Omega Watch

## Equipment

The wide range of threats that Omega Watch personnel are called upon to respond to require a great deal of flexibility in terms of equipment that personnel may be issued or authorized to carry into the field. The following listing details a standard loadout for an Omega Watch Operative, but alternative equipment may be authorized.

* Uniform (Battle Service Uniform)
	+ T-shirt, black short sleeve
	+ Pants, BDU style, "Black Ops" urban camouflage pattern
	+ Belt, Nylon, black with matte black buckle and flash
	+ Jacket, BCU style, "Black Ops" urban camouflage pattern
	+ Jump boots with steel toe and steel inner sole, black.
	+ Beret, crimson, with unit patch and, if authorized, flash
* Tactical Gear
	+ Ballistic helmet, jump configuration, black
	+ Integrated Plate Carrier, black
	+ Ballistic gas mask, black or olive drab
	+ Balaclava, black or grey
	+ Tactical goggles
* Weapons
	+ Pistol (M9A1)
	+ Carbine (M4A4, SR-16) or PDW (P90, MP5)
	+ Less than lethal (Peppershot or Taser)
	+ Collapsible baton
* Other
	+ Smoke grenades
	+ Flash bangs
	+ Plasticuffs

## Legal Status

As a paramilitary organization, Omega Watch is specifically empowered under Federal Law to track, monitor and respond to situations involving the use of alien and meta powers, abilities and technology. Omega Watch does not have law enforcement powers outside of this limited scope.

#### Omega Watch and Non-Meta Crimes

As with any other military or Federal law enforcement agency, Omega Watch is not authorized to respond to crimes outside its defined jurisdiction. This includes any crime that does not involve the use of meta powers. Omega Watch personnel finding themselves in the vicinity of a crime may, however, intercede within the limits set forth in state law to enact a Citizens Arrest.

Omega Watch internal policy recognizes the following situations where personnel may make a citizen's arrest, in compliance with local laws and regulations within Baltimore:

1. A felony is committed within view of the Omega Watch personnel (Example, Omega Watch personnel are shopping in a store, which is being robbed.)
2. A felony is committed within view of a meta, who hands the perpetrator over to responding Omega Watch personnel (in this case, the meta is making the citizens' arrest and must provide a statement which will be furnished to law enforcement. Omega Watch becomes the interceding custodian of the suspect(s) pending the arrival of local law enforcement.)
3. A known fugitive is observed, and likely to flee or endanger the public before law enforcement can arrive.

In all of these cases, Omega Watch is only authorized to utilize the minimum force necessary to detain the suspect pending the arrival of law enforcement. Local law enforcement is to be alerted immediately, and the suspect(s) is/are to be handed over immediately upon the arrival of officers.

## Common Protocols (Classified)

### Field Rotating Authentication Scheme

The Field Rotating Authentication Scheme is designed to provide a quick, easily implemented, and difficult to circumvent method of identity verification, with built in protections against evesdropping, hacking, torture, psychic compromise and telepathy. This system is intended to be implemented any time the identity of Omega Watch personnel is suspect.

At briefing, all shift personnel are to be advised of the shift phrase. Each shift and each unit are to have unique pass phrases. The phrase should be easy to remember, but must not contain and repeated words or two letter combinations. For the purposes of this example, the phrase is "We the people."

##### Standard Authentication

Standard authentication will involve the challenger prompting with a two letter combination from the phrase. For example, "Authenticate Tango Hotel". The challenged would then respond with the prior two letters from the phrase "Authenticating Tango Hotel with Whiskey Echo".

##### Distress Authentication

Under torture, psychic manipulation, etc. the challenge is to be responded to with the subsequent two characters of the phrase, instead of t he preceding characters. So, instead of the response above, under duress, the respondent would use "Authenticating Tango Hotel with Echo Papa". All external facing documentation about this authentication scheme, as well as all internal written and electronic documentation on this method mention the distress response as the correct authentication method. Additionally, analysis of torture and psychic manipulation indicates that the question posed by attackers is "what is the correct response?" as such, it is stressed strongly in training that the correct response in such situations is always the distress response.

1. ↑ The Law of Arrest in Maryland, 5 Md Law Rev 125 (1941)