Editing Paradise City:Urban Geography (section)

===Westside City Projects:  ”The Church Hill Area”===

[[Image:180811006policebattle.jpg]]

The Church Hill Area, often just referred to as “the Hill”, is an area that seems to be eternally teetering on anarchy.  The gangers here are at war with each other and with Westside Citypol, and frequently hate everyone else too.  The war doesn’t seem to be about anything in particular, which is to say, it seems to be about a million different things – traditional rivalries, lingering feuds, or just the love of mindless destruction.

Transport:  The city government keeps a rudimentary bus system running.  There are also cheap taxi companies serving the area.  The subway system has been extensively destroyed.  It may be used to enter or leave the Hill at a few points, but is otherwise useless.

Police:  Westside CityPol is hanging on tenaciously.  They are under siege, but the area is still ultimately in the hands of the police instead of the gangers.  An officer who doesn’t keep her wits about her will not live long, but Westside CityPol retains control of the most important streets, especially during the day, while the gangers are consigned to backstreets, only venturing further afield at night.  Westside CityPol officers are usually issued a gyroc pistol and a stun baton.  The department is well supplied with shotguns, machine pistols and submachine guns.

Gangs:  The gangs are restless and seem to be doing their best to destroy the area.  They frequently engage in vandalism and violence, and battle each other and the police in the streets.  Typically, a ganger with carry a concealed LR 3 weapon, usually an auto-pistol.  A ganger going to battle is liable to carry a heavier weapon, usually shotguns, gyroc pistols, machine pistols, and submachine guns.

Organized Crime:  Organized crime here is a bewildering patchwork of bickering feudal hierarchies.  Professional criminals and police cooperate more closely in the Hill than in most areas due to pressure from the gangs.  The professional criminals like the relative order that the police bring because it is good for business, while the police are too busy fighting the gangs to worry too much about illegitimate businesses.  The truce is unofficial and uneasy with local disagreements between police and crime sometimes devolving into bloodshed.  Police are expected not to take sides in the eternal disputes between different groups of gangsters but often will support one side or another.

Entertainment:  The locals watch mindless television, showing a particular love of game shows.

Sport:  Football and soccer are extremely popular here and the locals follow all major national sports.  Combat sports from all over the world are enjoyed over the internet and local events are common and popular.  Unarmed combats and knife fights are especially appreciated.  Illegal fights may involve large melee weapons.

Points of Interest:  

The United Foods Company of America Charitable Hospital is a large medical complex that is free to the public.  It is well known that the medical care given here, while grim and utilitarian, is a lot better than the minimal to non-existent services obtainable from the state.  On the other hand, it is widely accepted that the hospital uses its patients to test experimental drugs and for other medical research.  It is said that many who supposedly die at the hospital have actually been abducted by the company.
          
“Victory Park” is the unofficial name of an area that is mostly populated by military families, including those of returned veterans.  Many of the veterans are bitter at the government, while others remain fiercely defensive of it.  A large proportion of them are on tiny pensions, having been rendered unfit for work by wounds received in foreign wars.  The locals have banded together to force the gangs out of their streets.  While the gangs continue to invade, they no longer rule as they once did.  Victory Park is a good source of cheap muscle and a prime recruiting ground for mercenary hunters.  Unfortunately, a lot of the residents have psychological problems and are less than stable.

Weapons:  The police will not tolerate weapons heavier than a knife or other small melee weapons.  If a Westside CityPol officer catches a citizen with an ilegal missile weapon, the weapon will likely be confiscated and the perpetrator either fined or beaten up or both.  Discovery of a weapon of LR 2 or below is likely to bring prison time.  If the officer has some reason to believe that a weapon may have been intended for use against a CityPol officer, execution on the spot is quite possible.

Smuggling:  On the other hand, citizens may enter and leave the Church Hill Area without being scanned by the police.  In fact, police scans are rare in the area and generally only occur if an officer is already suspicious.  The system is not effective in keeping much out, although military hardware, such as assault rifles, is generally felt to be too hard to hide.