You're right that handling it in the context of the game would be better. One solution as you say would be the equivalent of 999/911 calls. I also think the bounty system could be tweaked. In Turkish law we have a thing called "yuz kizartici suc" - literally "a crime that makes you blush" or in other words, a dastardly deed. That includes things like sexual offences and confidence tricks, but in the Elite universe it would include things like attacking ships of a much lower class or players of a much lower level, pirating goods under a certain value (only a cad loots aluminium), blowing up a ship after it's jettisoned its cargo, or whatever behaviour is considered detrimental to gameplay. Do sometihng like that, and your bounty goes up to attract the kind of players who could blow you out of the sky before breakfast. This would not only make for better game-play, it would mimic the conditions of historical piracy, where sensible pirates would keep bloodshed to the minimum to avoid being singled out for special (lethal) treatment from the authorities. Piracy of any kind was of course a hanging offence; the question was whether the Royal Navy could be bothered to send a ship after you.
