EnderBubs
Level 63
THE ID CRISIS - The reason behind why so many citizens don't carry an ID, and who is to blame?
By: Darius Ikemori
02/11/2024
After my most recent report on KPD fines, I discovered that one of the most common fines that KPD hands out to citizens is ‘Failure to possess a government ID’. That made me question, why is this fine so common. It's so easy to get an ID so why don't most citizens carry one on them or own one? I decided to look into the situation at hand and help determine why don't citizens carry an ID on them, and who is to blame for that.
HOW MANY CITIZENS CARRY IDS ON THEM?
First, we need to figure out how many citizens carry IDs on them. A pole was posted on onrain asking citizens if they carried an ID on them, and if they didn't why not? The results of the poll showed that out of 11 responses, 27.3% of citizens (3) responded stating they didn't carry an ID on them because they didn't own one yet, while the other 72.7% of citizens stated they did carry one on them for various reasons. Mainly in case of hospital issues and identification is needed or police
Now at first glance, this doesn't seem like too much of an issue. 72.7% percent of citizens from a pole is a good amount and proves that the majority of citizens do carry an ID on them. But, another study stated otherwise
I chose to run another study, I reached out to KPD where I asked a few officers to keep track of whenever they patted someone and how any of them possessed a government-issued ID. Out of officers, a total of 22 patdowns were conducted in 24 hours. Out of those 22 patdowns, 59.1% of citizens (13) didn't have an ID on them, while the other 40.9% of citizens did have one on them
I added up the results from the pole and from the patdowns to get a better visual on how many people carry IDs, and how many done. Out of the total of 33 people who took part in this test, 48.5% of citizens (16) don't carry an ID on them. Thats almost HALF of the citizens who took part in this pole/test
Now that we got all of the statical stuff out of the way, this begs the question again, why do so many citizens not carry an ID on them if they should be so easy to obtain?
WHY DON'T CITIZENS OWN AN ID?
This time, I chose to walk around the city and ask random citizens if they carried an ID on them. If they said no, I asked why exactly. The identities of the citizens will remain unknown for the results of the report. A total of 20 people were asked if they were actively carrying an ID on them, 66.7% of citizens (9) stated they didn't have an ID on them. When asked why, I got a variety of answers. 3 citizens stated it was because town workers are never there when they come by, 1 said they haven't gotten around to buying it, another said there isn't much reason to get an ID, and finally one other said they have a felony so they don't want a real ID and instead possess a fake ID
It may seem like low numbers, but from this report alone this makes it so a total of 25/53 people don't carry IDs, that's 47.1%. That number should NOT be that high when its so easy to obtain an ID
With all of that being said, I choose to look into the town hall aspect and see if it's true that town workers are hard to get ahold of regarding IDs. The first thing i noticed was that no one was at the front desk, for a VERY long time. I stood there for around 6 hours and nothing
Finally, the next day someone was at the front desk, where I began my next set of research
IS TOWN HALL TO BLAME FOR THIS?
Townhall plays a large part in the ID issue. The question is though, is it because Town Hall isn't ever at the front desk, or is it because citizens just don't come to Town Hall when they are there? For this one, I chose to interview town hall workers to get THEIR side of the story.
In the interview, Chrisanthos Nescu, a governor, stated that he works the front desk around 1 to 2 times per week, and he does 8-hour shifts (IC TIME). When I first approached him, he was sitting at the front desk for around 20 minutes, he stated in that short period he handed out 2 IDs. As well as MID interview 3 people citizens approached him for IDs.
He stated on average he can hand out 5 or so IDs, with even 10 on a good day. When asked about the government hotline and if it was active or not, he stated it was kind of active, when asked to specify how many calls they got regarding IDs he stated and I quote “
Another interview with a local governor, Noriko Kirishiki, was conducted. The same questions were asked. She stated she works the front desk an estimated 3-4 times per week and dough 4-8-hour shifts per time. When asked how many IDs she handed out per shift, she stated it depended on the time and that she often handed out a ‘few’ IDs. When asked to specify how much a few was, she didn't clarify. When asked about the government hotline activity, she responded and I quote ‘meh’. Not very helpful
I chose to look into another issue, that being the government hotline. It’s stated that the hotline is “somewhat” active. But the question remains why is it not so active when it’s posted right there on the board? I interviewed Ronan Hasegawa and his girlfriend Kurata Kaseya, who both stated they knew people who used the hotline/used it themselves
When asked about the hotline, Kurata stated and I quote "Personally, it depends on the worker. There's a good amount of times where a call is ignored, which I understand if they're in the middle of something serious- it really just depends on the situation. So for me, it's a fifty-fifty kind of question for me there." -Kurata
As for her boyfriend, he stated he hasn't personally used the hotline, but he did say and I quote "I can't speak on my own experience. I hardly go to the town hall, but I've heard plenty of people complain. Left on the line for hours at a time. Some never get an answer." -Ronan
It seems that even with the hotline, some town hall workers will ignore the call instead of responding to it and handing out IDs to those who need them.
Overall it seems that town hall is somewhat active actually, and when they are at the front desk IDs do get handed out. Though an 8-hour shift only to hand out 5-10 IDs must be pretty boring, it makes sense why governors don't sit at the front desk often. They probably only do it to make quota, which isn't a bad thing on their end, but what is a bad thing is their lack of care regarding the government hotline. The fact that these reports state the hotline is often times ignored doesn’t help town halls case when it comes too this issue
WHO IS TRULY TO BLAME FOR THE ID CRISIS?
Who is truly to blame for this issue? It's clear that around half of the citizens don't own an ID mainly for the reason that town hall isn't ever there when they are available. Now that doesn't fully mean it's the town hall's fault, but who is it then?
In my personal opinion, after all the research that was conducted for this report, I believe town hall AND citizens are to blame for this issue. Town hall only sits at the front desk to make quota due to how boring the front desk is. Once when that quota is up town hall staff run around and go about their day. However, it doesn't help their case that multiple reports state that town hall workers often ignore the hotline calls and only a few workers will respond
Though town hall is a major part that contributes to this issue, citizens aren't all clean as well. Because of town halls' reputation for inactivity at the front desk and calls, citizens often don't put any effort to check or take time to check the front desk. This also contributes to the issue that the front desk is boring for a town hall. In a sense, they feed off each other.
In the end, its up too you the citizens to determine who is at fault, but solutions to this issue always can be made. In my opinion town halls need to get better with their hotline and find a way to make the front desk less boring for them, and citizens need to visit more often. But again, that's for the city to decide
Do you have something you'd like to report or be reported on? Call the Reporter Hotline at (020) 980-4487, message us on Onrain @KaNews, or contact me personally at 030-957-9652
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