer's house or neighborhood. When they enter your system, chase em down and scan them. If they are not carrying anything illegal, you have no case and gotta let them go. However, if at that time they have something, cease it (in game may require destroying the ship). Since everyone claims they don't die, but depart in their escape pod ... this would be RP of you destroying the contraband and the ship it sailed on ... and you get the smuggler in your cargo hold to transport to prison.