# Fictitious Government Agencies.



## Rojack79 (May 31, 2019)

So after doing a little skimming over the real life government agencies of the U.S. I've come to the conclusion that If i want to create a fake government agency then I need to take some pointers from the real deal. And in doing so I've found out that most real world agencies have between 4-6 different branches that they operate at any given time.

 So I'm currently working on coming up with my own 4-6 little divisions of the S.P.C.A. Here's what I've got so far.

Psychic-Operations,

Occult Sciences,

Cryptozoology,

Hunting Tactics and Stealth Operations,

Application of Magical and Alchemical Sciences,

Anyone got any ideas or points to share, any advice or questions?


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## Aquilo (May 31, 2019)

I'd just remember that most government agencies collude with a host of other agencies. Both national and international. E.g., the UK's MI5 will work with the MET, GCHQ, and army (no surprise there with the army there, as the MI in MI5/6 stands for military intelligence), not to mention MI6 and the likes of Interpol. And the agencies won't always get along. I went with MI7 for one of my novels, MI5 for another series.

I'd research what equipment is used in agencies too. E.g, MI5 has a specific database they use, also things like codenames. I like to stay true to those. As well as the language they use when talking about targets. Before I went into my series with MI5, I picked up two research books:

Defending the Realm: Inside MI5

The Defence of the Ream: The Authorised History of MI5

One offered the official view, the other... not, but gave a good counterbalance to each other, plus some damn interesting history! But in general, to make it sound convincing, you need to fully research the agencies that do exist, and how they work.


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## Rojack79 (May 31, 2019)

Aquilo said:


> I'd just remember that most government agencies collude with a host of other agencies. Both national and international. E.g., the UK's MI5 will work with the MET, GCHQ, and army (no surprise there with the army there, as the MI in MI5/6 stands for military intelligence), not to mention MI6 and the likes of Interpol. And the agencies won't always get along. I went with MI7 for one of my novels, MI5 for another series.
> 
> I'd research what equipment is used in agencies too. E.g, MI5 has a specific database they use, also things like codenames. I like to stay true to those. As well as the language they use when talking about targets. Before I went into my series with MI5, I picked up two research books:
> 
> ...



Ok. One thing I've noticed is that with each of these organizations, ( C.I.A., F.B.I., United States Armed Forces,) they each have several different branches within them that handle specific areas to do with there field of work. 

I guess my main question/concern is do the 4-6 divisions within the S.P.C.A. cover all area's of Supernatural/Paranormal phenomena? Or do I need to add more or change certain areas that are already there?


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## luckyscars (May 31, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> So after doing a little skimming over the real life government agencies of the U.S. I've come to the conclusion that If i want to create a fake government agency then I need to take some pointers from the real deal. And in doing so I've found out that most real world agencies have between 4-6 different branches that they operate at any given time.
> 
> So I'm currently working on coming up with my own 4-6 little divisions of the S.P.C.A. Here's what I've got so far.
> 
> ...



I mean it's fictitious so you can do what you want. I very much doubt any readers are going to question the organizational chart of made-up government agencies doing things that have no real world equivalent.

If you want to make it 'seem real', most government agencies are broken down similarly to how most business are broken down: You have the parent company (the entire executive branch, with the head of state) with a cabinet member responsible for a cabinet-level department (Defense, Homeland Security, Education, etc) and usually a few assistants (Deputy Sec of Defense, Under Sec of Defense, etc) to run the department entire. 

Then within each department you have a multitude of agencies who operate more or less independently with the Department only providing oversight. So in Homeland Security you have ICE and The Coast Guard and a bunch of other agencies. These agencies as mentioned run themselves, are responsible for managing their own budgets, etc. Usually these agencies are then big enough to have their _own _organizational structure. So there would be a director, deputies, etc and then a bunch of divisions within. So for ICE this is what you got, courtesy of wikipedia where all this information is readily available:

Director (until July 2010 the title has been "Assistant Secretary")[SUP][15][/SUP]

Deputy Director
Enforcement and Removal Operations
Removal Division
Secure Communities and Enforcement Division
Immigration Health Services Division
Mission Support Division
Detention Management Division
Local Field Offices

Homeland Security Investigations
Domestic Operations Division
Intelligence Division
International Operations Division
Mission Support
National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center
National Security Investigations Division

Management and Administration


So to answer your question, it sounds like you are portraying this relatively consistently with real world government organization although I cannot for the life of me make head or tail of the rationale behind it without the context. Not sure why Cryptozoology gets its own division equivalent to Hunting Tactics and Stealth Operations. The former seems super narrow and defined, the latter extremely broad. But that's all irrelevant because I have not read your book. I guess just try to avoid being vague...


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## Aquilo (May 31, 2019)

Luckyscars is right. You don't have to go too in-depth. Look at Men in Black: the whole reason they don't go into the different departments is because, well, they're a secret government organization, lol! They don't need to explain anything. However, there's a fine line over using that as a 'cop-out' to brush over the detail, and I think that's balanced by how realistically you use the correct terminology with the department you do have your characters working for.

If you look at MI7, there's already a huge conspiracy theory over that having dealt with matters extraterrestrial on UK soil. So I run with that being the homeland paranormal investigations.  I honestly don't go into too much description, other than what my main MCs know, and they're unreliable at the best of times. But sometimes that's the best to describe something like this: through the eyes of the characters, as they meet the agency. That helps with the mystery surrounding just what the government agency is.


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## Rojack79 (May 31, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> I mean it's fictitious so you can do what you want. I very much doubt any readers are going to question the organizational chart of made-up government agencies doing things that have no real world equivalent.
> 
> If you want to make it 'seem real', most government agencies are broken down similarly to how most business are broken down: You have the parent company (the entire executive branch, with the head of state) with a cabinet member responsible for a cabinet-level department (Defense, Homeland Security, Education, etc) and usually a few assistants (Deputy Sec of Defense, Under Sec of Defense, etc) to run the department entire.
> 
> ...



The main reason I have crytozoology as it's own department is because it exclusively focuses on the study of the various monsters that inhabit the world. Were as the hunting department is ment to track them down. Although now that I think about it I could call it something more unique sounding.


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## Rojack79 (May 31, 2019)

Aquilo said:


> Luckyscars is right. You don't have to go too in-depth. Look at Men in Black: the whole reason they don't go into the different departments is because, well, they're a secret government organization, lol! They don't need to explain anything. However, there's a fine line over using that as a 'cop-out' to brush over the detail, and I think that's balanced by how realistically you use the correct terminology with the department you do have your characters working for.
> 
> If you look at MI7, there's already a huge conspiracy theory over that having dealt with matters extraterrestrial on UK soil. So I run with that being the homeland paranormal investigations.  I honestly don't go into too much description, other than what my main MCs know, and they're unreliable at the best of times. But sometimes that's the best to describe something like this: through the eyes of the characters, as they meet the agency. That helps with the mystery surrounding just what the government agency is.



True i could base this off of the MIB series or even just leave thing ambiguous but I feel the need to make this organization professional. Plus the MIB will be making an appearance in my own series so there's a whole other organization to worry about.


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## Bard_Daniel (May 31, 2019)

I think you might be overthinking this just a tad. As others have pointed out, if it's a completely fictitious work (as it is) you have a sense and overriding free reign of your content. Therefore, it becomes your story and you are the one who can determine it how you see fit.


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## Ralph Rotten (May 31, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> So after doing a little skimming over the real life government agencies of the U.S. I've come to the conclusion that If i want to create a fake government agency then I need to take some pointers from the real deal. And in doing so I've found out that most real world agencies have between 4-6 different branches that they operate at any given time.
> 
> So I'm currently working on coming up with my own 4-6 little divisions of the S.P.C.A. Here's what I've got so far.
> 
> ...





What about the aliens? Someone has to probe them.


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## Rojack79 (Jun 1, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> What about the aliens? Someone has to probe them.



I hadn't thought of that? :-?


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## Bayview (Jun 1, 2019)

This may have been covered elsewhere, but - are you committed to the SPCA acronym? It's already being used for a fairly significant organization...


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## Rojack79 (Jun 1, 2019)

Bayview said:


> This may have been covered elsewhere, but - are you committed to the SPCA acronym? It's already being used for a fairly significant organization...



I don't know if it been covered somewhere else but there will be two P's in it or a little 2 symbol next to the P, kind of like P squared in the title.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 1, 2019)

The extra *P *stands for *Probing*.






DO NOT swipe right, whatever you do.


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## Winston (Jun 1, 2019)

Fictitious government agency?  
Anything with the word "intelligence" in it's name.


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## Rojack79 (Jun 1, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> The extra *P *stands for *Probing*.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I could add a third P to the title.


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## Rojack79 (Jun 1, 2019)

Winston said:


> Fictitious government agency?
> Anything with the word "intelligence" in it's name.



Good thing I can't fit an I in there somewhere.


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