Legacy: OURPGSoc Society Game 2006-2007

United Imperial Constabulary

Over time, the Empire grew more prosperous and far-reaching. Enforcement of order by any single House, including the Imperial House itself, became unwieldy. Therefore, each House developed its own system of punishment and put in place the policing structure to implement this. In addition, to maintain order in matters which concerned more than one House (and so did not fall under the jurisdiction of said House’s own enforcement agency) but which did not warrant the direct attention of the Emperor himself, the United Imperial Constabulary were formed. Working directly for the Imperial House, the Constabulary liaises with the security authorities in each of the five Houses. This has proven useful in order to keep the flow of information between Houses going and to note patterns in criminal activity which might not otherwise be spotted.

Many of the Constabulary's best officers were killed in a major pirate attack on the HQ on Rigel in 617EY. Lacking the manpower to do anything effectively, the UIC was restructured. The previously independent force was changed to have a core of Detectives who are all members of House Lystra and a much larger contingent of Specials, officers seconded from House security forces. Typically, Detective Sergeants oversee around ten Special Constables, two from each House's delegation. Special Inspectors are in charge of liaising with the Detective Inspectors, who administer the groups working on individual cases.

Since the UIC still has limited resources and manpower, they are primarily investigative and do not leave cases open indefinitely: if there has been no progress on a case in six months, the team assigned to it is severely reduced (perhaps down to a mere part of the case load for a single Detective Sergeant). If there is no progress in the following year, the case is archived and removed from active consideration. This regrettable policy means that the UIC have a large number of unsolved cases, but this is necessary to keep the number of Detectives required to a reasonable level.

The Detectives of the UIC are expected to be completely impartial, truly honourable and highly skilled. Their training regime is known to be punishingly rigorous and they keep a close watch on the Specials under their command. It is also notable that their ranks contain several Imprint Psychics, an extremely useful skill in such work. The respect for these Detectives allows the UIC to be trusted by the Houses in all criminal matters and they are often able to mediate between Houses whose interests are at odds. Whilst full Detectives (and even higher ranked Specials) have the authority to arrest any citizen of the Empire in the name of the Emperor, it is normal practice for the UIC to ask a House security force to arrest and hand over a suspect and it is here that the Specials have been especially useful.

The Constabulary is, currently, primarily concerned with the activities of the Migan, a band of pirates operating out of Hollann space. Murders among the Nobility often reach the attention of the UIC as well as any arrests to be made following an investigation by the Imperial Treasury.

OOC Note: While PCs cannot be UIC Detectives at game start, each House has its own military and policing force for those wishing to play investigators and police/security professionals. If you are interested in your character being a Special, please talk to the GMs.