Police in Pecháno
Pecháno has
urban police forces, Sákbe Road guards, and tomb police. The police
forces of larger towns and cities are considered to be part of the regular
standing army: troopers who are organised, trained and armed like medium
infantry. In the villages the constabulary consists only of a village headman
plus a posse of bucolic deputies drafted into temporary service. His powers
include keeping the peace, arresting malefactors, solving minor disputes
(usually with the help of the clan elders), investigating local crimes, etc. He
can only punish petty offences with a few days imprisonment in a storeroom,
root cellar, or, if he is in a bad mood, the basement story of the village
latrines. Those accused of more serious offences are held until a squad of
police from the nearest town are sent out to collect the felon, or felons.
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Pecháni policeman
and two felons.
Detail from the Temple of Quóth in Ogréjja.
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The size of the police squad
typically varies from town to town, or region. Those towns that are close to
the borders usually have a larger constabulary than those located within the
interior of the country. Towns on the border with Salarvyá can easily have 15 –
20 constables while those on, or near, the border with Ssuyál can have double
that number whereas a town outside of Ogréjja would have, at the most, 5
policemen. Mechanéno has about 2500 full time constables on the books, with
another 1000 reservists that can be called up in time of need. The actual
number of on duty constables at any given time is probably closer to 800 -
1000, as many of these positions are patronage appointments where only a “pay
cheque” is collected and no policing is done. The current Chægósh is said to be
quite displeased with this situation and rumours of reform are being whispered
by those close to the Royal Court. Ogréjja has approximately 200
constables, at most, with another 100 that can be drawn in from adjoining towns
within the immediate vicinity; Teshkóa has a full time force of 500 men who are
also responsible for patrolling those towns adjacent to Teshkóa, within a 50km
radius. They also serve as guards at the Rekhmél’s iron mines. The Chief of
Police in a Pecháni town or city is technically the highest ranking municipal
official, and is supposed to be independent, answerable only to the Royal Court however, quite often military
commanders are given overall command and the Police Chief is subordinate to the
senior Sreddéq.
The Pecháni police tend to be quite
efficient and professional, if somewhat overworked, and corruption is not as
wide spread amongst its rank and file as it is in other nations. This is not to
say that the policemen of Pecháno are ‘saints’, merely that they are less greedy
than their opposites the Five Empires. The Beneshchán and Rekhmél are
responsible for the upkeep of the police forces in their lands, although both
clans are subsidised by the state. Curiously, the Lords of Ogréjja are not
obligated to pay for policing and all funding comes directly from
Mechanéno.
