Jail is not a punishment here; it is roleplay. The city expects a criminal to do their time when they are caught, but the point was never to bench you, because criminal roleplay and police corruption are what make Hathian’s stories worth telling. A cell is just a different room to write in, and a good inmate finds no shortage of scenes in it.
The golden rule of jail
The cop who arrests you should be the cop who plays out a jail scene with you. That is the standard, and most officers hold to it. Sometimes it simply does not work, real life happens, time zones collide, other roleplay pulls people away, and when that is the case, do not just sit there. Inmates have plenty of ways to make their own story: get visited by a friend, an enemy, or a lawyer, and above all, roleplay with the other inmates. Do not be shy about reaching out in a private message when you are waiting for a scene. An idle cell is a choice, not a sentence.
Booking and searches
Every inmate goes through the same intake, whether it is fully played out or handled off-screen: a metal detector, a cavity search, possibly an X-ray, and the removal of all personal items, piercings, guns, drugs, everything. You are allowed to roleplay piercings as removed rather than actually detaching them. The important distinction is how the search happens. If it is handled off-screen, there is no smuggling anything in, none, no guns, phones, drugs, or weapons. If it is actually roleplayed out, smuggling becomes possible, but only if the roleplay explicitly makes room for it: a cop looks the other way, takes a bribe, or genuinely misses something. If you keep an item through valid roleplay, save a log or note the officer’s name so you can prove it later.
Prison uniforms
Inmates wear orange. You can use your own outfit as long as it fits the color and the look, and if you do not have one, ask the cops or the out-of-character group; some players keep full-permission uniforms and will help you out. The point is simply to look the part while you serve your time.
Fake charges and trumped-up charges
There is a difference worth knowing. If an officer wants to arrest you on fake charges and you do not want the jail time, reach out and say so, because arrests on fake charges require your consent. If you withhold that consent, though, play it accordingly and comply in the moment; you should never provoke an arrest in character just to fight it. Trumped-up charges are different and do not need consent. They go on your record but rarely change your jail time much, because the maximum sentence is capped and bail becomes possible after a day inside.
Escapes need approval
This one is firm. Through valid roleplay it may be possible to overpower a single cop, or even to start a prison riot, but an actual jail escape always requires the approval of the HPD’s out-of-character leads or a sim admin. The station is always staffed, there is always backup on call, and you cannot simply walk out or break through a wall because it suited your story. Plan the big escape with the people who run the department, or it does not happen.
Do your time like it is a story worth telling and it becomes one. How you get out, and the roleplay around the door, is covered next in Bail and Doing Time.