Law Enforcement in Kouralia

Law enforcement in the Royal Union of Kouralia is carried out in the first instance by Territorial Watches (Vygelas Astycus in High Kouralian). These are civilian police services which cover given geographic areas depending on traditional local government districts. They are responsible for providing a full spectrum of policing from emergency response and community cohesion to tactical armed operations and investigation of serious and organised crime. Where appropriate, these Territorial Watches will work with supporting agencies such as the Treasury Guard or Crown Waterguard in order to give a capability which they do not usually possess.

Principles of Law Enforcement

Law enforcement in Kouralia is carried out in line with the principle of collective consent to be so policed. Thus the legitimacy of policing in the eyes of the public is based upon a general consensus of support that follows from transparency about their powers, their integrity in exercising those powers and their accountability for doing so. This consent, however is implicit rather than explicit and cannot be revoked in a given situation by specific members of the public.

Safeguarding and Vulnerability

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Specialist Rifle Officers deployed on operations

The main priority of policing in Kouralia is the preservation of life and property, followed closely by maintenance of order and presentation of evidence before a court. Given the order these priorities come in, it is natural to see that Kouralian police put a much greater emphasis on protecting victims of crime and keeping communities safe over prosecuting offenders.

In this vein identifying and managing vulnerability is regarded as one of the most important skills and tasks for a Kouralian Watchman. Whether it be identifying domestic abuse or child neglect indicators, locating and ensuring the safety of persons missing from home, or appropriately diverting offenders from the criminal justice system toward healthcare or education disposals, it is held that the ultimate test of police success is the absence of crime and the safety of the public - not the visibility of the police in achieving those goals. High risk missing persons, especially children, are often regarded as a priority above and beyond criminal investigations for this reason. Watchmen will often fill in referrals of particular individuals' and groups' cases to multi-agency panels which can identify and supply support where policial services are not the most appropriate lead agency.

While safeguarding and vulnerability is regarded as core business for all Watch roles, all Watches possess a 'Public Protection Unit' which consists of specialist detectives and civilian staff who have responsibility for serious Safeguarding cases. This can include high risk missing persons, sexual offences, prostitution and modern slavery, abuse and neglect - whether 'standard' domestic and child abuse or cultural abuses such as honour-based violence.

Local Primacy

Local primacy doctrine puts the Prefect of the relevant Territorial Watch as the supreme law enforcement professional when it comes to matters within that prefecture. This means that while the Treasury Guard or regional crime squads can operate within a given area, they cannot seize investigations from the local watch or otherwise 'pull rank' on them. However the Prefect of a local watch cannot issue orders to another organisation's personnel, for example if an external professional standards investigation into his force is ordered by the Justiciar of Public Safety.

Despite this all law enforcement personnel in Kouralia have authority when on and off duty, regardless as to which prefecture they are in. It also does not matter which Province they are in, as all criminal offences are produced by nation-wide statute law from the Senate of Kurton so, aside from where local authorities authorise drinks banning zones or make use of specific powers, there are no regional variations in criminal law.

Multi-agency work

All government agencies work closely in terms of multi-agency partnerships. This is because it is recognised that while a problem may first be identified by a particular organisation, that organisation may not have the full picture and then may also not be the best placed to give the problem a positive resolution. An example of these is a 'Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub' which is a team of social workers and watch constables who will work together to review measures taken and referrals for further safeguarding of particular individuals. This can then call a 'Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference' in cases of extremely high risk, which will likely be attended by education, housing, probation, healthcare and other local agencies in order to identify what can be done to safeguard the people involved.

The most common partnership working tends to be with mental health services, as irrational behaviour threatening the safety of oneself or others is highly likely to draw an immediate Watch response - but can only be correctly addressed by mental health professionals.

Vygelas Astycus

See Also: Vygelas Astycus

The Vygelas Astycus, or 'Local Watches' of Kouralia are the principal police and law enforcement agencies within that country. Responsible for enforcing laws over specific geographic 'Prefectures', they are responsible for all manner of law enforcment operations rather than being a local 'subordinate' tier of agency underneath the national Watches. There are a large number of them which are geographically aligned with a unitary district or County-level administrative division. Many Prefectures were historically smaller than this, going down to the Borough, Hundred, District or Riding levels of local authority. However as technology marched on, and both command and control processes and crimes became more complex, it became much more economical for Watches to average at around 3-10,000 personnel in size.

The Watches are responsible for everything from resolving neighbour disputes in the omnipresent blocks of flats known as 'insulae' and investigating pickpocketing at tourism hubs, all the way up to serious public order operations, murder investigations, and tactical firearms operations.

Within each Province of Kouralia one Watch takes the role of 'Principal Provincial Watch' and coordinates certain highly niche capabilities such as personal protection of dignitaries and officials. This is usually the Watch within whose Prefecture falls the Capital of the Province and the Governor's House and Provincial Assembly. If that city isn't the largest, then it will usually encompass sufficient surrounding rural areas and other towns to make it the largest Watch by numbers. Within the Province there may be other larger Watches which are responsible for cities surrounded by particularly sparsely populated Prefectures with less resources for specialist capabilities. These may enter into a Strategic Partnership with the 'Lead Watch' that provides the capability (e.g. aviations units) in exchange for funding and seconded officers.

Supporting Agencies

Local city and borough watches are supported

The Treasury Guard

The Treasury Guard, or Vygelas aþ’Tesoro, are a national law enforcement agency dedicated to investigating serious & organised crime, niche Thaumic-enabled or Thaumic-Dependent crime, and serious national security matters. The Treasury Guard works alongside local Watches and other national security agencies like the Crown Waterguard both in a coordinating and advisory role, and also leading on and conducting its own investigations.

Prisons

The Vygelas Carceryas is responsible for staffing and maintaining all prisons, and supervising non-custodial judicial punishments in the Royal Union. They operate under the Justiciary of Justice rather than the Justiciary of Public Safety, and their officers have significantly decreased powers with regard to the general public and outside of prisons. However, within prisons or for designated probation officers dealing with prisoners on probation