Security Ratings Defined

AAA rating
The AAA rating is the highest available level of security, usually reserved for upper-class enclaves (Luxury lifestyle) and businesses willing to pay to have the area outside their property patrolled. AAA security also includes proactive and deterrent measures. This means both visible and hidden security measures such as Panic-Button booths open and working, patrols on foot and in vehicles, astral security patrols using spirits and magicians, security drones and security riggers monitoring cameras. The police guarding AAA areas are always the finest, with the most duty hours logged. An assignment to an area of AAA security is considered to be the best assignment and no one wants to be demoted for lack of effort.
Response to even the most minor crime is practically immediate. Security providers are reluctant to leave any investigation open, regardless of the cost to pursue it. Even if closing the investigation means bringing in chumps to take the fall that's what they'll do because crime is not allowed to succeed in these areas.

AA rating
The AA rating is the next class of security. It is usually reserved those who maintain an affluent [ergo: high] lifestyle and businesses that want constant coverage but don't want to pay for around-the-clock deterrent measures. Patrols cover the area 24 hours a day, but are less frequent. Astral patrols take place on an irregular schedule, and there may not be a security rigger system set up. Drones and spirits may guard certain areas in place of humans.
Response is prompt but will take a back seat if something is going down in a AAA area. Assignment to this area is also viewed as an assignment of privilege, so officers investigate complaints thoroughly, if not as quickly as in a AAA area.

A rating
This level of security generally covers the areas where the middle-class wage slaves live [ergo: Middle lifestyle]. These areas receive excellent security, but the level of coverage decreases dramatically from the AA level, primarily because the contracted police force lacks sufficient personnel and funding. These areas usually have regular street patrols but only rare astral, drone or security- rigger presence.
Law enforcement in these areas is basically a call-and-response system. This means there are actually a lot of Panic-Button booths and neighborhood watch groups and other organizations willing to call in at the slightest hint of criminal activity. This community policing tends to result in a higher number of false alarms, which in turn means response time is a bit slower.

B rating
Rating B is usual for areas comprised primarily of commercial properties rather than residential, such as industrial parks, office complexes and suburban manufacturing things that have existed side-by-side with middle class residential areas since the 1960s. Since these areas are usually high criminal target areas (in other words,prime targets for shadowrunners), Lone Stars standard response is to send a minimum of four patrol officers with an elite officer and security/combat mage on standby.
The constant cycle of urban renewal is currently washing over such areas in Seattle and rehabbers are turning older buildings into art galleries, loft apartments and other low middle-class businesses and dwellings. This trend is spreading the contracted police force even thinner and giving these areas a precarious hold on their B rating.

C and D rating
Ratings C and D are the Low lifestyle versions of ratings A and B security; the coverage is similar for both ratings, but C is for residential and D is for business zones. Infrequent patrols and poorly maintained Panic-Button booths mean that crime here is reported less often and therefore enforced less often. The security services in these areas make no real effort to prevent crimes before they happen. Lone Star and other security forces receive a hostile reception from the general populace, which accuses law enforcement of being less than thorough in investigations involving crimes at businesses in these areas. Most officers begin their training in these areas and try to get promoted out as quickly as possible, though the savvy officers, especially detectives, maintain their contacts from their beat days in these areas because this is where the information flows. Except for undercover officers and detectives, the usual response to any call here consists of six to eight fully armored officers in an armored Citymaster with two patrol vehicles and one combat mage. Drones are sometimes used to reduce the risk of injury to officers.

E rating
Rating E areas are considered slums [ergo: Squatter and Street lifestyles]. Yeah, people live there, but they aren't real people (they don't have SINs, after all), so why make the effort? Lone Star does not assign patrols to such areas or make any effort to prevent crimes from happening. The slums are an excellent place for detectives and undercover operatives to maintain contacts.
They will respond if the victim has a SIN and calls in a complaint himself, or if the violence makes the headlines or threatens to spill over into more important areas. Response into E rated zones are mixed but usually considered over-kill.

Z rating
In Z rated areas, contracted police forces do not maintain law and order. These areas may have evolved into tribal, gang, organized crime controlled or even complete anarchy/survival of the fittest. The law doesn't care who wins and who loses as long as everyone stays within the boundaries. The law considers it more important to keep the area contained than to prevent or solve crimes. In many cases, walls or other natural boundaries actually separate these areas from the rest of the sprawl.
Only if pursuing an investigation will the contract law enforcement enter the Z-Zone and when they do they are prepared for war. An example force is: A minimum of three Citymasters (twenty-five officers in full armor) with air support from armored helicopters; one rigger per vehicle handling the weapon mounts and one extra rigger maintaining drone coverage; at least five combat mages and one combat decker maintaining communication with headquarters at all times; and three elite officers running the show one coordinating the mages, one in the air and one dealing with the troops on the ground. Lone Star considers Z-Zone duty to be hazard duty, and officers assigned to these details receive three times their normal wages and a week off after any operation in these areas.

-Modified from New Seattle Sourcebook