Kouralian Service Police
The Service Police of the Royal Union of Kouralia are three provost police forces and a military prison guard service. They are primarily responsible for maintaining discipline, force security, and investigating crimes committed by service persons on duty, disciplinary infractions too severe to be dealt with in-unit, and crimes committed against the services themselves. The Royal Provost Branch is the Royal Army's provost corps, the Naval Regulating Branch is the Royal Navy's provost corps, and the Air Force Guard Branch is the National Air Force's provost corps. In addition to these three there is the Provost Guard and Warders' Regiment of the Royal Army which mans military prisons.
Training for each of the services is three-fold. First comes Basic or Phase One training which is conducted in-service at Phase One training facilities, which covers the necessary fieldcraft, weapons handling, discipline, fitness and other topics. Phase Two, or Role Specific training is conducted at the Military Provost Academy in Lailand and consists of legal instruction, training in the use of Provost-specific techniques such as defensive tactics, and input on the organisation and formation of provost forces. The final, Phase Three training is conducted in-unit, and consists of a one year probationary period during which the recruit is almost entirely paired with a 'tutor' officer who can instruct them on the job, while the officer completes distance learning packages and training programmes. At the end of this period the soldier, sailor or airman is, unless they have demonstrated unsuitability considered to be a full member of that branch. They can then patrol on their own within Kouralia, or be deployed to combat zones as probationary officers are not permitted to deploy to combat zones except in times of extreme need.
The head of each service police force is known as the Provost Marshal-General, Chief Superintending Regulator, or Provost Marshal-Prefect, and is a two-star position. The seniormost officer of the Provost Guard and Warders' Regiment is a Colonel. To get around the hierarchical structure of the military, where a Sergeant investigating a rape allegation against a commissioned officer could theoretically be stonewalled or ordered to not undertake actions by the suspect or sympathetic parties, a number of measures are taken. Firstly, the offence of Interference with a Provost Investigation carries a maximum liability of five years imprisonment and explicitly includes 'issuing orders calculated to pervert the course of justice'. Secondly, all Provost enlisted personnel are appointed to the office of Constable-Martial, which gives them full police powers over service personnel and civilians subject to service discipline. Orders to investigate offences or not investigate offences cannot be issued by anyone outside of the relevant service police force, and appeal against any order can be made to the Office of the Chief Inspector of Service Policing which has the power to investigate crimes to sensitive for service police to investigate, such as corruption by Flag/Prefectural/General Officers or serious corruption and perversion of the course of justice within service police forces. It can also overturn decisions made in respect to investigation or policing operations if it believes they may be compromised, but not to a level of corruption.
A commissioned service police officer of OF-2 (Captain (Army), Lieutenant (Naval), or Chief Lieutenant (Air Force)) may for a period of not more than 24 hours bestow full Constable powers on enlisted service personnel in respect to an investigation. This is to facilitate investigation of crimes which may have been committed by service personnel in conjunction with civilians not subject to service discipline, or which have been committed by civilians against the relevant service. It must be submitted in writing within 120 minutes of verbal authorisation being given. It can be extended to seven days by a commissioned service police officer of OF-4 (Colonel, Commander (Naval), or Commander (Air Force)) which must be given in writing and can be renewed twice by that officer before being submitted to the Provost Marshal-General's Office, Chief Superintending Regulator's Office, or Provost Marshal-Prefect's Office for review and extension to up to one calendar year from issuing of the first authorisation (whether OF-2 level or OF-4 level). Any further extensions in conjunction with a specific investigation must be authorised by the Secretary of State for Mainland Affairs.
History
Royal Provost Branch
The Royal Provost Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps is responsible for both physical security, and criminal investigation and policing of the Royal Army. It is responsible for criminal investigation, policing, traffic control on operations and other such duties, along with the physical security of Royal Army premises within Kouralia. Unlike the NRB and the AFGS, the Royal Military Police makes extensive use of professional officers in operational roles. The mobile nature of large formations, and the use of whole Companies and Battalions of military policemen mean that these units require skilled high quality leadership on and off the field of battle. RMP Officers are trained to higher standards of skill at arms than naval or air force service police, and on deployment will often carry much more ordinance than other service police officers due to the greater likelihood that they will need force multipliers in combat, such as against tanks. The standard rank in the RMP is Lance Corporal, giving not only the 'Police' authority over all private soldiers, but also the ability to issue lawful orders to them. Serious criminal investigation is undertaken in the RMP by the Special Investigative Branch.
Regimental Police
It is important not to confuse the RMP with 'Regimental Police', who are soldiers of that particular regiment (e.g. an Infantry Battalion) who are given responsibility for minor disciplinary matters and for handling of detained persons until RMP specialists can take over. The average cohort-sized formation has four Lance Corporals and a Provost Serjeants. Along with assisting the Regimental and Company Sergeant Majors in the maintenance of good discipline in the unit, they are also responsible for assisting with traffic management on-base and when on the march, and for managing prisoners when in the field.
The NRB is the only provost organisation for the Kouralian Navy and it has responsibilities for both law enforcement and fleet security unlike the other two services, where those duties are divided up among separate sub-divisions. Every single operational member of the Naval Regulating Branch is enlisted, and Commissioned officers only have the role of managers - they are usually Late Entry Officers who have served as Regulators previously. Sailors of the NRB are referred to as 'Regulators', and upon completion of training in-rate at the Military Provost Academy they are given the rank of Leading Rate.
| Rate (Rank) | Regulator Rating | Abbreviation | Time in service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leading Rate | (Leading) Regulator | LRg | 1-4yrs |
| Petty Officer | First Regulator | FRg | 4-8yrs |
| Chief Petty Officer | Chief Regulator | CRg | 8-15yrs |
| Warrant Officer II (not seniormost) |
Master Regulator | MRg | 15-25yrs |
| Warrant Officer I (seniormost) |
Master-At-Arms | MAA | 25yrs+ |
Naval Regulators have presence on every naval warship from Corvette upward, where they are responsible for maintaining discpline, investigating infractions and crimes, providing a cadre of dismounted combat-trained silors for shore parties, and controlling the vessel's armomoury. On ships the seniormost Regulator will be a Master-Ar-Arms, though a battlefleet will likely have a Regulatory Officer of the rank Lieutenant or higher assigned to its admiral's staff. There are many roles within the Naval Regulating Branch, including dog handlers, specialist firearms cadres, and Special Regulators of the Investigatory Regulating Department whose job is to investigate major crimes such as murder, rape, serious security breaches and espionage. Even within this role, all operational tasks are undertaken by enlisted sailors, with minimal requirement to seek authority from commissioned officers. As its members are among the most extensively trained in dismounted combat, its members make up one of the largest proportions of Sailors joining the Swimmer-Canoeist Regiment.