No matter what roleplaying game is being played, very few campaigns are complete without some kind of run-in with local law enforcement. Whatever the genre or setting of the game, the themes may well be similar – the PCs commit a crime, are wrongly accused of a crime, perhaps their well-intentioned actions to save the world still result in them breaking laws in front of an unsympathetic police force. Perhaps the PCs -are- the police.
In modern public law terms, the Police count as an 'Executive Power'. They have certain abilities and rights delegated down to them by the relevant governing body. These include the power to stop civilians, arrest and detain them, in effect denying them their basic human right of freedom. Of course, with great power comes responsibility, and so the exact nature of the powers of the police need to be laid out clearly, both for the benefit of the police themselves and the rest of the population.
Contrary to the impression often given in popular media, modern day police officers can not do anything they want. No, not even in America. Instead, their powers are clearly laid out, usually in some form of legislation. This document will present exactly what it is that the relevant police force can, and cannot do. And any police officer who goes outside the code will generally find him/herself an easy target for a flock of hungry defence lawyers.
For modern day settings, the legislated codes are usually freely available on the internet for research purposes. Some countries are more straightforward than others. Whilst the UK has the everything included in a single document called the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), US legislation is more complex with some rules being issued at federal level and others at state level depending on which branch of the police service is under question. The legislation is often then transcribed into a simple Code of Practice which can be issued to the actual police officers.
The UK version can be found here:
It covers pretty much everything a police office might want to do in the course of duty, including stop and search, making arrests and inspecting property. It describes in simple detail the exact procedure that should be followed when doing a stop and search, as well as the circumstances in which the stop and search can be carried out. For instance, it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race or religion and so on, and when doing a stop and search, the exact reasons must be explained to the target beforehand. US Codes of Practice will involve much of the same but with the additional information on the use of guns and weaponry.
All such codes of practice are constantly updated to take into account new and modern changes, the most recent being the growing threat of international terrorism.
So, for modern settings, a little bit of research should reveal the code of practice for the relevant country or state that your game is set in.
Of course for historical, fantasy or science fiction settings, it's not so easy. And yet even 'Ye Olde City Guarde' will need to have some form of guidelines as to what their powers actually are. Creating a simple code of practice for a setting is actually quite straightforward, by again, using a modern one, such as PACE as a template. Simply decide how much authority and autonomy has been granted to the local law enforcement. A setting with a police force that has vast swathes of power and discretion will be very different to a setting in which the Police only have nominal power to actually do anything.
Of course, regardless of the setting or code, it is ultimately just words written on paper. Police officers acting outside the code are a common occurrence in the real world, let alone in any other setting. Again, the consequences for this may vary. Some countries or places may simply not have the time or resources to investigate such breaches, or the government may not even care. Others may inflict severe penalties on those who break the code. It all depends on how important a role you want the police play in your setting.
Next Time: Hacking the Planet – Computer Crime
