Clarify the role of the Warden in regards to Officers

The wiki page on the warden says this:

If you have no prisoners to watch out for, you should be coordinating your officers over your radio channel, checking cameras when people call for help, and updating arrest records. Your fellow officers will appreciate your help in sending them where they can make a difference. You should also do a roll call every so often, to make sure that all your officers are still alive and well. You have the opportunity to make Security run like a well-oiled machine.

But the CCIA notice on warden authority says this:

The Warden's authority is limited to the brig and detainees, and does not extend to the Internal Security department or its personnel. Additionally, the Warden is not a de facto interim Head of Security in the absence of a Head of Security, unless promoted to that position by command staff.

This discrepancy leads to arguments within the department. People will say they don't have to report when the warden requests they do, but the wiki says they can even tell officers where to report to. I am fine whether we decide to make officers not answer to the warden, or to make them answer to them up to a certain point, but we need to define it more clearly so that new warden players don't get yelled at for doing what their job's wiki page indicates they can do.

Sources:

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Warden

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=CCIA_Notices

The Warden is the ultimate authority in the brig, outside of it, he has no jurisdiction.

They are the same rank as a security officer, so you have to follow their orders as much as you have to follow the orders of a fellow security officer barking at you.

They are the watchdog of the brig, and they have administrative responsibilities, and they can help coordinate the team via cameras, but noone is obligated to listen to their orders.

If the Warden is reasonable and shows a knack for leadership, feel free to follow his orders and directions, and if they're unreasonable and shitty, feel free to tell them to fuck off.

The Warden is the ultimate authority in the brig, outside of it, he has no jurisdiction.

To correct you to avoid misinterpretations. The Warden has *authority over the brig. The Head of Security has penultimate authority over the brig, and the Captain has ultimate authority over the brig.

At no point can the Warden override Station Command staff,

CCIA > Outdated in progress wiki.

When the wiki and CCIA are in conflict, default to CCIA as they are the ones that can fire you. As Warden, it is important to express to the crew at the start of the round that any orders you give are to be taken as requests, and that you will be providing camera sight on areas where calls come from, so to heed your word if you give an advisement. At no point should you get mad at someone for not listening to you, they are not obligated to.

Personally, the Warden to me as an Officer and Captain player, is someone I don't mind giving direction to Security. If there is no Head of Security or Captain, the Warden is the only onboard personnel able to sign off on weapon distribution, and is the only person able to grant parole/early release and interpret regulations during a brigging and application of charges.

Because of this, when I Captain, I usually just give the Warden the authority to issue commands, but not make them Interim HoS. I was also the (ex)CCIA that lobbied for the Warden to be able to sign off on warrants,

The wiki page on the warden says this:

 

If you have no prisoners to watch out for, you should be coordinating your officers over your radio channel, checking cameras when people call for help, and updating arrest records. Your fellow officers will appreciate your help in sending them where they can make a difference. You should also do a roll call every so often, to make sure that all your officers are still alive and well. You have the opportunity to make Security run like a well-oiled machine.

 

But the CCIA notice on warden authority says this:

 

The Warden's authority is limited to the brig and detainees, and does not extend to the Internal Security department or its personnel. Additionally, the Warden is not a de facto interim Head of Security in the absence of a Head of Security, unless promoted to that position by command staff.

 

This discrepancy leads to arguments within the department. People will say they don't have to report when the warden requests they do, but the wiki says they can even tell officers where to report to. I am fine whether we decide to make officers not answer to the warden, or to make them answer to them up to a certain point, but we need to define it more clearly so that new warden players don't get yelled at for doing what their job's wiki page indicates they can do.

Sources:

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Warden

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=CCIA_Notices

There is no discrepancy that I can see here. The suggestions on that section of the Warden's wiki page are not examples of the Warden exercising his or her authority - it's just the Warden taking actions that may be considered useful to the department. If someone doesn't want to pipe up when the Warden asks them to, that's fine - they're not obligated to respond, just as the Warden is not obligated to ask.

Ideally, being out of the action enables the Warden to help coordinate with his or her fellow officers, if they are open to the idea. They aren't giving orders or making demands. "Your fellow officers will appreciate your help in sending them where they can make a difference" is not referring to a Warden authoritatively directing security. If you are not giving orders or making demands of your peers as a Warden, they probably won't take issue with you.

The point of the Warden Authority notice is to point out some explicit responsibilities of the Warden, which (as far as I can see) don't contradict any of the things they can help do when they are not busy fulfilling their primary job functions.

Edit: Requests to modify the wiki or have a guide reviewed should be directed here to this thread rather than suggested to Development.

[mention]Synnono[/mention] I had forgotten about that thread! Thank you!

Please move to policy suggestion

Moving this to the archive as it has been answered / implemented.