Policing in Great Nortend

Law enforcement in Great Nortend is undertaken by sworn police constables serving on a local parochial and hundred level. There is a national constabulary hierarchy formally answering to the Sheriff and thence to the King's Lieutenant of the county.

Constabularies Office

In practical terms, various constabularies formed under the Constabulary Act are organised on a county-by-county basis, under the political control of the King's Clerk who has responsibility over domestic security and law enforcement through the Under-Clerk for Constabularies who heads the Constabularies Office, a sub-office of the Clerk's Office. The Constabularies Office is the main liaison office between the Government and the Constabularies.

Organisation

Ranks

Other ranks

Officers

Insignia

(No insignia)

Rank

Watchman

Underconstable

Constable

Inspector

Senior Inspector

Warranted Officer

Intendent

Chief Intendent

Superintendent

Chief Superintendent

Lieutenant Commissioner

Commissioner

Abbreviation

Wchmn.

U. Cble.

Cble.

Insp.

S. Insp.

W. O.

Int.

C. Int.

Supt.

C. Supt.

Lt. C

—

Office

Watchman

Underconstable

Constable

Beadle

—

—

Bailiff

High Constable

—

—

Tipstaff

—

Closest Army equivalent

Private

Able Private

Corporal

Serjeant

Staff Serjeant

Warranted Officer

Ensign

Lieutenant

Captain

Major

Lieutenant Colonel

Colonel

The Constabulary Act did not abolish the traditional offices of constable, high constable and sheriff who were the officers of the peace for a parish, hundred/borough and county respectively. Rather, it formalised the existing system of ad hoc deputies and deputies of deputies over several different recognised offices, titled watchmen, underconstables, beadles, bailiffs, undertipstaves and tipstaves. This ensured that all such officers of the peace were had constable powers of the watch.

As such, any constable may exercise his statutory powers anywhere in Great Nortend. Furthermore, the Lady Constables Act permitted women to join a constabulary for the first time, with all of the statutory law-enforcement powers of male constables, albeit without certain regular law powers. Lady constables are, however, restricted to the ranks of watchman, underconstable, constable and beadle.

Structure

Operational policing is undertaken by bodies of constables known as constabularies, each whereof being independent of another, but located in the same hierarchy. There are 52 regular constabularies and 30 special constabularies. Each has a particular territorial jurisdiction known as a constablewick. Most constabularies have a constablewick over a given county. Some cities have their own independent constabularies.

The lowest level of police organisation is the individual police house, one of which is located in every parish. For small parishes, an Underconstable is in charge of a police house, which may also have more junior Watchmen. Most villages, however, are large enough to have an Constable in charge of the police house.

A subdivision is a small number of parishes clustered together commanded by an Intendent, assisted by Police and Detective Inspectors. The Indendant is usually based in the largest village of the subdivision, where a police station is located. A division is a grouping of subdivisions corresponding to a hundred or a group of hundreds or a borough. It is commanded by a Superintendent (who is High Constable of all of the hundreds within the division), assisted by Police and Detective Senior Inspectors. Most constabularies have around eight to ten divisions. A Commander and Constable General operate from the constabulary headquarters. The Commander takes operational command of the constabulary, assisted by the Inspector Major, a Warranted Officer.

Each constabulary has a D. S. division (Detective Services division) and an S. S. division (Special Services division). The former is tasked with investigative and detective police work whilst the latter encompasses a variety of different branches such as the Dog Branch, the Mounted Branch, the Firearms Branch and the Security Branch.