Odo and Security

[Owain Taggart]

I have a friend who wants to know something that I haven't been able to figure out as I don't think it's been specifically stated.

I know Odo held rank in the Bajoran militia, ie Bajoran Security, and from what I can ascertain, he got the rank due to having done a favour. With DS9 being Federation run, he wants to know whether station security was under the jurisdiction of the Bajoran militia or not or if it was just run by Starfleet. I've always thought that the rank Odo had held no importance in who had the jurisdiction.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

AFAIK, station security was the Bajorans' responsibility, since it was their station. DS9 only had a Starfleet CO because Bajor asked for one.

As for Odo's actual rank, I don't think he had one. Everyone called him 'Constable,' but that was just a courtesy (started by Kira). Odo mimicked a Bajoran Militia uniform but had no actual commissioned rank within it.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, his bio states "Security officer in Bajoran militia", so I wasn't sure. Maybe it's just a formality.

Anyway, thanks for the quick reply! Nice to know I'm wrong

 

[Admiral Shran]

Garak states that Odo is a member of the Barjoran Milita in The Die is Cast.

And, if Sisko can request that a Bajoran national be his First Officer (thereby giving her authority over members of Starfleet), why can't he request one as his Security Chief?

Starfleet always wanted to put their own person in charge of station security. But Sisko always sided with Odo.

 

[MikeS]

Wasn't there a seperation between station security and tactical officer when Eddington and subsequently Worf came aboard?

 

[Praxius]

Odo's only title I was aware of was "Chief of Security".... O'Brien was "Chief of Engineering" yet he didn't hold a rank other then "Chief" in which outside of Engineering duties, an ensign could order him around if need be.

Security of DS9 was primarily in the hands of the Bajorans, however on a number of occasions, Starfleet tried to nudge in their own security officers to "Assist" Odo, which he didn't like and felt they were going to replace him or take away the only job he's known and the only job that gave his life structure/purpose.

He threatened to resign a couple of times over this, until he confronted Sisko about it, in which Sisko backed him and didn't want him to leave. The main reason why Starfleet wanted their own security in charge was because they sometimes disapproved of Odo's tactics that didn't follow Starfleet regulations.

Eventually a compromise was made where Odo would keep his position in exchange of following protocol a little closer..... once in a while.

When the Maquis and Dominion conflicts ramped up, Starfleet begun to bring aboard more Starfleet security teams to help secure the station, which all fell under Odo's jurisdiction unless a certain matters only involved Bajoran affairs, in which only Bajoran militia officers would be used.

When on the Defiant, security fell under Starfleet, with Michael Eddington leading Security, later, I believe it fell to Worf as Tactical Officer...... but the Station was Odo's.

 

[Praxius]

Wasn't there a seperation between station security and tactical officer when Eddington and subsequently Worf came aboard?

Michael Eddington was there to represent Starfleet's interests when it came to security.... and when he was found out to be a traitor, Starfleet kinda dropped the whole thing in regards to not trusting Odo..... when Worf came on, he had a hard time accepting how things were on the station, which is why he eventually moved to live on the Defiant..... but regardless of Worf's views, it was still Odo's domain in regards to Security.

Worf's status of Tactical Officer had more to do with communicating tactical information between stations and starships in the area, as well as defending the station from attack.... which wasn't Odo's area of expertise.

 

[MikeS]

What I was trying to say is that the security chief on the Enterprise (for example) was the policeman and gunner. The two roles were seperated on the station.

You pretty much confirmed that for me.

Cheers!

 

[Praxius]

What I was trying to say is that the security chief on the Enterprise (for example) was the policeman and gunner. The two roles were seperated on the station.

You pretty much confirmed that for me.

Cheers!

Well on a starship, the security concerns would probably tie in with the tactical, it's not as large as a space station, and usually everybody on the starship is from starfleet, so the chief of security on that starship probably doesn't have as much to deal with, compared to being on a space station that can hold a capacity of 7,000 people.... but put it shortly, yes they did have the two roles (Security/Tactical) divided on DS9.