Eye In the Crowd – Should the Golden Shield Remain Active?

by JOSHUASIGEP44, Staff Writer
Last Updated: Palast, Yurthgreen 17, 2006

Palanthas - To quell a sudden upswing in criminal activity the Palanthas City Senate met weeks ago in a closed session to activate the Golden Shield. Comprised of 400 civilians the Golden Shield is a unit that is trained in urban warfare, and which was originally intended for use in times of war only. The Golden Shield was to work closely with the City Guard and act as a deterrent to all aspiring criminals. It was apparently decided by the Senate that Palanthas needed greater security than just what the City Guard could give.

Five weeks later the Golden Shield has been deactivated, but have the crisis been averted? In large part yes, as the Senate credits the disillusion of the criminal Hawkstones to the Golden Shield. That being said many citizens are left wondering why the Golden Shield has been deactivated so soon. On the whole there has been a large drop in criminal activity since the Golden Shield's activation.

Not only has Palanthas seen a drop in organized criminal activity but the City Guard has received fewer reports of misdemeanor crimes, pick pockets and the like.

So the Herald wants to know...

Should the Golden Shield become a permanent fixture alongside the City Guard?

Grima Stangham, innkeeper - "Ahh I donna know, I mean I like the idea of less crime but why can't the City Guard just hire more people? They are going to be more experienced and better trained anyway. When you get right down to it the Golden Boys were nothing more than a bunch of citizens that got fed up and banded together with the approval from the city, a glorified neighborhood watch. I don't see why they have to be paid to do that. If we keep them on it just means higher taxes. Higher taxes or a higher crime rate it's costing me either way."

Jared Cage, city Jailer – "Of course I do. The Shield practically ran off them Hawks. You see, they were able to get more done cuz they just focused on one group. The City Guard is great and all, but they gotta deal with an entire city of crime. I would love to see a group that can concentrate more on a certain type of crime. Let the Guard take care of smugglers and pick pockets. Let the Shield take care of the more dangerous criminals."

Davis Starlight, astronomer – "What I don't understand is why the City Senate had to cut the funding for the Palanthas University to fund the Golden Shield. The University's funding for the year was completely cut off, and the Golden Shield was merely active for five weeks. I can only guess how much money it takes to run the Golden Shield, but I can't imagine that it is anywhere near how much the University got each year. As an alumnus of the university I demand to know how such a large sum of money was spent in five weeks."

Eye In the Crowd – Should the Golden Shield Remain Active?

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