Nakong Police Agency
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| Nakong Police Agency 內江警察部隊 | |
|---|---|
| File:Nakong Police Agency badge.svg | |
| Abbreviation | NKPA |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1899 (as Nakong Constabulary) 1955 (unified and renamed) |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Employees | 47,670 |
| Legal personality | Police force |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Nakong |
| Size | 40,015.36 km2 (15,450.02 sq mi) |
| Population | 15,901,548 |
| Governing body | Department of State for Public Safety |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 1 Police Square Queensport, Nakong |
| Minister responsible |
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| Agency executive |
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| Website | |
| police.nk | |
| Nakong Police Agency | |||||||||||||
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| Simplified script | 内江警察部队 | ||||||||||||
| Traditional script | 內江警察部隊 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Nakong police force | ||||||||||||
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The Nakong Police Agency (NKPA; Shangean: 內江警察部隊; Morwall romanization: noi6 gong1 ging2 chaat3 bou6 deui2) is the national police force of Nakong, with responsibility for local policing, tactical response, counter-terrorism, VIP protection and counter-intelligence across the country. Organized into a number of local detachments and national commands, the Nakong Police Agency is a large and decentralized division of the Department of State for Public Safety which works closely with the counties and municipalities of Nakong. The commanding officer of the NKPA is Margaret Chan, who has been in office since 2019.
Founded by Estmere in 1899 as the Nakong Constabulary, the force initially was responsible for enforcing colonial law in rural areas of Nakong while urban communities had standalone police forces. During the Great War, the Nakong Constabulary was placed under Estmerish military command and played a key role in the Battle of Nakong. Following the establishment of the Nakong Free State, the Nakong Constabulary was merged with the local police forces of Ningcho, Lin Chow County and Queensport to form the Nakong Police Agency. After independence in 1958, the Nakong Territorial Defence Regiment colonial militia force also fell under the NKPA's command.
In 1963, the emergence of the East Nakong insurgency resulted in police resources being stretched to the breaking point by ever-mounting counter-insurgency needs. As a result, the quasi-military Special Territorial Branch was spun off as the independent Nakong Autonomous Security Force, ending the NKPA's five-year stint as Nakong's de facto military. During the 1960s and 70s, the NKPA played a major role in dismantling the Shangean unionist movement on the island, during which time the agency was accused of engaging in arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and other human rights violations. Since the return of peace in the 1980s, the NKPA has largely shed its paramilitary functions and embarked on a community policing strategy to promote crime reduction and build public trust.
The Nakong Police Agency is one of four law enforcement agencies in Nakong, together with the National Investigative Agency (which investigates public corruption and organized crime), the Nakong Customs Agency (which manages border control), and the Security Force Provost (which handles military policing). The NKPA also works closely with the Nakong Overseas Security Agency, Nakong's foreign intelligence agency, and the Nakong Rescue Agency, Nakong's firefighting and ambulance service. The NKPA maintains fraternal ties with Estmere's Federal Police Force and Senria's National Police.
History
Early years
From the establishment of the South Seas Colony, law enforcement in Nakong was the responsibility of the Estmerish military, with army regiments dispersed over vast regions of the island to ensure compliance with colonial legislation. This arrangement was deemed a hindrance to military readiness, as the scattered deployment made it difficult to muster units in the event of war or unrest. This problem was made evident during the 1893 Longwan uprising, when striking labourers working on the Estmerish fleet's new anchorage seized the work camp and held it for 37 days against piecemeal counter-attacks.
In response, Governor General Lord Ashley ordered the creation of professional local police forces in Ningcho, Patlin and the newly established administrative seat of Queensport. He also decreed in 1899 the establishment of a Nakong Constabulary to assume responsibility for policing in all rural areas. The first commissioner of the Nakong Constabulary was Sir Frederick Moore, who moved to eliminate corruption and local favouritism within police ranks by instituting a billeting system whereby constables and their families are rotated every two years between communities as to avoid developing long-term relationships that undermine the police's neutrality—a system which survives in a modified form to this day for junior constables.
Upon the outbreak of the Great War in 1927, the Nakong Constabulary was transferred to the control of the Estmerish military's Nakong Joint Headquarters and constables were given rudimentary militia training in anticipation of an Entente invasion. During the subsequent Battle of Nakong, constables fought a costly delaying action in San Hau to allow the bulk of Estmerish forces in Ningcho to evacuate southward to Patlin. Throughout the occupation of Nakong, many constables joined up with the Nakong Liberation Army and mounted a guerilla warfare campaign against occupation forces.
1955–present
After the creation of the Nakong Free State in 1951, the newly elected Self-Determination Congress decided to consolidate Nakong's various colonial police and paramilitary forces into a centralized agency. To this end, the Nakong Constabulary merged with the local police forces of Ningcho, Lin Chow County and Queensport to create the Nakong Police Agency in 1955. Upon independence in 1958, Estmere ceased to have responsibility for Nakongese defence, and the military units of the Nakong Territorial Defence Regiment were subsumed under the Nakong Police Agency as the new, paramilitary Special Territorial Branch.
Following the Patlin general strike of 1962, Shangean unionist unrest grew rapidly and widespread violence in eastern Nakong resulted in the East Nakong insurgency. The NKPA proved incapable of balancing its local policing duties with the need to command a complex counter-insurgency military operation, and the decision was taken in 1963 to separate the Special Territorial Branch into a separate Nakong Autonomous Security Force (NASF). The NASF assumed responsibility for national defence, allowing the NKPA to focus on internal security and crime prevention.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the continuing Shangean unionist insurgency and the invasion scare triggered by the 1975 Coastal Crisis led the government to impose an indefinite state of emergency and grant extraordinary counter-terrorism powers to the Nakong Police Agency. The NKPA used these powers to indefinitely detain thousands of suspected unionists and Shangean agents without trial, suspending the writ of habeas corpus. During this time, the NKPA also used force to disperse peaceful protests and mass surveillance to intimidate independent media and opposition parties. Between 1963 and 1979, the NKPA has also been credibly implicated by international human rights bodies in the enforced disappearance of at least 30 people, though the agency strongly contests these reports.
After the demise of the insurgency in the 1980s, the NKPA began to shed its militarized approach and undertook a transformation under the leadership of Commissioner Peter Tam into a modern civilian police force based on community policing principles. Many counter-insurgency units were dissolved or significantly reduced, while policies were implemented to improve police accountability and better protect civil liberties. In 1993, the office of the Police Ombudsman of Nakong was created as a standing mechanism to investigate misconduct in the ranks of the NKPA, though its independence from police leadership has been questioned by the International Council for Democracy. In 1999, the Serious Crimes Unit of the NKPA, responsible for investigating public corruption and organized crime, was split off into a separate National Investigative Agency in response to political interference during the Seikung bribery scandal.
In 2002, a Digital Crimes Unit was established within the Nakong Police Agency to investigate cyber-crime. Today, the NKPA employs over 47,000 uniformed and civilian personnel and has a presence in all communities and ports of entry of Nakong.
Governance
The Nakong Police Agency is currently organized under letters patent most recently issued by the Cabinet of Nakong in 1985 and derives its legal authority from the Police Act 1955, an Act of the Parliament of Nakong most recently amended in 2013. The Act sets out the statutory mandate of the NKPA and outlines its legal powers and responsibilities. Under the Act, the mandate of the NKPA includes:
- the prevention of crime and the protection of public security in Nakong
- the preservation of public order in communities of all sizes
- the prevention of terrorism, drug smuggling, and hostile espionage
- the protection of officials, buildings and ports of entry of the Government of Nakong
The NKPA is part of the Department of State for Public Security and answers to the Minister of Public Safety, currently the Hon. Peter Lim Wai-chun MP. Complaints against NKPA constables are investigated by the Office of the Police Ombudsman of Nakong, an independent civilian official appointed by the Minister of Public Safety. The Ombudsman is authorized to file an official public report on confirmed cases of misconduct, but disciplinary actions or recommendations for criminal prosecution remain at the discretion of the police commissioner.
Leadership
The Nakong Police Agency is led by a commissioner, currently Margaret Chan since 2019. Chan is the first female commissioner of the NKPA. The commissioner is assisted by deputy commissioners overseeing each of the NKPA's divisions, in addition to a unique metropolitan deputy commissioner who oversees local policing in Ningcho. Under the Act, the commissioner is responsible for the overall administration of the NKPA, but key policy and financial decisions must be confirmed by the Joint Policing and Security Committee of the Parliament of Nakong.
Roles and structure
The Nakong Police Agency is organized into four branches and two branch-level independent units, all of which are headed by a deputy commissioner.
Community Patrol Branch
The Community Patrol Branch (Shangean: 邻里巡逻科) is by far the largest and most prominent branch, being responsible for local policing and crime prevention in all Nakongese communities except Ningcho. Though part of a national agency, the Community Patrol Branch works closely with local counties and municipalities to implement local priorities and address neighbourhood concerns. Tasks commonly performed by Community Patrol Branch officers include patrol work, traffic enforcement, providing security to community events, and investigating local crimes of all types and severities.
To ensure exposure to a wide variety of local contexts, constables of the Community Patrol Branch are randomly assigned to a community anywhere in Nakong and rotate between communities every two years for the first eight years of their career. Attention is paid to ensuring that each officer's postings include both rural and urban communities. At the end of the eight-year period, constables are permitted to choose a permanent posting or to apply for transfer to an elite branch of the NKPA.
Special Branch
The Special Branch (Shangean: 特警科) is the police tactical unit of the Nakong Police Agency, with responsibility for counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, riot control and other high-risk operations. Constables of the Special Branch are recruited from local patrol divisions and must pass a ten-week training course in advanced firearms use, counter-terrorist tactics, close-quarters combat and other tactical skills. As the elite response force of the Nakong Police Agency, Special Branch constables are also deployed overseas to protect Nakongese dignitaries and as part of Community of Nations peacekeeping missions.
Though the total size of the Special Branch is classified, units are known to exist in Ningcho, Patlin, Queensport, Ho Ying and Fort Burke. The Special Branch is also known to possess an aviation unit equipped with helicopters and light aircraft, which is based at Ningcho North Airport. The Special Branch works closely with other police branches and trains together with the Special Operations Command of the Nakong Autonomous Security Force.
Protection Branch
The Protection Branch (Shangean: 保鏢科) is responsible for patrolling and providing access control to buildings, airports, seaports, diplomatic missions and other facilities designated by the Government of Nakong, in addition to providing close protection to the Prime Minister of Nakong, foreign heads of state and other dignitaries. The Protection Branch also patrols all public transportation vehicles and facilities within Nakong and provides air marshals to deter aircraft hijacking.
A special unit of the Protection Branch protects the Sheung Si nuclear power plant from attack and provides security to nuclear materials in transit within Nakong.
National Security Branch
The National Security Branch (Shangean: 國家安全科) serves as Nakong's counter-intelligence service and is tasked with hunting down and arresting hostile foreign agents within Nakong, with secondary responsibility for preventing corporate espionage and monitoring threatening online communications. The activities of the National Security Branch are highly classified, but it is known that its main operational focus is to detect and capture agents who operate on behalf of Shangea within Nakong. The National Security Branch works very closely with the Nakong Overseas Security Agency, Nakong's foreign intelligence agency.
Digital Crimes Unit
The Digital Crimes Unit (Shangean: 網路犯罪部) is a special directorate of the Nakong Police Agency that investigates cyber-crime, including hacking, computer fraud and cybersex trafficking. Working with the National Investigative Agency, the Digital Crimes Unit attempts to dismantle organized efforts to use the Internet to commit crimes against Nakongese citizens, companies and government agencies. The Digital Crimes Unit is also responsible for defensive cyber-warfare and plays a leading role in preventing cyber-attacks against Nakongese government and infrastructure targets.
Ningcho Patrol Unit
The Ningcho Patrol Unit (Shangean: 寧州巡逻科) is a standalone unit of the Nakong Police Agency that provides local policing to Ningcho, the most populous city in Nakong. Previously part of the Community Patrol Branch, the Ningcho unit was split off into an independent command in 2005 as the administration of policing in both the metropolis and smaller communities throughout the nation had become unwieldy for a single commanding officer. As a result, Ningcho is the only Nakongese city in which the Community Patrol Branch has no presence, with the Ningcho Patrol Unit performing similar functions instead. Unlike other police units in Nakong, the Ningcho Patrol Unit's chain of command directly integrates the municipal administration, with the deputy commissioner heading the unit being directly appointed by the Ningcho City Council.
Ranks
| Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Superintendent | Deputy Superintendent | Assistant Superintendent | Chief Inspector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | |||||||
| Rank | Assistant Chief Inspector | Inspector | Staff Sergeant | Sergeant | Senior Constable | Constable | Special Constable |
| Insignia |
Equipment
The Nakong Police Agency uses a variety of equipment in the performance of its duties, including 4,642 road vehicles, 23 helicopters, seven harbour patrol boats, three fixed-wing aircraft and a number of unmanned aerial vehicles. Efforts in the 2010s to standardize police equipment led to the adoption of the Seikung Primus XL as the standard patrol vehicle of the NKPA, though some legacy vehicles remain in service and a wide variety of vehicles are used for specialized tasks such as prisoner transport, vehicle pursuit and riot control. The Nakong Police Agency's marked vehicles feature white base paint, blue-and-white Mountbatten markings, and bilingual markings in Shangean and Estmerish. NKPA vehicles are fitted with blue police lights and may also be equipped with spot lights and push bars, though neither feature is standard.
- Nakong Police car.png
A typical Nakong Police Agency Seikung Primus XL vehicle of the Ningcho Patrol Unit
A police helicopter in service with the Special Branch over Fort Bowen
A police boat of the Community Patrol Branch moored in the Port of Patlin
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Uniformed constables of the Nakong Police Agency typically wear a black tie, black dress pants (a black skirt for female constables) and a black peaked cap with a white dress shirt, which may either be short- or long-sleeve. An optional black jumper or field jacket may be worn over the shirt, as well as a high-visibility vest for officers on traffic duty or foot patrol. A stab vest or bulletproof vest may be equipped based on operational need, though constables rarely wear such protection on duty. Patrol officers are typically equipped with a radio, a pair of handcuffs, a telescopic baton, and a canister of pepper spray. Since 2022, constables carry a semi-automatic pistol as their service sidearm, replacing the standard-issue double-action revolver in use since 1939. Tactical and elite NKPA units also employ a variety of other weapons, including sniper rifles, assault rifles, submarine guns and high-calibre pistols. Though electroshock weapons are authorized for police use, only Special Branch tactical units are equipped with these devices.