Montrose Safeguard of Chicago: a Security Company
Montrose Safeguard started as a private investigation firm in 1975. The company was founded by David Hagger and Samuel Bond in the city of Schiller Park (near O'Hare). Over time, the company grew to include basic security guard details and armed officers. When the supernatural became a full-on topic, company president Emily Watson used her contacts within City Hall to go after a contract with the city of Chicago for that type of work.
For their part, the city of Chicago tried to handle the accepted existence of vampires and shapechangers. To this day, the city still has no idea how to deal with the supernatural creatures. Should they be allowed to vote? What about marriage laws? Shapechangers appear to be human, but vampires are technically dead. Then comes the fact that vampires must consume blood. Does consuming blood from the living count as a criminal offense? Does it matter if the “victim” is willing or unwilling? Is killing or “dusting” a vampire the same as murder if the vampire is technically already dead? Shapechangers do not appear to have separate needs from humans regarding sustenance. However, their ability to control themselves is still vastly not understood. Several cases are pending in the courts where the defendants claim to have not had control while in a changed form.
Aldermen across the city brought the problem to City Hall just as quickly as the local newscasters took the challenges to the television and public at large. The tipping point for the mayor's office was a fight between a gang of vampires and a gang of werewolves. The fight broke out during the annual A Taste of Chicago event. The brawl claimed the lives of two vampires, one werewolf, and five citizens. It also caused a mini-riot shutting down the event for the rest of the week. At this point, the mayor was forced to take action. Enter Emily Watson and Montrose Safeguard.
Emily Watson's parents are friends with the Chief of Police. Emily went to school with the chief's son, dating him their senior year of high school. While the chief's son would go on to study law at UCLA and then start his own practice in San Francisco, Emily joined the US Army and served as an intelligence adviser during the US's invasion of Panama. Emily moved back to the Chicago area once she mustered out from the Army and took a job with Montrose Safeguard. She started in management and worked her way up from there.
Emily Watson made the right telephone call at the right time, lining up a meeting with both the Chief of Police and the mayor. Within a month's time, Montrose Safeguard became the city of Chicago's answer to the supernatural challenges. They would handle all cases related to the supernatural, including the ability to make arrests. Soon after, Montrose Safeguard signed contracts with Cook, Lake, and DuPage Counties plus the State of Illinois for the northern portion of the state. A competitor based in Springfield is working the rest of the state. Montrose Safeguard has two teams of investigators dedicated to supernatural incidents fed to the company via local law enforcement agencies.
Montrose Safeguard has developed several other agents who handle supernatural cases that come to the company via individuals. Most of these are related to “spooks,” ghosts, poltergeists, haunting, etc. At this time, Montrose Safeguard does not engage in the removal of incorporeal denizens.
Montrose Safeguard of Chicago currently operates out of the city of Cicero near the intersection of Cermack (22nd Street) and Cicero (Ill Rte. 50). They have an office building and a fleet of cars.
Game Play Notes: Montrose Safeguard operates as a tier three organization in my game. The world’s citizens are just beginning to know vampires and werewolves. There are no catalogs of abilities. The company does not have tools or weapons designed to go after these new challenges. They have fewer than 20 security agents dealing with the supernatural case load. Outside of two teams of four, the agents deal with things individually, feeling their way through the cases. Once the organization can compile enough data to become a viable source of information or tools in dealing with supernatural events, the company will become a tier two organization.
The setting has put vampires and werewolves in the public eye. However, mages, fae, ghosts, etc. really have not been accepted in public. They are potentially in the game world, just currently unknown.
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