01 | video | locked to ENMA | un. dimitri

[stubboarn]

[ A very blonde, young face appears on the screen. He is charming and personable enough but looks very much cookie-cutter type in terms of outfit and presence. He’s channeling less suave boy next door, but more newscaster for the 6 o’clock news. Think your grandpa going golf on a Sunday morning kind of vibes. ]

Good day. I am Dimitri.

Following the announcement of the huge bounty tied to the kidnapping of Finance Wolf Kaberou Kannazaki’s daughter, several bounty hunters have made it their business to claim the cash reward tied to her recovery. As a matter of public safety, it is in our best interest to detain these independent bounty-hunters before it escalates in the city.

I propose an operation to make use of the city’s robust network – to create fake advertisements, print or online or by word of mouth, to lure them locations around the city where they can be apprehended and detained with force, if necessary. The advertisements need not be sophisticated. As hunters are motivated by greed and money, it is enough that it contains a reference to having a party of sorts that they can join to navigate the Wastelands, and a decent offer to split the rewards amongst themselves after. Online it is easier to track such interest, but we can utilize whatever method of spreading the word in order to pick up others as well.

[ Dimitri says this in a matter-of-fact way. He tilts his head and adds, rather thoughtfully, ] Of course, it is understood that not all would accept the bait. However, for whatever number we can corral and detain, more will always follow given that all of them are united with the same goal. And the more we detain as a department, the more it will stand as a warning to others and dissuade them from acting foolishly – at least, one hopes. [ He has a wry smile on his face when he says this. ] I leave it up to my colleagues for more creative ways of finding the rest of the troublemakers headed to the Wastelands.

If we move quickly before these hunters make alliances amongst themselves, we can nip the problem in the bud and maintain order in the city. [ a pause, and then he adds, ] Or before other Factions can lay credit to having maintained order instead.

Any other help and suggestions would be appreciated. The plan is quite rough around the edges and will need refining, and I am prepared to be schooled for it to be more effective where necessary.

I will be responding in text unless requested otherwise. Feel free to chat in the comments as you wish.

To all our new co-workers: welcome. I look forward to working with you.

[ feed off. ]

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ooc: log to follow! it'll probably be up in the weekend.

Comments

un: cmm

[anuglybloom]

I can make you a website in half an hour.

[stubboarn]

Good day, CMM.

We might need several, if only so we have different means of attracting them online. Is that alright?

[anuglybloom]

Sure, that's nothing. I can put together advertisements for print as well.

I came into enough money to buy myself a drone too. You guys are gonna want surveillance on this mission, right?

text | un: kimwexlerlaw

[saintclaire]

Hello Dimitri et al.,

You are correct: this is a rough plan.

First, this is a sting operation, which are often unpopular. There will need to be a public statement and/or media briefing to assure the public of the necessity of these actions.

Second, there is a limit on how long anyone can be detained without charges laid or adequate paperwork (ie, an arrest warrant issued by a judge or arrest affidavit filed by law enforcement.)

Third, I think accusations of entrapment are likely if not unavoidable, but without paperwork to support the arrests, you are opening yourself and the rest of the Department to counter legal action. I doubt they would be successful but I advise against leaving openings for distractions.

Due diligence is important here.

- Kim Wexler

[stubboarn]

Good day Kim.

I am not averse to the public statement. Reiterating the necessity of maintaining order and urging the public to calm down is a good plan.

The detention should go smoothly provided that those who are detained are cooperative. Only the use of necessary force to be allowed. We do have lieutenants higher than myself who can enforce it, but I'd be glad to make that clear as well.

I am not sure what you mean by the paperwork. Can you explain? My idea was that we can file them under: "conduct against good order and discipline", or the alternate "acts against good order and discipline", which can cover quite an array of issues.

Thank you.

[saintclaire]

I’ve represented clients who have resisted arrest over a couple hundred dollars. The 100 billion yen reward is equivalent to 700 million USD. That’s enough wealth to catapult anyone to being one of the richest humans on any planet. People denied the opportunity to seek that will very likely not cooperate.

While I think violations of order is a good start, an arrest affidavit will need to be filed for each individual case. It will need to be specific if you want it to hold water. You’re looking at hundreds if not thousands of hours of paperwork depending on how many people are arrested, so staff appropriately.

text un: cainknightley

[himbosupreme]

Oh, uh, question. Do you work with the same stuff as Sir van Zieks? He was talking a lot too about the paperwork that it takes to have people arrested and I admit I'm still learning about this.

Are you saying this is a bad idea then? I would like to help out since these bounty hunters are honestly causing more problems than solving them.

[stubboarn]

Good day, Cain.

I can't comment on the bureaucratic side of things, but I will say that the work is still important regardless. If left unchecked the bounty hunters can inspire others to imitate their reckless behaviour. It is my opinion that we prevent that from happening instead of waiting to see how it plays out. Working out what we can and cannot do for the operation is all part of due diligence.

I will be glad to receive any help that you give, and should you feel the need to recuse yourself, I certainly won't hold it against you. I'd rather you participate willingly, understanding the danger it entails.

Re: text un: cainknightley

[saintclaire]

Yes, I’m an attorney in the same field as Barok. I have a lot of experience in criminal defence cases, including many against police officers who have failed to file adequate paperwork.

I’m not saying this is a bad idea. I think it’s a heavy-handed but potentially necessary approach to keeping people from going into the wasteland. If people go out there, it will likely result in the deaths of many. With the Department unwilling to engage with Kaberou directly, this is a fast way to enforce the law. It absolutely needs caution in execution.

text | un:phoenixprincess

[itstillhurt]

It's a solid plan, and quite clever. An extensive digital footprint is likely to lend it authenticity, but I believe it will take more than that.

It won't be enough that we create a realistic network of information- we have to create a believable response. If these information events were real and being discussed on this scale, the department would be investigating them. We should create the appearance of doing so.

Officers involved in this operation should find likely centers of bounty hunter activity and begin asking around about the sting events as if we believed they were authentic, and make sure to namedrop them when dealing with independent bounty hunter suspects as if we believed they might be involved. Otherwise, the artificial nature of the bait will be far too obvious.

text | un: kimwexlerlaw

[saintclaire]

Just to clarify — you think officers should create an artificial response around the event so that bounty hunters think it’s legitimate? What makes you think they’ll be more inclined to participate if there’s law enforcement already present?

[itstillhurt]

They're far more likely to respond to something real but risky than something that feels like a trap.

If they had a strong sense of self-preservation, they wouldn't be doing this in the first place.

[stubboarn]

Good day.

We will also use the digital footprint to track them down. I am not familiar with it, but with my research, I'm certain it's probable.

I agree with what you say - since these centres are well-documented, it should be a matter of revisiting familiar haunts and sources for us.

[itstillhurt]

I'm no expert in modern technology myself, but that sounds reasonable.

Obviously we will have to strike a delicate balance. If we push too hard, that will also make it sound like bait.

text | un: andy

[killtime]

let me know when we're ready to round them up

[stubboarn]

Good day, Andy.

I am ready, but we need to work out the bureaucratic pieces involved first.

That being said, I am not one to be bound by paperwork. Likely there is enough interest for other officers like us to move. The warrants are an issue, and need to be dealt with, but as soon as we have those, Enma can move with the operation in effect.

[killtime]

warrants
sure
can't tell you how fucking thrilled i am to wait on those
please tell me someone competent is handling that shit

text | un: zhongli

[brokebitchmountain]

I will also offer my help in whatever way I can. Keeping order and balance during this time is of utmost importance.

If chaos ensues there will be no catching the intended criminal at all.

[stubboarn]

Good day, Zhongli.

Thank you for the offer. As it is an operation with wide-sweeping effects, any help is appreciated.

At the moment, the office needs help regarding bureaucratic matters. After that, there is the matter of sweeping our offenders. I will be helping both areas, but you're free to help where you feel suitable.

[brokebitchmountain]

I am proficient in both aspects, so, whichever you would need more help in I wouldn't mind offering my assistance.

I'm still new here so perhaps I will keep to capturing these offenders.

text; un: ayato

[kamisabro]

Good day to you. While this plan is honestly very sound and I'm in full support of this, I'm going to play a devil's advocate a bit over here.

[ So they can deliberately find a hole in their own plans, if there were any - Ayato dealt with this kind of trafficking a lot back in his own world and he learned it the hard way that doublechecking your own plan will always work to your favor. ]

What if those advertisements create a sense of wary for them and instead, alarm them that we're on their tails? This might be a moot point if we're talking about online approach, but with face to face approach, I'm pretty sure the chance that they'd be able to distinguish us from them isn't exactly low.

[stubboarn]

Good day Ayato.

Online is the easiest to set up and therefore it was my first option, but I fully understand that that's also a skill that a select few would be able to participate in. Having Enma officers work offline to spread the word in a more discreet way would also be helpful. That way, we can have both approaches work depending on whichever method works best for the undercover Enma officer.

That being said, caution and deterrence is also a good way to prevent any interest from the hunters in taking advantage of the reward offered. Any hesitancy on their part benefits us in only addressing the ones who are desperate and reckless enough to go after it regardless.

[kamisabro]

Fair point. Then I suppose I'm going to need to ask one more question before I can feel at ease.

Do we have any Enma officers out there with scouting and infiltrating experience? I used to lead a ninja clan myself so I can vouch for myself if we still need someone to spearhead that. And I'm still very low ranked so my face isn't really that well-known to public.

That being said, however, I feel like I should need at least another person to have my back just in case things go wrong.

[ Maybe he can ask Thoma later, but it never hurts to have some more names. ]

un: sonic

[mechspeed]

Understood. I will leave the administrative side of this operation to others, as it is not my forte. [It actually is something he could do he just doesn't want to, really.] I will focus on detainment.

sorry for being late! work killed me

[stubboarn]

It is much appreciated, Sonic. There is always room for both sides of the operation to help in; nothing wrong with sticking to your strengths in order to be more effective.