Urban Defense Department

The Urban Defense Department is a military force responsible for policing and defending the cities of East Lambda.

Background
The Urban Defense Department is the de facto law enforcement agency in all of East Lambda's major cities, founded by Leon Odette and Rubin Locke at behest of the Lambda Seat. Acting as both a police organization and a military force, the UDD's jurisdiction covers border patrol, police investigation, military operations, and intelligence gathering, with sub-departments filling many smaller niches. Equipment and procedures vary from city to city and reflect the dangers present in a given area. Pulse firearms were initially barred from the organization until 7 AL, a decision overturned by Rubin Locke and backing of certain members within the Lambda Seat.

Agents of the UDD typically fall into one of two categories: law enforcement and defense. The jurisdiction of law enforcement officers usually includes entire cities. A notable exception is Vance, where defense officers enforce laws in the outermost districts due to increasing threats from the outlands.

Districts
In addition to policing and defense, the UDD is also responsible for the division of cities into districts. Most cities are divided into Inland and Outlying superdistricts, where Inland encompasses downtown areas and Outlying encompasses all districts beyond Inland. These two superdistricts are then divided into five smaller districts labeled with the letters A through E based on distance from the center. Finally, these letter districts are given three-digit codes.

The code for a city's innermost district is A001 Inland, whereas the code for a city's outermost district is E999 Outlying. Generally, the largest UDD headquarters are located in districts A001 through A010 Inland.

Organization
While the UDD is technically a single organization, it is actually a conglomerate of several departments divided based on their respective cities. City-specific detachments are still part of the greater UDD, but have their names appended with the first letter of their respective city. For example, the Vance detachment is designated as Urban Defense Department: Vance, or UDD:V.

Police departments follow a simple command structure. Every precinct is headed by two Captains, each of whom are responsible for four Sergeants. Each Sergeant is then responsible for six officers. Police Captains collaborate with neighboring precincts. Each letter district is headed by a Commissioner who is also part of the citywide Board of Commissioners.

Defense departments follow pre-Occupation military structures, with recruits beginning at the rank of Private and earning promotions based on duration of service and competence.

Equipment
The equipment of UDD agents varies even from district to district. Law enforcement officers are more lightly equipped, sporting basic armor and small arms, while defense officers are offered military technology such as pulse weapons and artillery.