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 answering to the Sheriff and thence to the King's Lieutenant of the county. In practical terms, various constabularies formed under the Police Constabularies 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.

Organisation

Ranks

Insignia	(No insignia)
Rank	(Police) Constable Class III	(Police) Constable Class II	(Police) Constable Class I	(Police) Serjeant	Intendent or Inspector	Superintendent or Chief Inspector	Commander	Constable General
Abbreviation	P.C.	P.C.	P.C.	P.S.	Int or Insp.	Supt	Cmdr	C. Gen.

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 (titled subunderconstables, underconstables, underbeadles, beadles, undertipstaves and tipstaves) to these legal officers into a system of ranks, by ensuring that deputy officers of the peace were in fact substantive constables themselves.

Properly, a Constable Class I holds the office of constable, whilst mere Police Constables Class III and Constables Class II are subunderconstables and underconstables respectively. A Serjeant properly holds the office of underbeadle. An Intendent or Inspectour holds the office of beadle, and is deputy to a Superintendent who properly holds the office of high constable of the hundred or borough. A Commander holds the office of undertipstaff, deputy to the Constable General who holds the office of tipstaff.

Neither did the Act allow for more than one holder of the three traditional offices at one time (except those places with such privileges). Thus, there may still only be one Constable Class I sworn in for a given manor at one time, and only one Superintendent sworn in for a given hundred. Theoretically there is no limit to the number of Constables Class III or II, Serjeants, Intendents or Commanders. Indeed, not all constabularies have all deputy ranks either. The Act does, however, provide for one Constable General.

The Constabulary Act provided that a 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 offices of subunderconstable, underconstable, constable, underbeadle 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, a Constable Class I is in charge of a police house, which may also have Constables Class II or III. Most villages, however, are large enough to have a Serjeant in charge of the police house.

A subdivision is a number of parishes clustered together commanded by an Intendent. The Intendent is usually based in the largest town or village of the division, where a police station is located. A division is a hundred or a group of hundreds or borough commanded by a Superintendent (who is High Constable of all of the hundreds within the division). Most constabularies have around eight to ten divisions. A Commander and Constable General operates from the constabulary headquarters which may, in the case of a small borough or county, be at the divisional headquarters.