To what extent is salvage debris the Salvage department's ownership?

[Sosa]

There have been quite a few rounds now where bored engineers, especially atmospheric technicians who use metagame knowledge of being unable to roll syndicate, will come out onto the salvage bay and begin pilfering the selection. I will normally give them a gruff and stern warning to please cease, and if they need something to simply ask. I understand we can hoard in the salvage bay, be it station power infrastructure (substations, APC electronics, thrusters, etc) that I personally keep either for shittle or in the event cargo shuttle is rendered disabled, medication from the space bear debris, or a myriad of possibly useful items (knives, jetpacks, etc.)

Now, the game is touted as a game about paranoia and survival. Recently I almost placed an engineer into critical condition as they stole a salvage suit (extremely high pierce/slash/brute damage resistance as opposed to engineering suit) and refused to drop it. I don't know *who* is a Syndicate, and actively allowing the potential arming of random station crewmates I don't think falls under the job description.

My question is - am I able to treat this the same as someone entering my department (chemistry, engineering, etc.) and taking high value items? Is placing someone in critical if they come onto the salvage bay (or worse, a debris) and begin grabbing objects, and are sternly warned, acceptable? It's extremely difficult to get security outside in space, by the time whoever stole the items is gone they're able to use or stash whatever they stole - this ranges from shotguns to lasers to salvage suits, etc.; the most surefire way I have as a salvager is using my knife and proto kinetic accelerator to crit the person, then my welding tool to cauterize the wounds followed by an epen.

I don't know if I should inundate the relay with ahelps about petty theft (that can escalate to high value theft easily) which is why I handle things IC/internally. I am guilty of stealing things (usually shuttle board and sometimes insuls from the tech room for salvaging) so I personally believe these can be handled in character, it just so happens that salvagers as characters start with knives and sci fi muskets. I have not been ahelped/bwoinked that I know of for these actions, and I believe they are justified, but I am wondering if there is a guideline for future salvagers who want to feel less helpless or if this discussion has ever been presented.

[Chief_Engineer]

Any time you're unsure if someone is an antag or is self antagging, you are encouraged to ahelp. While it's very unlikely that an admin will share someone's antag status with you during a round, it only takes a few seconds for an admin to check if someone is an antag.

Going through the chain of command is one way to attempt to resolve disputes arising from theft.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Chief_Engineer
Update to new system