The Equinox Institute LRP is committed to running events where attendees feel safe. In order to do this, we have created this policy to allow attendees to safely raise complaints or concerns regarding other attendees including members of the Game Team.
What can I report?
Any breach of our Social Contract or Behaviour Policy can be reported to us. This can be for any attendee at an Equinox Institute event, including at previous Equinox Institute events. We would encourage you to report an individual even if you are uncertain that their behaviour is in breach of our Social Contract or Behaviour Policy. This is because we can discuss the incident further with you if you are comfortable for us to do so.
If you report a breach of conduct by someone who has never attended a Reality Checkpoint LRP event and has not submitted an Expression of Interest Form for one of our events, we will make a note of this but will take no further action. If you have a complaint about another attendee who is no longer permitted at a Reality Checkpoint LRP event, then we will let you know if they are already banned.
Finally, we want to alleviate the concerns of anyone reading this policy. Reporting helps make our communities safer. No complaint is a waste of our time and resources. We take each and everyone seriously in our aim to make our games more welcoming for everyone.
How can i report?
Where a community members feels that another attendee has breached our Social Contract or Behaviour Policy, or has concerns regarding their overall behaviour, The Equinox Institute Game Team encourages you to speak to us about this. You can do this:
- Before or after an event by contacting us at EquinoxInstituteLRP@gmail.com; or
- At an event by speaking to a member of the Game Team.
If you would prefer to speak to a male of female presenting member of the Game Team, this can be arranged.
If you have any concerns that a member of the Game Team is in-breach of these policies, or poses a threat to the community, you are encouraged to speak with Chris Lamb as the Head of Game or to email realitycheckpointlrp@gmail.com. This email can only be seen by Chris Lamb and cannot be accessed by other members of the Game Team.
what happens next ?
Once your report has been received, a member of the Game Team will get in touch with you to ask for a full description of the events that took place. In order for the Game Team to action this, we require the reporting party’s full permission to begin an investigation.
As part of an investigation, we will look to speak with as many members of our community who are involved in the incident as possible. Where necessary, we will also carry out further investigations beyond the scope of The Equinox Institute LRP events including making contact with other LRP event organisers where we feel it is relevant for us to do so. We will remain in touch with you every step of the way as to who you are happy for us to contact. If there is anyone you do not want the Game Team to contact, you must let us know as soon as possible.
Once the Game Team has carried out an investigation, it will make a decision as to the next steps to be taken. This is based on a number of factors including (but not limited to):
- The number of reports received in respect of an individuals;
- The severity of the incident and;
- Any public records on the individual’s behaviour.
The Game Team will then look to impose an appropriate sanction. The Game Team will let you know the outcome of this investigation and the plan that it intends to take. If you would prefer for us not to take any action then this may be possible in select circumstances.
The Game Team will maintain a permanent record of your report and any investigations made. These will be taken into account in respect of any future investigations we may undertake.
Timings
If you report a problem at our event, the Game Team will look to provide you with an update on the process of any investigation prior to the end of the event. If the incident has not been resolved by the end of the event, then we will update you via email at least every month as to our progress.
If you report a problem by email between events, we will acknowledge receipt of your email within 5 working days and will update you on progress at least every month.
Our timings are based on the voluntary nature of the majority of the Game Team’s involvement with The Equinox Institute and the time necessary for us to carry out a thorough investigation of a complaint that is brought to our attention.
Police Involvement
The Equinox Institute Game Team will support an individual’s decision as to whether they wish to contact the police regarding another participant’s behaviour. We will not comment on or pressure you into making a report. That being said, we have a legal obligation to inform the police of:
- Any incident involving the use of illegal substances;
- Any incident relating to suspected acts of terrorism; and
- Any behaviour which poses a risk of serious harm to a child or vulnerable adult.
These legal obligations are unavoidable and we will comply with any legal requirements in this regard.
Confidentiality
We will not share any details of your report with anyone else unless we are legally compelled to do so.
We will not share details of reports with any other event organisation or LRP system without your express permission for us to do so.
sanctions
Following an investigation carried out by the Game Team, there are a number of sanctions which are available dependent on the nature and severity of the incident. These are summarised below:
- Caution – We will issue a caution in a situation where we judge the breach of our Social Contract or Behaviour Policy is unintentional, minor or historic. Our goal with a caution is to bring the situation to a person’s attention and provide them the opportunity to change or improve their behaviour. We may impose additional restrictions or requirements on their roleplay at our events depending on the nature of what has occurred.
- Warning – This is issued where a breach of conduct is serious, intentional or a repeat offence. If someone receives a formal warning, any further reports about their behaviour may result in a permanent ban.
- Permanent Ban– This is issued where an individual’s behaviour is judged serious enough that it poses a significant risk to the safety of participants at our events. Banned participants may not attend any further Equinox Institute LRP events or participate in Reality Checkpoint LRP online communities.