Message no. 1

From:	Karsten_DÃŒrotin karsten@****.net
Subject:	Tank Police
Date:	Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:13:59 +0200

I have recently seen the movie "Strange Days" with Ralph Fiennes. It's
kinda cyberpunkish, with SimSinn and riots in Los Angeles. During the
scenes where the black people riot on the streets, you can often see
tanks on the streets and military patrols.

In my imagination, the use of such force depends heavily on the area
that is patrolled. In Downtown, you'll only see tanks when they have a
parade or real riots, like the Night of Rage, going on. In other areas,
lower-class and similar, you will sometimes see such a vehicle on
patrol, like a Ferrari Appaloosa or something, armed with a single
autocannon and two Machine Guns. The Autocannon just shows the people
that Lone Star HAS those and is willing to use them to their defense if
some terrorists in heavily armed, modified vehicles (sounds just like
our dear PC rigger) go loose on the streets.

The Barrens are an entirely different thing. While some parts fall under
the same category as the Auburn and such, other parts are deemed too
dangerous for cops to operate in - well, officially, no one lives there,
so no patrols are needed. When major crimes - shootouts and such, which
are heard for miles - take place there, Lone Star dispatches a few
Helicopters to take care of the problem (à la "Running Man"). If they
need someone or something from in there, they have to go a different
route and will use those tanks gathering rust. Still, no MBT, but a APV
or something.

Finally, doesn't LAPD have those smaller tanks already?

--- Karsten