Detective

Disclaimer: This page cannot be used as an argument for in game actions.

SECURITY STAFF

Detective

Alternative Titles: Investigator, Forensic Analyst, Investigative Cadet, Private Eye, Inspector Access: Brig, Detective's Office, Morgue, Maintenance, Weapon Permit Additional Access: Security Difficulty: Medium Supervisors: Head of Security Duties: Investigate crimes, gather evidence, look badass, smoke cigarettes, drink yourself into oblivion when every other officer ignores your suspects and your words Guides: Guide to security, Space Law, Guide to Trials, Standard Operating Procedure Minimum Age: 22 Quote: Uh, I just sssaw the chef gib the clown. You folksss gonna do anythin' about that? Or thisss the kinda day where what I sssay don't matter?

Welcome to the land of red tape, friend.

Your Office, and your Castle

Your job as the Detective is to discover crimes, identify their perpetrators, and report it all to the rest of Security. Use your radio, and use it often.

You are not a full member of Security and should not be making arrests under most circumstances. Your revolver is considered a lethal weapon, to be used sparingly.

Review Space Law and make sure you know how and when you should act.

Bare minimum requirements: Don't die in maintenance, scan crime scenes, and report your findings to Security.

"Bona Fide" Officer

As a Detective, your primary duty is to investigate crime scenes and use the tools provided to you to identify the perpetrators. A Forensic Scanner, security console, and your ID should be all you need to snag most suspects.

Your Forensic Scanner is located in your backpack, and the closet in your office has a spare. Go to a crime scene when you're called and start scanning anything of importance. If you're the one that finds a crime scene, inform Security before you begin your investigation. Airlocks, bodies, weapons, blood, and possessions are all prime targets for scanning. Your Forensic Scanner can store more logs than you'll ever need, and, if needed, you can also recall past scans or even print off a forensic report to review information you've gathered. Especially important is scanning any bodies for prints and fibers, provided that they haven't been hauled off by the Paramedics yet. Airlocks are also incredibly useful to scan, assuming the crime happened in an area that most wouldn't be moving through. At the very least, you can get a list of people who have been around, and question them individually on your own time. If the crime is severe enough, ask your fellow, loyal officers for help in bringing suspects in.

If any victims (or suspects) have already been hauled off to Medical, then you'll want to get over there ASAP and scan any bodies before any more greasy doctors touch them. Try to get any information you can from the Medical staff or officers present: damage types, who brought them in, who's touched the corpse. The more information you get, the more you can ignore irrelevant facts or focus on curious ones.

Guard bodies if you have to. One of the best witnesses to a crime is the victim themselves. If they're revived via non-cloning methods, they retain their memories, which include how they died. And, most likely, who killed them.

Scene Analysis 101

Any object that is touched by someone without gloves will have their fingerprints on it (with the exception of fingerless gloves). This includes interaction, pick-up, drop, and manipulation of any kind. There is a chance for someone to leave behind traces of their clothing under the same interactions. The options can be their uniform, their exosuit, and/or their gloves.

Keep your forensics gloves on all the time, so you don't confuse your own traces with others.

• The crime scene is your stage. Make sure any Heads of Staff or other officers present touch as little as possible and steer clear while you work. This is especially problematic if they touch vital evidence, as you won't be able to confirm certain traces if a black-gloved officer or an insulated-gloved Chief Engineer goes and touches the bloody toolbox present in the scene.
• Beyond using your Forensic Scanner on pretty much every upturned bush in sight, it's important to look around and take notes of out-of-place things, as well as searching around in general.
• If there are bullet casings, but no gun, you can assume it's been hidden, or far more likely, on the suspect.
• Search plants, boxes, containers, see if anything is out of place or something was left behind. Carry a T-Ray Scanner and a crowbar on you (easily found in Tool Storage, printed at an autolathe, or the Engineering protolathe), and check under the floor for Smuggler Satchels: bags that can be hidden underneath floors. Leave nothing uncounted for and no stone unturned.
• Clever criminals might store their incriminating items in a Secure Briefcase. You can use a Multitool to brute force these open, bypassing the need for learning the code to access the contents within.
• You can take blood from a body using a syringe and scan the syringe to get the DNA string of who it belongs to.
• Any reagents in any item can be discovered by a scan, including food.
• A medical analyzer (your PDA comes with a built-in one) can be used to ascertain a time-of-death on a cadaver, assuming it isn't older than 15 minutes.
• Use the evidence bags you spawn with to collect any suspicious items you find, be it "contraband", contraband, high-risk items, anything with blood on it, or anything that doesn't belong in the department. Take any bagged evidence you have to the Evidence Lockup, in the Brig, to the Warden (if it's restricted), or return said high-risk items to their owners.

Once you're done investigating a crime scene, return to your office or the nearest Security Post. You have access to every departmental post, assuming you can enter said department to access it. This does not include the Arrivals Checkpoint. Regardless, all of these will have a Security Records console, while your own office will also have a Medical Records console. In a pinch, you can also use a computer in Medical to access Medical Records.

Make sure any bodies make it to either Medical or the Brig Physician. The latter can help keep a body safe during revival or perform an autopsy/inspection. In addition, as a position close to Security, they are far more trustworthy. Do note, however, that they don't have a full Medbay at their disposal.

Running the Numbers

You have both access to Security Records and Medical Records. Security Records allow you to run prints, as well search up and modify crime-related details of anyone on the crew manifest (if their security records haven't been deleted). Medical Records allow you to run DNA from blood, as well as search up and modify medical-related details of anyone on the crew manifest (mostly useless).

Inserting someone's fingerprint code into a Security Records console will narrow down the named list of individuals to whoever the prints belong to. If you can't narrow down the owner of a certain set of prints, this generally means one of two things:

1. The prints belong to someone present not on the manifest (some options include humanized monkeys, stowaways, fanatics, or really, really bad news).
2. They belong to someone who deleted their own security records (likely a Syndicate agent, or something far less friendly).

The same options hold true if you can't find the owner of a DNA string using a Medical Records console. In almost every case, an unidentifiable string of DNA belongs to a humanized monkey from Genetics, or a monkey itself.

If you find one pair of prints on something damning and no glove fibers, you've most likely got a catch. Set the individual to Arrest and update their security record (both done using the Security Records console), then inform Security over your radio. Even if you only have suspicion, or the prints weren't on something damning, still inform Security and append the Notes section to indicate what you've discovered. If you set any individuals to Search, follow the same process. Remember who your boss is, and defer to them if they don't agree with the direction your investigation is heading. Though, if you have free time, it's worthwhile to follow up on something and keep an eye out on any shady individuals, even if the Head of Security pardons their suspicion. A true detective follows their own hunches to make sure the truth gets out.

Generally, uniform fibers can be used to do station-wide searches if the shift is slow enough, but you shouldn't base a sentencing off something so trivial. It's easy for any criminal who wants to throw you off to put on a disguise before they commit their nefarious deeds. Sentencing the single Assistant on board for theft based on grey jumpsuit fibers makes little sense when the uniform is freely accessible in the Locker Room. On the contrary, any traces generally limited to one or two jobs, such as an Engineering Hardsuit, should immediately be reported to Security as soon as you find them, before you even make it to a console.

Blood DNA can be used to identify victims if no body was recovered OR if the body is unidentifiable. In most cases, the latter is because the body is husked, which is either caused by excessive burn or a Changeling.

Regardless of your findings, whenever you're done with a Security Records console, always log off before you resume other activities. Failure to do so means someone can sneak in and wreak havoc, such as setting Heads of Staff to Arrest to be targeted by secbots or less-intelligent officers. Someone might also delete their own security records.

Interrogations and Incarcerations

While your fellow officers should (theoretically) know Space Law, it never hurts to be present during a suspect's brigging to clarify any information or wrongdoings about them. Furthermore, clarifying the crimes they're guilty of can make the process a lot quicker, as well as avoiding wildly inaccurate sentences, which are bound to get the station down your throat with punishment for your foolishness.

You cannot brig individuals, as you do not possess the access to do so, nor is it outlined in your responsibilities.

You do, however, have access to the Interrogation Room, which has a Universal Recorder present, as well as all the gloomy lighting that you would want for a proper interrogation. That being said, interrogations are time-consuming, and, for the sake of gameplay, should generally be performed only under a handful of circumstances:

• You're certain someone is a culprit of something severe, but you don't have any hard evidence on them.
• You need to clarify the stories of two separate suspects, using the room to isolate them and get each of their tales individually.
• A lawyer wishes to speak with their client, or a lawyer wishes to speak with you privately, or with their client, too.
  • If you're the paranoid type, be cautious of a lawyer and their client who try to get you alone in the interrogation room; it's possible they're plotting to kill you and break out. As with all situations, calling for backup is a safe decision.
• Rarely, a culprit or Syndicate Agent may be willing to strike a deal. It is highly recommended that you obtain assistance from the Head of Security for this, as altering punishment or sentencing corporate enemies is beyond your jurisdiction.

Other situations may apply, but the main thing to keep in mind is that every minute spent in Interrogation is one where every player present isn't experiencing or participating in the rest of the game. The roleplay involved can be fun for all involved, but only if everyone agrees to it. A good rule of thumb is that RP, in all its forms, is a consensual, agreed decision. Don't force people into interrogation beyond their sentence length if there's not sufficient justification to hold them longer.

Important things to note are alibis, actions, who they saw, what they were thinking, what they plan to do, etc. Any information you can get on them that's glaringly contradictory with testimony or evidence can be a book-shutting detail.

Most people feel a lot safer answering questions when they're in their natural environment. Rather than arrest someone and drag them all the way to the Brig, just knock on their window and ask them the questions you mean to do. This way, you save time, are more likely to get meaningful information, and will overall be more-liked by the station. As Security, but especially as Detective, your reputation dictates a lot regarding your effectiveness. It's much better to be well-liked as an investigator, rather than feared, as you can use your silver tongue to earn benign cooperation far more efficiently than an officer who's prone to batoning people without second thoughts.

There's a camera console outside Interrogation which only looks into the room. It's a good way to spy in to make sure nothing funny is happening, and fellow officers can do this for you, too.

Grit-Fueled, Advanced Investigating

The above sections represent the basics of your craft, but there are several other situations and methods for discovering and catching culprits, as well as protecting the people you're charged to defend.

The Digital Eye

"Every shift, I take a walk through the station, all from my office."

The camera console is one of the most potent tools you have for your duties. Located in your office, it allows you to watch every camera feed present on the station's network. This includes wall-mounted cameras, cyborg cameras, and where an AI is present. There are some properties to be noted about cameras:

• You can examine individuals through cameras by using SHIFT+CLICK, as if you were examining them in person.
• Cut cameras will still appear on the camera list, but only show static. This can allow you to narrow down where suspicious activity might be happening.
• You cannot hear through cameras.
• If a cyborg does not show up on the camera console, its camera lens were disabled by a Roboticist (or someone with similar access, such as someone with an EMAG) or, far more rarely, it might be a disguised Syndicate cyborg, used only by elite Syndicate assault teams.
• A bluespace EMAG, which has a 10% chance of being created when an EMAG is used on an EMAG, can be used through cameras using a camera console. This allows crafty Syndicate agents to sabotage whatever they please at infinite range, so long as they have access to the station's camera network.

Using a camera console allows you to spy on others without their knowing of your presence. In addition, it's far safer than direct observation, and you're able to peer into areas you wouldn't be able to enter with your limited access. As your equipment is less robust than a normal officer's, patrolling maintenance alone is far less ideal than sitting in the safety of your office and flicking through cameras.

The Stake Out

"Hope you like waiting around. I brought myself a nice sandwich."

Simply hanging around an area or hiding in a locker/plant can yield results, especially if nobody expects you to be where you are. If an individual reports repeated harassment, but there's no evidence, or it's suspected/known that a certain crew member might be targeted by nefarious elements, being present in the vicinity can scare off threats. If you're hidden, it's far more likely that you catch anyone in a criminal act. In addition, you can duly intervene if the circumstances demand it. Otherwise, note the name and crime, and report it to Security.

If you're patrolling about the station and you notice someone coming out of an area they shouldn't be in or an area that's rarely entered, that's an oddity that you can investigate. A Chemist coming out of maintenance could just be someone acting oddly for no reason, or it could be a cultist that just left their base. As with a majority of your investigating, context is important. If you suspect there's criminal or dangerous activity going on in some area, it's highly recommended you call for backup before you investigate, or, at the very least, pass on your hunch to Security. Getting jumped by a bunch of Nar'sie's finest is a good way to be out for the rest of the round, especially if your fellow officers have nothing to go on regarding your disappearance.

Another trick is to stalk anyone you think is up to no good. You can be obvious or not in how you go about this. An absence of stealth almost guarantees that if they're conspiring to perform illegal activities, they either won't follow through or eventually snap and try to kill you. Assuming you're on guard and expecting it, you should have a good shot of either subduing them or escaping, so long as you haven't let them get a significant upper hand on you or lure you to somewhere you can't quickly flee from.

The Inquisitive Coroner

"Time of death: 17:52. Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma to the back of the head. Murder weapon: Toolbox."

Recently, new technologies and instruction have given us the ability to perform an autopsy on a body, in order to ascertain the cause of their death. There's space dedicated in your office to specifically performing this surgery, and there are some things to note about autopsies:

• A successful autopsy will do significant damage to any corpse it's performed on, delaying their revival even more.
• It will inform you what they were last hit by. In most cases, this will be the item that dealt the final blow to them.
• Any time spent doing an autopsy is time that the body is decaying and the culprit is running free. As previously said, one of the best witnesses to a crime is the victim themselves. This is especially true if they were murdered.

The steps to an autopsy can be found here.

The Logical Savant

"Think! THINK! Why doesn't he have the magboots on him?"

Inevitably, much of your aptitude as a Detective boils down to game sense. Understanding suspicious behavior and characteristics of certain antagonists gives you a significant edge as a grizzled detective over a sheepish novice. Knowing the environment also falls in this category. A thief might have hidden a high-risk item in a plant in their workplace, or in a locker near the scene of the crime if Security was quick to respond. Pay attention to the clever things criminals will do, and adapt your strategies and investigations to match them. Be careful to not engage in metagaming.

At the end of the day, common sense will get you far, even if you don't have forensic evidence to build an investigation on.

The Masked Agent

Disguising as a Detective is a highly-disputed topic by the administrative team. It's best to check with any online before you go through with it.

"Why yes Quartermaster, I'm one of your Cargo Technicians for the shift."

Disguising as another job is a little-used technique that the Detective is capable of performing over other officers. There are two methods of going about this.

The first is just a simple clothes change, but you keep your Detective ID on. This technically identifies you as a member of Security, which grants you all the same rights and privileges you enjoyed before; your clothes don't affect those. However, most people fail to examine others, and, without a SEChud to see your role, they may just assume that you are the job that you're dressed as. This can work under the same premises described in the Stake Out, but you also have whatever uniform you're wearing working for (or against) you. For example, if you're dressed as a Paramedic, people might just let you into places if they're injured, expecting you to heal them. But without the authority of the Security outfit, some people will be harder to nudge to do what you want them to. If you want to, you could also ask the Head of Personnel for assistance in granting you additional access to finish the disguise.

The second is a changing of your ID or the title of your ID, as well as a potential repainting of your PDA, so you fully and wholly look like another job. This is much the same, but you lose all protective privileges of being an officer. To essentially translate, if someone assaults you, you cannot make the reveal that you're an officer and arrest them for Assault of an Officer. If another security officer arrests you, that's a confusion that's valid, especially if they weren't aware you went undercover. This allows you to blend in far better as you observe the goings of the station, especially in whichever department you've integrated into. One example of this tactic's usefulness could be if you catch Cargo ordering contraband or weaponry without them realizing that there's been a mole among their ranks the entire time. Calling in your fellow officers to bust your fellow "colleagues" before the weapons even arrive is an open-and-shut raid.

Note that the effectiveness of this strategy is strongly dependent on how early in the shift you don your disguise and how many people recognize you as a Detective before doing so. If someone realizes you were a Detective earlier, they could assume you were simply demoted or you switched jobs, or they might see through your veil and render the disguise meaningless, if not harmful.

The Court Clerk

"Your Honor, the testimony... contradicts the evidence!"

A court proceeding is one of the rarest occurrences on the station. Most of the relevant information can be found in the Guide to trials, also linked in the overview of this page. That being said, there are some specific measures you can take as a Detective to bring more buck to a trial.

Firstly, you have prime access to the main method of obtaining hard, physical evidence. The Forensic Scanner and its reports can be provided as "foolproof" evidence of what really happened.

Secondly, you will typically be called in as the prosecution. This means it's up to you to gather witnesses, recordings, photos, reports- anything to nail the defendant to the cross they deserve to hang on. These are all things easily obtained through the course of an investigation. Let justice and the truth speak for you, and victory will surely be yours.

Lastly, the evidence bags you carry demand a significant ethos. Using them makes you seem professional and by-the-books.

While trials are most often a waste of time for everyone involved, they can liven up a slow shift or create some memorable roleplay moments. If you're considering requesting a trial, think about:

1. Is the crime (and punishment) significant enough to warrant a trial?
2. Does everyone involved have the time to spend away from their duties to perform a trial?
3. Do the players involved have the desire or willingness to participate in a trial?

It can be nigh impossible to accurately gauge the answers to these questions, but they're all important things to consider if you want to engage in CourtRP.

Hard-Boiled Equipment

As one of Nanotrasen's beat cops, you're equipped with gadgets and tools to separate you from the average crew member regarding combat effectiveness. However, the budget for your equipment is far lower, as you're not a full officer. While you still have access to wide range of tools, there are some that stand out.

The .38 Revolver

Usage of the revolver is covered in Space Law. It should not be drawn, much less fired, unless circumstances demand it.

Your revolver begins the round located in a Shoulder Holster which is located in your locker. The holster is a three-slot belt item that can carry revolvers and speed loaders. SHIFT+E will pull out the item in the right-most slot, so putting your gun in it can help for a quickdraw.

Each vanilla shot of .38 does 15 brute damage and 35 stamina damage. It is very easy to spam-fire and can be reloaded quickly using the speed loaders, but take care not to hit unintended targets. The revolver does not need to be empty to use a speed loader; it will fill as much of the revolver's capacity as it can, including empty casings that haven't been ejected. In addition, speed loaders can be used on each other to transfer bullets. You can print additional .38 speed loaders at the protolathes located in the Security Office and in the Armory. Autolathes can also print them, and they have the added benefit of being able to recycle them (an Autolathe can easily be found in the Cargo Office). An empty speed loader can be recycled for the full cost of a filled one. Note that, unlike disablers, the .38 is a ballistic weapon, meaning its projectiles can't go through glass and will be blocked by shields.

As the revolver is considered lethal, it will upset any silicons under prevent-harm lawsets should you use it. And while the disabler is one of the most powerful weapons on the station, the .38 has some advantages over it:

• It can be quickly reloaded in the field.
• It has the capacity to damage simplemobs and cyborgs.
• It can cause bleeding, which, if not tended to, can incapacitate, kill, or otherwise inconvenience a suspect.
• It often sounds scarier than it is.
• It has access to a variety of alternative ammo types that grant it more lethal abilities.

The following are the four alternative ammo types for the .38 Revolver:

• .38 Gutterpunch: Does 15 brute damage, make carbon targets feel sick which cause them to vomit. Printed at the Armory protolathe.
• .38 Hot Shot: Does 15 brute damage, ignites carbon targets. Printed at the Armory protolathe.
• .38 Iceblox: Does 15 brute damage, freezes carbon targets. Printed at the Armory protolathe.
• .357: Does 60 brute damage, has a chance to misfire. Individual bullets printed at a hacked autolathe. Must modify the revolver to use .357 (see next section).

Gutterpunch is used to quickly incapacitate targets as the vomiting stun them. Hot Shot, on the other hand, WILL kill people, as it does a competitive amount of brute damage, while also setting any targets on fire immediately. Combined with the spam-y nature of the revolver, any target of Hot Shot is likely to die and husk from burn, unless they have robust fire resistance or immunity. Iceblox is much the same, but it significantly slows people down, rather than set them alight. Note that cold damage is equally capable of husking, as it deals burn damage, too.

The Ammo Crate under the Security section in the Cargo Supply Crate list contains one Gutterpunch, one Hot Shot, and one Iceblox speed loader.

If you ALT+CLICK on the revolver, you can change its skin. If its skin has already been changed, it spins the revolver's cylinder instead (which WILL randomize the order of bullets). You can use a pen to rename it or give it a description as well.

The Forbidden Revolver

Converting your revolver to .357 for no reason can be ruled as powergaming. A good rule of thumb is to only do so with authorization and if a station threat requires lethals. When in doubt, ask an administrator.

By emptying your revolver of bullets and using a screwdriver on it, you reinforce its barrel, converting the caliber to .357. There are three main things to note about this decision:

1. The revolver cannot be loaded with any .38 bullet, only .357 rounds, which deal 60 brute and can be printed at a hacked autolathe. The individual bullets must be loaded separately and cannot be held in a Shoulder Holster.
2. The revolver's rate of fire decreases slightly.
3. Each pull of the trigger has a chance to misfire the weapon, causing it to explode in your hand, dealing moderate brute damage and forcing you to drop the weapon. The round will not be used. The fewer live rounds present in the revolver, the higher the chance of misfire. Specifically, the chance of misfire is equal to 0.7 - 0.1x, where x is the number of live rounds in the revolver.

While this does significantly increase the lethality of the revolver, it becomes much more difficult to obtain, store, and load ammunition. In addition, the misfire represents a randomness that can and will get you killed. If you're dealing with a threat that demands .357, and you misfire, the chances of you walking away alive drop dramatically. You can alleviate the dropping by obtaining an Anti-Drop implant from Medical or Robotics once the appropriate research has been completed, but you will still deal the brute to yourself, and the shot will not go off.

If, for some reason, you obtain a speed loader meant for the Syndicate .357 revolver, you can use it on a modified .38 revolver, despite the speed loader holding 7 bullets and the Detective's revolver holding 6. This can help to alleviate the problems of bulky ammunition and slow reloading times.

The Syndicate Special

As mentioned at the end of the Forbidden Revolver, the .357 speed loaders are compatible with a modified .38 revolver. While you cannot buy the Syndicate .357 Revolver as a Traitor, you can still buy the speed loaders for 4 TC each. As a result, stealing the revolver can prove to be a gambler's strategy. The .357 speed loaders fit in the Shoulder Holster and can be used to continuously top off the revolver to minimize the misfire chance.

60 brute is nothing to laugh at, even when considering the armor that Security wears. Obtaining it does require breaking into the Detective's Office, stealing their locker, and breaking it open, or subduing the Detective to pry it from them unwillingly. However, the Detective's Office with no Detective on-board should have their sunglasses, as well as a Security radio headset and pepper spray in the locker: all useful things if you're one of the Syndicate's finest. And if you have to take the Detective out of action, you get your hands on a Bowman headset instead, Security access from their ID, their wooden baton, and whatever else they might have on them. While traditional officers might be more fruitful targets if you're taking the risk of assaulting an officer, the Detective has fewer options to defend themself, as well as fewer tools to instantly win a fight, or to win one safely. A lethal ranged option keeps you away from stun batons, flashbangs, flashes, bolas, buckshot: anything Security might pull out to immediately stop you in your tracks.

The Forensic Scanner

The Forensic Scanner begins the round in your backpack, and there is an extra located in your locker. It's good practice to take the extra and set it in the Security Office, in case other officers need it and you go missing. More can be printed at the Security protolathe once the appropriate research has been completed. In addition, said research also allows for the printing of Advanced Forensic Scanners, which offer more information, such as the location of the scan, as well as scanning quicker.

As usage of the Scanner has already been extensively covered in Scene Analysis 101, there's little more to discuss regarding its utility. More than your gun, it's important to keep this on you at all times. Without it, your investigations might as well be performed by the Average Joe.

The Wooden Baton

The Wooden Baton begins the round in your backpack and functions almost identically to the telescopic batons that the Heads of Staff receive, except two things. Firstly, it is a normal-sized item that cannot be made smaller. Secondly, it does moderately more stamina damage. Be sure to target the legs if you mean to knock someone down, and target the arms if you want to knock something out of someone's hands. It will take multiple hits to fully knock someone down, so be wary of retaliation. As for storage, it can conveniently fit on your exosuit, assuming you're wearing a Security-rated exosuit, which includes your trenchcoats and armor vest.

All the Rest

The following is a non-conclusive list of the other equipment the Detective possesses:

• Seclite, located in your locker. A more powerful flashlight that can fit in one of your pockets or in your hand.
• Pepper Spray, located in your locker. A short-ranged option for instantly knocking down those without eye protection, as well as tool to tag suspects. Incredibly situational and finicky to use, but can end a fight before it starts.
• A pinpointer, located in your locker. Able to track anyone with their tracking beacon setting on their uniform, it will point a directional compass to whoever it's tracking. If the arrow is red, they are far. Blue is close. Green is closest. If you have someone idly on your pinpointer and the pinpointer stops, something turned off their sensors or someone took off their uniform (potentially themselves).
• Binoculars, located in your locker. Can be used to see obnoxiously long distances in one direction. Useful for scouting out hallways, and absurdly powerful if you have x-ray eyes implanted (if not overwhelming).
• Evidence Bags, located in boxes. One starts in your backpack, one in your locker, and another on your desk. Useful for bagging evidence and storing it, or for CourtRP.
• Sunglasses, located on your main desk. These prevent you from being flashed, including the visual effects of flashbangs, as well as providing minor welding protection. Essential for any officer.
• Security Bowman Headset, located on your ear when you spawn. A Bowman headset will protect your ears from the stunning effects of flashbangs. It has access to the Security radio channel and has room for one more radio chip.
• Universal Recorder, located on your main desk. Can record and playback any dialogue, in any language, automatically translating it.
• Camera, located on your main desk, which can be used for taking pictures of anyone, anything, anywhere.
• PDA, located on your waist when you spawn, loaded with a D.E.T.E.C.T. cartridge that gives you Security and Medical records, a built-in health scanner, and access to the crew manifest. The last is useful if you suspect non-crew on the station, as they won't appear on the manifest.
• Security Holoprojector, located in your locker. Creates up to three holographic images that prevent people from running through them. They can be destroyed easily with a few hits. Mostly useful for restricting speed through an area, such as a crime scene.
• White Crayon, located in your pocket when you spawn. It can be used to draw outlines around corpses if you want to seriously roleplay your investigations (despite the contamination this would cause). An incredibly rare flavor of crayon.
• Hand Labeler, located on your desk. Can be used to label evidence bags, reports, papers; whatever you need if you want to organize.
• Cigarettes and a Zippo Lighter, located on your main desk (a cigarette also spawns lit in your mouth). Useful if you want to complete the Noir Aesthetic™.
• Detective Clothing Bag, located in your locker. Possesses all varieties of clothing to fulfill your noir desires. The trenchcoats and armor vest provide armor and count as Security exosuits for the purposes of storing gear on them.
• Fedora, located on your head when you spawn. If you ALT+CLICK on it, it'll pull out a candy corn every so often, as well as reveal the flask hidden inside, which is filled with whiskey. The brown fedora's tiny inventory slot can be opened just by clicking on the hat; the black fedora requires you to ALT+CLICK, and it does not have candy corns.

The final two items are not located in the Detective's office, but are useful tools regardless.

• Handcuffs, located in the Brig and the Security Office. Carrying a pair or two is good for if you have to restrain a suspect or assist an officer. Remember that under normal circumstances you should not be making arrests by yourself.
• Flash, located in the Security Office. Can be used to instantly stun someone in melee range if they lack flash protection. This hardstuns cyborgs and renders them unable to act or see. You can also interact with it in-hand by clicking on it or pressing Z to perform an area flash, temporarily blinding people around you without flash protection, and disorientating them, making it difficult for them to move in a straight line.

If you're looking for more equipment, the Warden or Head of Security can issue you more standard security equipment. This may come with elevated responsibilities.

Tips

• Frequent usage of your radio is paramount as a member of Security, and, by extension, a Detective. Informing your fellow officers of your movements, discoveries, and intentions allow for the coordination and cooperation you need to succeed and survive.
  • Obtaining a general, handheld radio is very helpful if Telecommunications has an outage, as you don't have access to a Security Transceiver, unless you ask for one. If you do obtain a Transceiver, be sure to leave it off on default so the Security radio channel isn't leaked to anyone you pass by.
• If you decide to patrol in maintenance, it's preferred that you get another officer to come with you. Not only is there significantly more safety in numbers, but they possess the equipment and the authorization to make arrests or deal with suspects effectively.
  • In general, you can always act to assist an officer if they're in need of it.
• Unfortunately, sometimes other officers will print off their own Forensic Scanners and do your job for you, or otherwise ignore what you say. It's preferred to solve these oversteps in-character, and it's important to insist on the little authority you have, as well as the value that your investigating can provide.
  • Because Detective is also widely considered to have the least authority in Security, the leads and suspicions you share might be wholly ignored. As frustrating as this can be, remember that you are not a full officer. You can only act under certain circumstances and can't just arrest someone because Security refuses to do it for you.
• If you want to check if a husk was drained or burned, try extracting blood from it with a syringe. A Changeling victim won't have any blood.
  • Using circumstantial evidence is usually more than enough to determine this. Inspecting the body will also report any existing Brute or Burn on it.
• Rather than checking an unknown victim's blood, you can often determine who they are simply by what might be around the body, such as their ID or any stripped items that hint to their identity.
• As a member of Security, you love donuts. This means that you can bypass species preferences if you're hungry with the donuts in the Security Office, or on the Kitchen counter.
• A lone radio headset near a body or in a crime scene will probably have the fingerprints of your victim, as well as any traces left by the murderer who stripped it from them.
• If someone's broken into any Security Posts and stolen the locker, you can assume the Security radio channel is compromised. If you narrow down the suspects based on fibers, make sure to have the officers who search them check their radio headsets as well. A screwdriver on a radio headset pops out the keys, and inspecting it in-hand also tells the channels it has access to.
• You can use Meson Goggles to find false walls, as the walls will show as open spaces when not in direct sight of them. Furthermore, if you get some cable coil and tools, you can craft Meson HUDglasses, which will combine the benefits of the two eyewears.
• Using a Handheld Crew Monitor and the crew manifest can help you to nail who is off sensors (and likely dead), or someone who doesn't want to be noticed.
• The Forensic Scanner can be used at range, to scan containers and such. This is the typically the best way to use it, so you don't accidentally stow it in any containers.
• You can get a person's fingerprints by scanning them directly with a Forensic Scanner.
• The Universal Recorder works even in a container. Turn it on and keep it in your bag, or keep recorders around the station, checking on them later to see if they caught anything incriminating.
• Tiny items other than the flask can fit in your fedora (if you're wearing one), such as a GPS, Universal Recorder, or Pocket Fire Extinguisher.
• If you find no traces at all on something that should have them, it's very likely someone used soap to clean up the evidence.
• Contraband shouldn't be used except during emergency situations. Make sure it's delivered to the Warden and that it's firmly locked away. When in doubt, ask an administrator.