Law Enforcement

## Description

A division of Health and Safety

Law Enforcement personnel are not allowed to marry outside their own ranks. Being allocated to Law Enforcement by Lottery is viewed as problematic by many families, and relationships with the birth family often break down as a result.

Almost all professions are included in Law Enforcement, such as maintenance works and teachers and are assigned by lottery based on their ability to keep secrets and loyalty to the Hive.

### Hasties

The personnel of law enforcement are called Hasties by the Hive population. They are mostly concerned with warning children away from dangers, catching trespassers, and similar routine activities. Since the people believe the Hive is a safe place without crime, being a hasty is not particularly prestigious.

Crimes are routinely covered up as accidents, to prevent imitation, and when that is not possible, the crimes is referred to as the hostile action of agents from some other Hive.

The Nosie squads that patrol the hive are especially trained in unarmed combat in case of an attack.

### Nosies

To prevent crime, Law Enforcement pretends that the Hive has many telepaths, commonly called Nosies, who can detect criminal thoughts and intentions, and who regularly walk all over the Hive to ferret out any misdeeds. However, these nosies are usually ordinary hasties dressed up in masks with purple eyes and grey costumes to look scary. On special occasions, a borderline telepath like Buzz will play the role. Nosies are usually accompanied by four hasties in the blue uniform of Law Enforcement.

Most people hate the thought of Nosies reading their thoughts, innocent or not, and will try to prevent the mental intrusion by shouting out multiplication tables. They will also try to get away from Nosies as quickly as possible. Amber's parents loath and fear Nosies, and so did she until she came to terms with being a telepath herself.

Borderline telepaths often participate in public arrests or confirmation assignment.

A confirmation assignment is a way to publicly confirm that Nosies are telepathic. For these assignments a borderline telepath goes out dressed as a Nosie and confronts someone that has been starting rumors that Nosies are fake and are not telepathic. The Nosy will intercept the person in front of as many witnesses as possible, make comments about the person’s foolishness, and quote carefully chosen facts about them. If the borderline telepath also gets an insight into that person, this can be an utterly convincing confirmation that nosies are telepaths..

The nosies costume and mask are made deliberately scary as a protective measure. If they weren't, there is a possibility that some people might hang around a Nosy squard to talk to them and discover that they aren't real telepaths. The inhuman looking mask with huge purple eyes and the distorted voice ensures that people hurry away from them as quickly as possible.

### Scouts

Assist Law enforcement by following suspects until they can verify that the suspect is the guilty person that they are looking for. Once a scout has verified that they are guilty they call in the Hasties to make an arrest. They may also follow the suspect until they are in a safe location to make the arrest. A borderline Scout is rare and valuable and will have a team working with them.

### Personal Protection Branch

Members of the personal protection branch of law enforcement serve as body guards for important people in the hive such as head of Hive Politics.

There uniform is a grey onesuit.

### Stalking Specialists

Investigate reports of someone being stalked. When someone, especially a teen requests a room change from Accommodation Services and the reason they give is that someone is bothering them too much, accommodation services will often refer the incident to the Stalking branch of law enforcement for investigation.

A stalking specialist is likely to go undercover to see if the teen is really being stalked and if so will refeer the stalker to therapy.

## See also

* Health and Safety
* Scouts
* Telepathy

## References

### Citations

1. ↑ Edwards, Janet. Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4) (p. 10). Wallam-Crane Press. Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Edwards, Janet. Adversary (Hive Mind Book 5) (p. 21). Wallam-Crane Press. Kindle Edition.

### Bibliography

* Edwards, Janet. *Perilous (Hive Mind 0.5)* (2017). Wallam-Crane Press. Kindle Edition.
* Edwards, Janet. *Borderline (Hive Mind 4)* (2019). Wallam-Crane Press. Kindle Edition
* Edwards, Janet. *Adversary (Hive Mind 5)* (2023). Wallam-Crane Press. Kindle Edition