Citadel Security Services

Citadel Security Services (C-Sec) handles law enforcement on the Citadel. It is a volunteer police service answering to the Citadel Council, and is headed by an Executor who often liases between C-Sec and the Council.

The current Executor is a turian, Venari Pallin, whose office is located within the Presidium Embassies, near the Citadel Tower. The C-Sec Academy itself is located in the Lower Wards, partly due to the crime levels in the area compared to the rest of the station.

Befitting their "public service" culture, it was the turians who first proposed creating a police force for the Citadel, which may be why more than half of all C-Sec officers are turian. Humans appear to form the largest minority, with at least 116 officers in the Zekera ward as of 2185, followed by salarians and asari. The 200,000 constables of C-Sec are responsible for maintaining public order in the densely populated Citadel, as well as providing pirate suppression, customs enforcement, and search-and-rescue throughout the Citadel and surrounding space.

If you take Thane to the C-Sec station on the Citadel he mentions seeing at least 14 flaws in the security that a skilled assassin could exploit, eight of which existed when he was there a few years ago.

In Mass Effect 2, C-Sec had undergone radical restructuring. Because most officers were killed in Sovereign's attack, forcing an immediately increase in human officers. Also, C-Sec had tightened security to reduce the possibility of geth infiltration, even barring travels from unlikely suspects.

Divisions

 * Enforcement: Uniformed officers who patrol the Citadel, discipline minor infractions, resolve disputes, and respond to emergencies.


 * Investigation: Detectives who gather evidence, solve crimes, and bring their perpetrators to justice.


 * Customs: Officers who screen the passengers and cargo that pass through the Citadel's ports, confiscate contraband, and arrest smugglers.


 * Network: Technicians who deal with "cybercrimes", such as identity theft, copyright theft, hacking, viral attacks, and illegal AI.


 * Special Response: Officers who deal with hostage situations, bombs, and heavily armed criminals. In the event the Citadel is attacked, they are the front line of interior defense, armed with military-grade weaponry.


 * Patrol: The ships crewed by the Patrol division serve "coast guard" functions, such as search and rescue, piracy suppression, and interdiction of illegally transported materials. They are not used to defend the Citadel from naval attack; that task is left to the Citadel Fleet.

Recruitment
Joining C-Sec is prestigious; applicants must be sponsored by a Citadel Councilor or the ambassador of an associate Council race. Generally applicants have many years of distinguished service in the military or police forces of their respective nation, but an inexperienced applicant with demonstrable talent will be fairly considered. Most rookies are posted to the comparatively-calm Presidium to get some operational experience and familiarity with protocol before being assigned to the Wards.

Relations
While C-Sec enjoys a long and respected history with the Council itself, C-Sec and the Council's Spectres are often at odds. Many C-Sec members, notably Executor Pallin, believe that allowing Spectres to be 'above the law' is a dangerous practice. In turn, the Spectres are aggravated when C-Sec's dedication to procedure and due process hampers their investigations.

Many of C-Sec's own officers—usually detectives like Garrus and Harkin—occasionally find themselves at odds with C-Sec's strict regulations, likely in place to keep order among so many different races and factions aboard the Citadel. As Harkin discovered, C-Sec is not above keeping files on its officers if the Executor feels disciplinary action may be warranted.

Notable C-Sec Officers

 * Executor Pallin
 * Garrus Vakarian
 * Harkin (recently suspended)
 * Detective Chellick
 * Officer Eddie Lang
 * C-Sec Requisitions Officer
 * Captain Bailey

Assignments Involving C-Sec

 * Citadel: Jahleed's Fears
 * Citadel: Wrex
 * Citadel: Rita's Sister
 * Citadel: Presidium Prophet
 * UNC: Hostile Takeover - obtained from terminal in room next to Chellick's office (requires AT LEAST Decryption Rank 5!)