Hyperion Police Department

> “
> “To Protect and Survive.”
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> — *Motto of the Hyperion Police Department*
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Seal of the HYPD

**Chief of Police**

* Maximilian Jagaban

**Other Chiefs**

* Janče Růževald, **Assistant Chief**
* Shanley O'Sheridan, **Deputy Chief**
* Jean-Louis Vêpres, **Deputy Chief**

The **Hyperion Police Department** (**HYPD**), officially known as the **Unified Police Department of Hyperion** (**UPDH**), is the primary law enforcement agency in charge of maintaining order on the planet of **Hyperion**, its moon Icarus, and its artificial satellite known as Paradise (alongside other major stations such as the Hyperion International Spaceport). Established in 2099, the department is comprised of approximately 1.5 billion police officers and 1 billion civilian staff serving a population of over 680 billion people, which makes it one of the largest and oldest police departments in the **Coalition of Congressional Republics**. The HYPD headquarters is at the **Port Bremerton Police Headquarters**, located on 37th Street on Marshall Row across the street from the Hyperion Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Hyperion. The department's mission is to "protect the planet of Hyperion and ensure the survival of its residents and visitors with the highest regard for the sanctity of human life".

The HYPD has the primary responsibility for protecting life and property planet-wide by preventing, detecting, and investigating criminal acts, and enforcing the laws they uphold across every city, region and continent. To achieve this, they make liberal use of a sophisticated network of traffic cameras, license plate readers, gunshot sensors, InfoLink trackers and other surveillance tools. They also operate the **Metropolitan Assistance and Alert System**, a powerful InfoScape software that serves as the HYPD's prime method of maintaining coordination and cohesion and allowing swift responses to emergencies. In addition, the department has a plethora of specialized units, including Special Response Teams, K9, coast guard, air patrol, transit security, criminal intelligence, narcotics, infoscape monitoring and synth retrieval. They are also responsible for operating the state registries for business licenses, firearm licenses, and sex offenders, among others.

The HYPD has a unique role in that it serves as a planetary police service, with terrestrial and orbital responsibilities, that is under a planetary government but operates under stellar authority. Its jurisdiction in outer space is limited to the orbital vicinity of Hyperion, which it shares with the wider **Hathorian Police Department**, a stellar police service that is responsible for the whole Hathor system. However, the HYPD ultimately remains the primary agency of the planet and has the authority to investigate all crimes in it regardless of the location it took place.

# The HYPD in *Project November*

## History

The Hyperion Police Department was founded in 2099 as part of the Coalition's *Tomorrow Initiative* to terraform what was then a water world into a habitable planet. At the time it was a private police force known as the Hyperion Rangers comprised primarily of volunteers who's responsibility was to protect infrastructure sites and ensure further terraforming was sustained without issue. They eventually formed the world's first paid police force when they merged with another security firm known as the Hyperion Security Troopers, in 2131. The next fifty years for the police service saw it grow into the cohesive law enforcement agency that it is today.

As one of the largest police departments in the Coalition, the HYPD was affected by almost every major event from the 23rd to the 27th century that involved the planet. From these events the department grew and adapted, sometimes for the better, sometimes not so much.

## Notable Responses

### Corporate Wars

The Hyperion Police Department was the primary arm in the Planetary Republic of Hyperion's crackdowns on megacorporate activity, which emulated the policies of elected General Secretary of the Coalition Theodoric Cyrille Marin, prior to the Corporate Nationalization Act of 2240. After this law was passed Coalition-wide, the HYPD coordinated with Coalition-level and other planetary-level security forces to nationalize several corporate properties, including the VISTA Biotechnologies Headquarters.

With the outbreak of total war between the Coalition government and the megacorporations in 2240, the HYPD was rapidly transformed into a militarized police force as a means to combat sharp increases in crime and violence on Hyperion. The Battle of Hyperion in 2244 would see the HYPD fight tooth-and-nail alongside the Hyperian Guard and Coalition Forces Authority to prevent Hyperion from falling into the hands of the Outer Colonial Combine or to total anarchy as a result of massive gang uprisings.

Following the end of the Corporate War, the HYPD would continue its immense militarized crackdown and enforcement of martial law alongside the Hyperian Guard until 2247, when the planetside situation finally stabilized.

### Minerva Augmentation Scare

On the 3rd of June, 2684, a well-concealed trojan virus hidden within the firmware of MinervaCorp mechanical augmentations was activated, causing augmented people to lose control of their bodies and break out in psychotic acts of violence. During the ensuing chaos, the Hyperion Police Department was among the agencies called to restore order. Patrol officers assisted law enforcement in evacuating populated areas while S.T.A.G. teams were deployed to suppress the rampaging aug-psychos. The department later reported that several thousand officers had been killed during the attacks, and that thousands more were hospitalized.

## Database Entry

HYPD

The **Hyperion Police Department** — the planet's premier law-enforcement agency, or so their virtual dossier claims. The HYPD is the politicians attempt to uphold some sort of law and order, but it is only that: an *attempt*. Under corporate governance it became an unequipped, underfunded, and understaffed organization that suffers from a systemic disease of apathy and corruption; even the chief of police is their direct subordinate, who defines the "law" in law-enforcement depending on the wealth of the suspect or the accuser. Anyone in the know will tell you how they are the world's largest street gang — a bunch of brigands with gleaming chrome badges, armed with the most cost-effective hardware the budget can afford.

How can it be then that the response rate to crime decreases the further you look from the megasprawl, even diminishing to a measly 13% in the badlands? That is because the HYPD has already ceded jurisdiction over those areas to private security companies, paid off by their corporate overseers to turn a blind eye on what happens out there.

It's no surprise then that many officers of the HYPD have lost faith in the justice system. Many officers out on the streets will react with aggressive brutality due to the stress of their thankless jobs. Even so, there are some officers who believe their badge still means something, their honesty leading them to earn the reputation of "suckers". They know it's a tough job to walk the beat of these streets, but someone has to do it.

Nevertheless the fact remains that when people are in trouble, they call the HYPD, who arrive on the scene to protect the peace and ensure survival from any attack to the best of their abilities.
## Organization

### Headquarters

The current headquarters of the HYPD is the **Port Bremerton Police Headquarters** (**PBPHQ**) (known originally as the Port Bremerton Capitol Complex) which was occupied in late-2684 following a major refurbishment. It replaced their former headquarters at the Ivory Tower Offices after it was the target of a domestic terrorist truck bombing during the Minerva Augmentation Scare, which destroyed more than one-third of the building and the remains had to be demolished.

The PBPHQ houses the offices of the Commissioner, the Chief of Police, the Chief of Detectives, and the Director of Operations, among others. These offices were previously located in the Ivory Tower Offices when the building was still in use.

### Board of Police

The **Board of Police** is a civilian-only body of elected officials which provides oversight of the police department and its public administration on behalf of the state. The board appoints one of its members to be the official head of the department, while the rest have broad supervisory authority over it. They are responsible for hearing appeals and complaints about police conduct, and resolving disputes regarding the police services of Hyperion.

Most of its seats belong to corporate-backed individuals, therefore its decisions are influenced by the affiliate corporations. Such decisions may include but are not limited to the department budget and funding for asset requisitions from the government. This is commonly referred to as "the police problem", which emphasizes the lack of profits returned by tickets, fines and asset forfeitures conducted by the police force. As a result, the department is constantly lacking in money and is even in debt to some corporations.

#### Office of the Commissioner

The **Office of the Commissioner** has the responsibility of assisting the Commissioner in regulating the police department on behalf of the Board of Police. The commissioner is a member of the board that has been appointed by the state to head the department in external affairs and public relations. They are also responsible for the department's assets and budgeting, working through departmental liaisons to allocate funds between its many segregations. As civilian managers of the police force, they do not wear police uniforms and lack any powers of arrest.

#### Office of the Chief of Police

The **Office of the Chief of Police** (**COP**) is a body of officers with the responsibility of assisting the Chief of Police in administrating the department; it is informally known as the "Executive Team" due to comprising senior officers in Command and High Command positions. The chief is the highest ranking uniformed officer appointed by the Board of Police who directs, plans and coordinates law enforcement for the purpose of protecting people and property, and for the preservation of world peace. It is their role to oversee the department's day-to-day operations, manage the officer chain-of-command, and develop department policies for officer duties.

The office is comprised of all officers ranked Deputy Chief of Police and above, who represent the highest echelon of department personnel; by en large they are responsible for managing all department bureaus and hold the responsibility of liaising with both the Commissioner and other relevant government agencies of Hyperion.

The current Chief of Police is Maximilian Jagaban, with Janče Růževald as his Assistant Chief.

### Administrative Services

The **Administrative Services Bureau** (**ASB**) is a segregation that performs most of the administrative duties of the police department. The bureau is comprised of civilian assets in the employ of the department, such as admin assistants, central dispatchers, and other liaison personnel. They are responsible for a multitude of supporting roles and services, including but not limited to maintaining the dispatch center for emergency calls, managing the department's infrastructure and logistics, supporting the IT networks and systems of the department, and all matters related to fiscal operations. They also maintain the reputation and brand image of the HYPD through effective management of communications to the media, members of the public, and its own employees.

#### Recruitment & Academy

The **Recruitment and Academy Division** (**RAD**) is a grouping of the department's public recruiting program and central academy programs. It is responsible for the department's in-take and training of new police recruits, providing quality control and other support systems for them to join the department. Prospective officers will go through the cadet program hosted by the RAD, which mandates a semester of training at police academy followed by a 12-month probationary assignment. Besides the recruitment of sworn law enforcement personnel, the division provides in-service training to further the skills of existing personnel, and is responsible for maintaining the department's ride-along scheme.

### Internal Affairs

The **Internal Affairs Bureau** (**IAB**), commonly known as **IA**, is an officer-only body that acts as the investigative arm of the Chief of Police with respect to employee misconduct and corruption. It is responsible for investigating complaints of officers suspected of committing gross misconduct in the pursuance of their duties, or who are corrupt, dangerous, or perform other activities which either abuses their position, or endangers the department as a whole. An officer under investigation that is found to have violated a department policy, procedure or practice will be reviewed by a board of the bureau's commanding officers, and may face disciplinary action, suspension, or worse.

IA is the sole bureau that is capable of terminating an officer's career on the mere suspicion of having illicit involvement in an investigation. Its investigators are selected from the force for their ability to determine when a cop is "dirty" or acts in bad faith with malicious intent. It is their job to correct an officer's potentially criminal behavior internally, before they must be criminally charged in a court of law.

### Investigative Services

The **Investigative Services Bureau** (**ISB**) is the second largest departmental segregation behind the Operations Bureau, and is the only one with a measure of autonomy. It is tasked with all criminal investigations within the HYPD's jurisdiction, responding to investigative requests and performing investigative work into gangs, organized crime, and standalone violence. The bureau is backed by a skilled technical staff team that is tasked with providing detectives with support services like infoscape monitoring and forensic investigations. Detectives are typically assigned to a municipal station to serve a specific area, but are administratively under the ISB.

Officers who have completed the detective training program receive their first probationary assignment to partner with a qualified and graded detective. Once their probationary period is over, they will be assigned to a municipal station to serve the local area until determined otherwise. Experienced detectives may request a transfer of station or even be permitted to move freely between areas if they deem it necessary to their investigations.

#### Metropolitan Crimes

The **Metropolitan Crimes Division** (**MCD**) is the current iteration of the investigative arm of the HYPD, comprising the largest component of the ISB which handles all field investigations. Established in 2685 following the merger of its controversial predecessors after the Minerva Augmentation Scare, which were each specialized in investigating specific categories of related crimes, such as financial-, property-, vehicular-, violent-, and other street crimes. Detectives were retrained with an emphasis on versatility to discourage them from pigeonholing on one specific role in the division, and strives for an average case turnover rate of one month across all of its case files.

The MCD aims to investigate and prosecute the world's most dangerous criminals with a new approach. Detectives are now expected to be aggressive with their investigations, and to prosecute their own cases thoroughly. To achieve this, detectives of this division have been granted autonomy from patrol responsibilities. As part of this autonomy, they may pick and choose which cases and investigations they wish to work on, though they are expected to be investigating the majority of the time. However, the hoarding of information with no plan of action is discouraged; investigations should have a purpose.

### Operations

The **Operations Bureau** (**OB**) is the largest departmental segregation that has functional control of all field law enforcement operations across the world, overseeing patrols in each area, precinct and sector therein. Each area patrol is responsible for safeguarding the residents and property of their assigned jurisdiction by enforcing the law to prevent and suppress criminal activity, as well as enforcing traffic laws by use of specialist policing techniques and resources, including directing the flow of traffic, establishment of safety checkpoints and other methods of ensuring road safety. The bureau aims to be a leader in early response times, working with communities to keep them problem-free and make sure they feel protected by the HYPD. Its dedicated officers scrub the streets clean of any crimes, stretching from petty theft to gang violence surrounding some of Hyperion's most low-income zones.

The bureau is also closely intertwined with the corporate scene, having earned the trust of businesses of all sizes by providing them with efficient, impartial police service. It is their mandate to provide professional and proactive services to a higher standard in partnership with businesses, making sure they value the officer presence dedicated to protecting their establishments through exceptional policing. The government is constantly giving more funding and resources to the OB mainly due to the dangerous nature of the role and the recent rise in crime.

The current commanding officer of the OB is Deputy Chief Shanley O'Sheridan, who shares responsibilities with Deputy Chief Jean-Louis Vêpres in regards to operations in the Atlantis Underwater Megasprawl.

### Personnel & Training

The **Personnel and Training Bureau** (**PTB**), commonly known as **P&T**, is a support segregation that is responsible for training and certifying all-new police officers as well as furthering the skills of existing personnel. As the backbone of the department, the bureau aims to provide personnel with the highest possible quality training to help progress in their law enforcement careers, supplying officers with a mix of in the field and administrative training beyond those provided by the RAD in the form of educational courses to attend and other training material to study.

Its principal **Field Training Officer** (**FTO**) **Program** represents the first step for officers new to the department, facilitating training sessions with more experienced officers who train them throughout their probation, while also liaising all recommendations for promotion up the chain-of-command. The program offers all eligible officers a means to climb up the ranks and helps train and prepare them for the responsibilities of being in a command, detective or supervisory position.

The bureau is also responsible for maintaining the department's ride-along scheme, a program which enables civilians in the employ of the HYPD but do not fulfill a role as a sworn law enforcement officer to accompany police officers on their day-to-day patrols. Non-employed civilians may also apply for the ride-along program, however they cannot take precedence over cadets and employed civilian assets.

### Special Operations

The **Special Operations Bureau** (**SOB**) is a specialized segregation responsible for providing tactical assistance to law enforcement officers on all high-risk law enforcement operations. The bureau consists of a number of specialized divisions and units each trained in unique special response tactics:

* The **Aviation Division** is responsible for providing aerial support to law enforcement officers on the front lines and to aid in an operational capacity such as with pursuits and search and rescue. The division takes charge in training pilots and crews for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, as well as hovercraft.
* The **Canine Division**, going by the codename "**K9**", is responsible for the handling of live police dogs and cyberdogs in service with the department. Canine handlers are trained to use the dogs in specialized ways, such as attacking fleeing criminals, protecting officers, detecting narcotics and explosives, finding crime scene evidence, and tracking down a suspect, among others.
* The **Orbital Security Division** is responsible for the safeguarding and security of orbital installations and other structures in orbit of Hyperion. It is comprised of specially trained troopers who work with law enforcement officers to prevent and suppress criminal activity from taking place in space.
* The **Pursuit Division** is responsible for controlling access to the department's fleet of interceptor and motorcycle units. These vehicles allow officers to pursue fast-driving vehicles. While any officer can become certified to operate them, the division both the interceptor driver certification as well as the motorcycle driver certification. While any officer can be certified to operate these specialized vehicles, the division has the final say on when they may be deployed.
* The **Riot Division** is responsible for providing crowd control during situations of public unrest, and make liberal use of non-lethal methods to disperse unruly crowds and riots. The division is infamous for causing fatal 'accidents' without remorse.

#### S.T.A.G.

The **Special Tactics and Assault Garrisons Unit** (**S.T.A.G.**) is a rapid response unit trained to deal with high-risk situations, such as crisis negotiations, hostage rescues, heavily armed shootouts and sieges, and many more. The stated goal of STAG is to undertake missions that regular patrol officers are unable or unwilling to, such as breaching an armed robbery, raiding an apartment complex or dealing with gang wars. The unit aims to achieve this by only accepting the most dedicated of officers into their ranks; officers that are apart of this unit are expected to be ruthless, calculated and to approach a violent crime scene with full force. Members of the unit are always permitted to deploy tactical vehicles to a scene, and are loaded with as many combat oriented augmentations as they can handle before the onset of augmentation syndrome.

S.T.A.G. is also tasked with fugitive retrieval and high-profile warrant apprehension. They primarily focus on suspects with violent crimes, including but not limited to attempted murder, first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, and so on. They achieve this by gathering intelligence on possible locations of the hunted person(s), then putting surveillance on those locations with the use of drone surveillance, recording equipment, undercover and unmarked police vehicles. Once the wanted suspect has been located, a scratch team of S.T.A.G. troopers and available patrol officers is organized to move in and apprehend them.

Unlike any other unit, S.T.A.G. is responsible for the handling of mechanically augmented psychos and rogue synthetic humanoids. In such situations, maximum force escalation is authorized and a special squad of professionals is tasked with one goal in mind: to hunt down and capture or kill the murderous machines.

## Police Members

The following is a listing of current and former Hyperion Police Department employees. For individual character information see their respective pages.

## Trivia

### Rank Structure

For the complete list and description for all of the police ranks of the HYPD, please see: **Ranks of the Hyperion Police Department**.

1. ↑ Detectives are normally considered to be specialists within the HYPD that are equal to Senior Officers in the uniformed chain-of-command. In spite of this, the senior-most detective has the special authority to take charge of a scene when it is necessary for investigative purposes, even if other higher-ranking officers are present.
2. ↑ Cadet is an internal probationary rank for officers-in-training. Cadets gain an automatic promotion to Police Officer upon satisfactory completion of a 12-month probationary assignment.