Private Dicks

No matter who does the arrests, City Cops, State Police, Sheriff's office, all cases are tried at the County Courthouse, prosecuted by the County District Attorney's Office in front one of the three County Judges. Those awaiting trial are held in the County Jail, as are all convicts whose sentences are less that 1 year. Anyone sentenced to more than 1 year are sent off to State Prison, outside of the county. The only exceptions are if someone is arrested by federal authorities and charged with federal crimes, in which case they are sent to the federal courts in Pittsburgh.

The City of Molesburg Police Department (CMPD) is headed by the Chief of Police, who is appointed by the Mayor. It has jurisdiction only within city limits, or limited hot pursuit circumstances.

The Westspire County Sheriff's Office is led by the County Sheriff who is elected by the people of the county at large. The Sheriff and his deputies are responsible for the County Jail, Courthouse Security, and serving court issued warrants, but do not undertake patrols. There is a team of County Detectives who do investigations for the District Attorney, but are technically part of the Sheriff's Office.

The State Police have a barracks at Finley. They are responsible for criminal complaints in the county outside of city limits. They technically have jurisdiction inside the city too but rarely get involved inside the city. They also routinely patrol the Pittsburgh Pike and the Johnstown Road.

In the state, anyone apart from convicted felons is allowed to own and carry openly most any sort of firearm. However, carrying a concealed weapon (typically pistols, revolvers, and short-barreled rifles/shotguns) without a permit is a criminal offense, punishable by up o $3000 fine and/or up to 3 years in prison. Concealed weapons permits are issued by the Sheriff, but he has to be convinced that the applicant has a good reason (i.e., he issues them if he feels like it).

Sawed-off shotguns, Sub-machine guns, Automatic Rifles and all grenades except smoke are subject to strict Federal control and possessing them without a high-tax federal license faces severe penalties.

Strangely enough, dynamite does not face any sort of strict control and can be purchased from hardware stores outside the city limits.

A solo operator must have a Private Investigator License to work as a private detective. Such licenses are issued at the discretion of the county sheriff, usually only those with experience as a detective at some government service. A detective agency must have at least 1 member with such a license to allow the agency to keep in business.