Equip the modern supernatural police officer

[kigmatzomat]

Gear:
steel-frame handcuffs with silver/cold iron inner surfaces
Glock 9mm w/silver bullets, blessed. 2 spare clips
Incapacitation spray: combination holy water/pepper spray/silver dust
Mag lite
Nightstick (wooden with metal core)

Car:
Shotgun typically loaded with buckshot
Alternate shells: silver shot, rosary beads, holy water-filled cold iron hollowpoint
road flares
daylightflare (figure it's an oil like a giant glowstick)

 

[Rel]

Religious symbols: These do not need to be large, and can be worn around the neck. So, a cross, a Star of David, or other signal might be small enough to carry and still be effective. This will cut down on the weight issue.

FWIW, in the Anita Blake world, I believe the policemen wore them as tie-tacks or lapel pins.

 

[Dakkareth]

If you're doing tanglefoot bags anyway, remember that you can spike them with wolfsbane or whatever, too ...

 

[RangerWickett]

People are talking about cold iron as if it's easy to make handcuffs out of. My impression of cold iron is that it's cold-forged or even carved, which is nigh impossible to do in any sort of mechanical form. So cold iron bullets and swords I'm okay with, but handcuffs are pushing it. Just imprint the handcuffs with crosses and Hebrew or Aramaic prayers.

For some reason, I want the SMAT team to all wear trenchcoats and have katanas. But that's just me.

So we have operators - those people who monitor normal police radio chatter in case anything supernatural comes up. We have beat cops - they work as part of the normal police force, with a few quirks and some special equipment that is glamered to not appear unusual to those unfamiliar with magic. And we have the magical swat team (need a better name than SMAT), who are equipped to take down anything magical, and who are normally never seen by the public.

Oh, and then there are the actual MIB, who wipe minds.

 

[kigmatzomat]

My impression of cold iron is that it's cold-forged or even carved, which is nigh impossible to do in any sort of mechanical form. So cold iron bullets and swords I'm okay with, but handcuffs are pushing it.

Note that I said steel-framed handcuffs with cold iron and silver lining, so the cold iron and silver would just be a couple of circular shapes bolted/pinned/welded/epoxied to the steel frame. I'm not sure how strong cold iron is but I know silver is weaker than steel so use steel to handle the load and the special materials there to prevent some supers from using their strength.

Some stories have fey rendered powerless when in contact with cold iron and silver is said to do the same to other supernaturals. At the very least, they would hurt themselves if they strained against the handcuffs.

 

[Shane_Leahy]

A quick point to bear in mind here: Weight and bulkiness. Police officers (and their departments) will pay good money to reduce either one by as much as a few ounces. Those guys carry a LOT of stuff, and when the weight gets too much they're tempted to leave things behind. You don't want your officers leaving things behind that they might need when the worst-case scenario emerges.

Efficiency. Always efficiency.

QUOTE]

In this vein, have the holy symbols built right into thier badges

 

[Steverooo]

Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt!

Actually, my PC was a Jan Michael Vincent/Kurt Russell type "crotchety ol' coot" in a wheelchair, who made ends meet by doing some "off the books" odd jobs as maintenance & security guard, instead of a police officer. While I expected the other PCs to see him as crochety, I didn't expect them to see him as crazy, or a laughingstock, which is the way it turned out...

While the game died a slow death, due to lack of GM TLC, you can read about the "Grampa Jones" character, here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=82232

As for his equipment, you see TR testing an experimental sunlamp operating off of a 12-volt battery and AC Inverter (which the GM nixed), as well as a Remington 870 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, with folding stock complete with six-round side-saddle, Ranger sling holding 56 rounds, 10-round magazine extension tube, IR/heat-sensitive sights, and a green, two-mile laser pointer, among other things. He also carries a Glock 17 9mm on each hip, with pre-ban 33-round clips.

He uses a variety of ammos to full effect, even within the short story. In a previous, untold tale, he tried the 9mm wooden bullets in a Uzi, and discovered that they did not do the job... Toothpick "flechettes" inside a 12-gauge shotgun shell work better, within this tale, and he finds that even the silver slugs seem to have some effect.

Much of his equipment we never get to see him try out, and a lot of it (IMHO) the GM mishandled (such as the OC-powder shells). Anyway, here's what I had for his equipment (too much to all be carried at once!):

Inventory Quantity Item Type Note
1 Bullet-resistant Vest (NIJ Level III) Armor Worn.
1 Knight's Helm, with Gorget Armor Home.
1 Lexan ''Bolide'' Riot Shield Armor Home.
1 Pair SpectraShield-lined leather gloves Armor Worn.
3 Pairs Kevlar Wristies Armor Knuckles to elbows.
1 Set of Metal Bracers Armor Steel armbands.
3 Sets of Greeves Armor Knee-to-foot protectors.
1 SpectraShield Helmet Armor With 6mm Bullet-resistant Faceshield.
1 Suit Leather Armor Armor Home.
1 Suit Mail Armor Home.
1 Suit Padded Armor Armor Home.
1 Trauma Plate (NIJ Level IV) Armor Vest.
1 Visored Close Helm Armor Home.
1 2 D-Cell LED Flashlight General Belt.
2 Belt Knife Sheaths General Worn.
1 Blackie Collins Letter Opener General Pocket.
1 Bowen Beltknife General Worn.
3 Camera Detectors General Wheelchair Desk/Home.
6 Cane Wrist-straps General Canes (Prevents cane loss).
1 Case Disposable Butance Cigarette Lighters General Home.
1 Case of Blasting Caps General Home.
1 Case of Old Fogey's Stogies General Home (3 in right shirt pocket).
3 Cases of Dynamite General Home (Covered in garlic).
1 Cold Steel City Stick General Home.
1 Cold Steel Sword Cane General Home.
3 Complete sets of Desert Camo BDUs General Home.
7 Complete sets of Subdued Urban Camo BDUs General Worn/Home.
3 Complete sets of Tiger Stripe BDUs General Home.
3 Complete sets of Urban Camo BDUs General Home.
3 Complete sets of Woodland Camo BDUs General Home.
1 Computer with CD-R/W & DVD-ROM Drives General Home.
1 Concealed Weapons Permit General Wallet.
2 Concealed Weapons Permits General Home (Hidden).
1 ''Cross'' Cane General Four spring-loaded stakes, ice-gripper, and wrist strap.
3 Cyalume Glowsticks General BDU pants pockets.
6 Delta Darts General Both BDU pants pockets.
1 Digital Camera with Flash General Pack (Tiny!).
1 Digital Recorder General Pack (Tiny!)
3 Estwing Handaxes General Solid, one-piece, all-steel construction.
1 Eyepatch (Hard) General Worn over left eye.
1 First-Aid Kit (Large) General Pack.
1 Folding Wheelchair (heavily modified!) General Sitting in it (the tubular steel frame fires several spring-loaded stakes).
5 Garlic (pounds) General Kitchen.
1 Garlic Press General Kitchen.
1 Garret SuperWand General Home (Metal detector).
1 Gentleman's Sword Cane General Home.
2 Grabbers General Wheelchair (long arm-thingies that allow you to reach things high up).
1 Grinder/Cutter General Home.
3 Handcuff Keys General Keyring (# most popular styles).
1 Handgun/Rifle Reloading Machine General Home.
6 Ice-gripper cane tips General Canes (Prevents canes slipping on ice).
1 IDF Gas Mask General Home.
3 Infrared Glowsticks General L. BDU pants pockets.
1 Inverter/12-volt Battery Pack & Cables General Under wheelchair.
24 Israeli Gas Mask Filters General Home.
2 Israeli Gas Masks General Home.
1 Key/Code Cutter General Home (key-making machine).
3 Key-pers General Belts.
1 Keyring General Keyring holder, on belt.
1 Lab General Home (Chemical glassware, chemicals, microscopes & equipment, etc.).
4 'Lansky Letter-openers General Home.
1 Large ALICE Pack (with frame) General Wheelchair.
1 Leather Jacket (with Manriki-Gusari) General Worn.
2 LED Lights General Pocket/Home.
2 ''Let Freedom'' Rings General Ring fingers.
2 ''Let Freedom'' Rings General Home.
1 Library General Lotsa books and Military/Survival CD-ROMs!
1 Lighter Case General Belt.
6 Lightstick holders General Both BDU pants pockets.
1 Locksmith's Toolkit and Supplies General Home.
1 Loft Key General Keyring.
1 Lowrance GPS with GMRS/FRS General Home (GPS with radio).
1 Maglite 6 D-Cell Flashlight General With pepper-sprayer end.
1 Mandrel. General Home.
2 Medium ALICE Packs (with frames) General Home.
6 Military Space Pens General Pocket, wheelchair desk, home.
1 Mini-Maglite. General Remington's Laser/Light Mount.
3 Multitools General Pouch 1/Home.
1 Oversized Handcuff Key General Inside eyepatch.
1 Pair Zip-on Combat Boots General Worn.
1 PhoneDisc DVD-ROM General (Searchable disk of all listed phone numbers in the USA).
1 Pocketknife General Pouch 2.
1 Police Scanner General Home.
1 Precision Mapping General (Roadmaps of the USA on CD-ROM).
1 Radio with Police Scanner General Belt.
6 Reading Glasses (folding, unbreakable) General Tablet cover/Home.
1 SaTel-phone General Belt (Satellite Telephone).
1 Screw-together cane General Contains titanium icepick.
1 Screw-together Cane General Contain a nylon & glass Delta Dart.
1 Security Officer Badge General Wallet.
1 Set of Climbing Gear General Pack (Harness, eared Descender with carabiner, 2 ascenders, folding grapnel, rope bag with 120' line).
1 Set Small & Large Vehicle ''Jiggler'' Keys General Keyring.
4 Sets of Lockpicks General One in jacket's inner pocket, three at home.
1 Shim Pick General Wallet.
1 Shim Pick General Keyring.
1 Shotshell Reloading Machine General Home.
1 Survival Belt General Pack (two canteens with cups, stove stands, water purification tablets, knife, handaxe/hammer, firemaking gear, survival blankets, poncho & liner, 100' 550 paracord, buttpack, MREs).
10 Survival Gear General Boxes and boxes of stuff!
3 Survival Knives General Grappling hook, survival gear in handles.
1 Survival Necklace General Worn (SAS saw; one sharpened, blank. black dogtag; one mirror-polished dogtag; 2 dogtag silencers; whistle; compass; flint striker; sliver gripper; P-38; and necknife with whistle sheath in rear).
1 Suunto X6 HR Watch General Left wrist (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, Heart Rate Monitor, Thermometer, and Watch).
1 Sword Umbrella General Pack.
1 Swordcane General Home.
1 Tablet Cover General Pocket (Holds tablet & space pen).
1 Titanium Card (Sharpened) General Wallet.
1 Toolkit General Home.
1 Topo-USA 4.0 CD-ROM General (Topographical maps of the entire USA).
3 Universal Remotes General Home (Controls equipment).
4 US Military Padlock Keys General Keyring/Home.
1 Wheelchair Desk General Wheelchair.
1 Wheelchair Seat-cushion General Sitting on it (Concealed fibreglass-lined compartment).
1 Windlass General Home.
1 Write-in-the-Rain Tablet General Pocket.
1 Zippo ''Morse Code'' Lighter General Lighter Case.
1 10-round Magazine Extension Tube Weapon Remington.
5 12-gauge Flechette Rounds Weapon Gunsafe.
1 12-gauge Metal Flaregun Weapon Home.
3 12-gauge Pepper ''Flare'' Rounds Weapon Plastic Flaregun, pockets.
4 12-gauge Pepper Rounds Weapon Gunsafe.
1 12-gauge Plastic Flaregun Weapon Pocket (BATF exemption as a non-weapon).
54 12-gauge Rubber Buckshot Weapon Gunsafe.
5 12-gauge Rubber Rockets Weapon Gunsafe.
1000 12-gauge shotgun shells Weapon Gunsafe.
100 12-gauge silver buckshot rounds Weapon Gunsafe.
100 12-gauge Smoothbore Slugs Weapon Gunsafe.
10 12-gauge Smoothbore Stake Slugs Weapon Gunsafe.
15 12-gauge Toothpick Rounds Weapon Remington.
3 30-round Pre-ban Glock Clips Weapon
6 33-round Pre-ban Glock Clips Weapon
1000 9mm rounds Weapon Gunsafe.
100 9mm silver rounds Weapon Gunsafe.
2 Adrenaline Tethers Weapon Glocks.
3 Cobra 80# draw Handcrossbows Weapon Home.
1 Crossbow (Trail Master 150# draw) Weapon Home.
2 Experimental 'Sun-Guns' Weapon Home (awaiting testing).
12 Flares Weapon Home.
3 Flash-defended LI/IR Night-vision Scopes Weapon Guns.
1 Folding Stock Weapon Remington.
2 Glock 17 9mm Weapon
1 Gunsafe Weapon Home.
3 Laser pointers (Two mile range) Weapon Guns.
1 Laser/Light Mount Weapon Remington.
2 Myotrons Weapon Pocket/Home.
1 Ranger Sling (60 rounds) Weapon Remington.
1 Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun (11 rounds) Weapon
3 Sets of Claws Weapon Pack/Home (Back-of-the-hand box with wrist strap. Button-press ejects four silver-coated steel blades with wooden covers).
6 Sharpened Wooden Stakes Weapon Both BDU pants pockets.
1 Shotshell Holder (6 rounds) Weapon Remington.
1 Super-Soaker Weapon Home.
3 Wooden Cross-hilt Daggers Weapon Home.
3 Wooden Wasters Weapon Sharpened wooden bastard swords.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I might start with the Vampire Slayer's Kit and the Fiend Hunter's kit, from the Urban Arcana SRD:

Vampire Slayer’s Kit
This kit is specially tailored for dealing with undead bloodsuckers. Because not all vampires are vulnerable to the same things the kit covers a variety of possiblities. The kit contains the following items: 5 wooden stakes, Mossberg shotgun, 5 white phosphorous shotgun shells, silver holy symbols (various faiths), hand crossbow, 5 bolts with wooden tips, small metal mirror, garlic clove necklace. All this is packaged in an aluminum travel case.

Fiend Hunter’s Kit
Considered by some to be the most dangerous of prey, fiends require extreme force and quick thinking to bring down. This kit contains a Beretta M3P shotgun, 10 high-explosive rounds, 10 white phosphorous rounds, 2 white phosphorous grenades, 2 fragmentation grenades, night vision goggles, holy symbols (various faiths), and 5 vials of holy water, all contained in a duffle bag.

 

[Andor]

Setting specifics would matter a lot. FRex if the cops have DnD style monsters to worry about then I could see standard 'monster loads' to be a silver bullet with a cold iron core. I do think that they would have to load those as a backup clip. The trouble with a silver/iron bullet or even a pure silver bullet is that they would be a pretty good AP round. Cops don't like it when their bullets pass clean through the bad guy and the Dennys behind him.

But I'm with everyone else. I think street cops might have lightest possible weight of mystical defenses (enchanting/blessing the badges sounds about right) and would call for the Special Weapons And Magic Procedures team when eyes start flashing red.

As for what those guys carry, depends on the world, dunnnit? Again if you're going for the Urban Arcana thing, Silver, Iron, Fire, and a team mage or psychic if they are available. Plain 'ol BFGs work fine on most things. I'm guessing ghost touch shotgun rounds would be pretty popular if they were available. Some sort of portable magic circle, at least in the truck. A lot depends on the threats they face. A squad that has to deal with bullettes or Umber Hulks might have a subsonic white noise generator to screw up their tremor sense.

 

[painandgreed]

Unless you're going to go with high tech military weapons such as Armbrusts or WP gernades, a simple 5 gal container of gasoline and some road flares in the trunk would always be good to have. Fire is usually a safe bet and there's not much living or dead that is not hurt by being dowsed in gas and set on fire.

..and you could always use it to refuel the car if you ran out of gas.