Prison RP is not what I think should be the core of this sort of discussion or what is trying to be suggested, but it is something that has possibility. However, I think it's more important to focus on the alternative of just PK'ing someone through amputation. There is plenty of ways to justify incarceration IC'ly, and it also gives CPs the autonomy to become a judge of character in their own regard.
That being said, I want to reiterate that last point. It gives the CP the chance to be the judge of character. Generally, we know that since they got the CP whitelist, they are competent RP'ers. Giving them the ability to analyze the person they are dealing with, and deciding whether or not they should be PK'ed or Temp-PK'ed should be something they decide for themselves in the manner of analyzing the situation and how it played out. Naturally, this could be IC reason or that the player of the CP feels that the person they detained shouldn't just immediately get capped. Punished? Of course, but not enough where whatever development that character had is just gone to the wind.
to play devils advocate however, there should be some circumstances that are a PK on the spot, such as being gunned down by OTA in a sweep for example, or being caught with a firearm or such (even then, I'm amazed the Union wouldn't use said person as a means to track said gun to its source)
I agree with this as well. Normal PK guidelines should naturally still be followed, and obvious infractions that would warrant a swift IC PK should still be followed. If you captured a rebel, you know what's gonna happen probably. However, with the possibility of a Temp-PK, the odd line between someone normally being let go and the cusp of what would become a PK becomes a little broader.
All in all, PK should always be seen as the last go-to option, unless its properly warranted through certain action stated by guidelines. For smaller things like first offenders, cooperative interrogations, and the culmination of whether the CP feels it worthy to PK a character based on RP and/or how that character presents IC'ly to that officer should be made available. And if its not to fall in the hands of the general CP population, then make it something to entwine in command.
Secondly, and slightly off topic, Temp-PK's essentially give the person whom is affected by the TK to 'transition' back to an alternative character, allowing them to develop some other character.
I think having an immediate PK harder to get would be a good thing, especially when some people put months of work into a character to only have it snatched away by either being unlucky, having some contraband on them (ahem trench-coat ahem) or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Again, literally a solution to this problem. While being TK'ed, they still have to use another character, but they won't have the burden of knowing they are starting all over from zero again. Some newer players suffer from this a lot. They are new, and want to learn as much as possible, but stay on the same character because they are still adjusting to peoples and the way the server works. If for some reason they got PK'ed, or they never really developed a secondary character, then essentially, their work is gone, and they have no 'backup'. All that work goes down the drain and they start from zero? Some would just leave.
While TK's wont totally solve that issue, it's a bit of a bandaid on it, at the very least. But all in all, I'm totally
+support all for this.