222 / 06 / 03 - Gang Leaders Arrested

It is no secret that the northeastern side of Chirin has long been blighted by the presence of violent criminal gangs. Goods are stolen from any merchants foolish enough to pass through the area without guards, and extortion is just a part of daily life for many who live there.
While some individual gang members have been brought to justice the leaders have long evaded the authorities. This unhappy state of affairs has been partial due to the careful distance the leaders keep from any illegal activity but they have been helped over the years by corruption in the Inner Guard and the fact that the district’s former councillor was widely believed to be reliant on the gang leaders’ support.
This change last Firday when a combined force of patrollers and Outer Guard raided each of the headquarters of the larger gangs. A large number of arrests were made and by Marday the leaders of the gangs were convicted and sentenced. The rapidity of the trials was made possible by a vast amount of evidence which was reviewed prior to the raids. Each defendant was given a chance to defend themselves but when faced with the evidence against them many chose to admit their guilt and provide evidence on others in hope of achieving a lighter sentence.
The evidence and information on hideouts which led to the arrests came from a thief-taker for hire named Garrett Wolfe. Mr Wolfe is a former member of the Independent Investigators (IIs or eyes as they used to be known) who left the patrol after that unit was disbanded. While with the patrol Mr Wolfe helped expose a high level corruption scandal as well as solving several serial killer cases. He was also briefly a member of the Rainbow Crew and his departure from that group only reinforced how his integrity kept that group on the straight and narrow.
According to Mr Wolfe one of his great regrets from his time with the patrol was being unable to deal with the gangs, hampered as he was by the former council and senior members of the patrol. A job from a client (who he refuses to name) who wanted a stolen item found provided Mr Wolfe with an opportunity to rectify this. After discovering a trove of useful information and turning it over to the patrol this private investigator was hired by the council to locate the gangs’ hideouts and escape routes, information which was key to the success of the raids.
The work done by Mr Wolfe is a shining example of how hiring individuals to investigate specific crimes can be far more effective than the existence of a unit like the IIs. Not only was hiring a thief taker more cost effective it also prevented having to give agents of the patrol far reaching powers which are far to easy to abuse.