Law enforcement in Eurasia

**Law enforcement in Eurasia** is one of three major components of the justice system in Eurasia, including the Judiciary of Eurasia and the Penitentiaries of Eurasia. Each component operates semi-independently, with the police falling entirely under the control of the Ministry of Police. The three form a chain which leads from the enforcement of law to the application of criminal punishment.

Law enforcement in Eurasia is controlled via the policies put in place by the Police Ministry, which is an imperial level, cabinet level governmental agency which controls all the policing of Eurasia. Each province of Eurasia maintains a semi-autonomous branch of the Ministry of the Police, which ultimately reports to the Prime Minister of the Police but which to a large degree is granted independence in its enforcement of imperial law in the various provinces. These provincial divisions are further divided into prefectural divisions, which may further subdivide into municipal agencies.

Some agencies which act as law enforcement in Eurasia are outside the purview of the Police Ministry, such as the various military police agencies operated by the Ministry of War. The Praetorian Guard also acts as a similar sort of police force for the areas owned by the Imperial Government, and the Park Guards, which are law enforcement officers who protect the natural parks and reserves of the Ministry of the Environment.

## National Police

As the Ministry of the Police is a uniformed, paramilitary gendarmerie, it operates on a national level and is generally one of the only police agencies a Eurasian or foreigner will encounter. It maintains many branches and agencies, many of which act semi-independently. The branches of the Ministry of the Police which acts on an imperial level include the Julium Police, Frontier Guard, Aviation Guard, and the Tribunal Police.

All police units generally wear similar uniforms, and are distinguished based upon their branches of service by patches and other regalia, including armbands. Some provinces have implemented differing uniforms than others, and some municipalities which maintain their own police forces frequently implement different uniforms.

## Provincial Police

The next level of policing is broken down to the provincial level. A provincial policeman generally has police powers in his own province, but is not authorized to enforce laws in other parts of the Empire unless having received a special dispensation to do so. The reasons for this are both ancient and twofold. The practice initially began with the Cephorean Reforms, when the Emperor Cephorus I of Eurasia allowed the various provinces to maintain their own provincial militias in addition to the imperial legions, with the stipulation that they could not legally operate outside their home provinces. This was done in order to prevent any legal means of sedition, and also to ensure the security of the Empire and the ultimate control of the Emperor. This process continued until the Marinian Reforms, during which time Marinus of Eurasia reformed the laws to place the police solidly under Imperial control, which prior to the reforms they had been in practice but not in technical legality.

The Provincial police are often, in especially rural provinces, the only police to which a Eurasian citizen has access. In a province such as Mantua, which is both poor and highly rural, the Ministry of the Police has only established sub level police agencies in highly populated regions, and thus the rural farmlands are the jurisdiction of the provincial police.

## Prefectural Police

A Prefectural police force is one whose jurisdiction extends only in the prefecture in which they serve. This is often the lowest level of policing in Eurasia, and though the officers who comprise it are frequently enlisted from their respective prefectures, a lack of new recruits can result in officers being transferred from other prefectures or even from other provinces. A prefectural policeman has the authority to enforce the laws of the Empire in the municipalities which make up his prefecture, and can even in some extenuating circumstances overrule municipal officers.

## Municipal Police

In Eurasian cities with large populations, it is often necessary that the Ministry of Police and its Provincial agency devote a larger number of officers than can be easily supplied and coordinated by the Prefectural Police, in which case a municipal agency is formed, which acts semi-independently of the Prefectural police and the Provincial and Imperial police. In cities such as the capitals of provinces it is not uncommon for the Provincial police to merely enforce the law, but in other cities such as in Arbor Felix, the municipal police enforce the laws of the Empire.

## Coordination between Agencies

All Eurasian police agencies are ultimately subject to the authority of the Prime Minister of the Police and the Emperor himself. A decision made by a Provincial Minister of Police can be overruled by the Prime Minister or Emperor, as can a decision by the Prefectural Minister or Municipal Minister. The autonomy inherent in the system is merely to ease the efficacy of policing in the Empire. Unlike in federal states, Eurasian law is unitary, and the laws enforced by a municipal officer in Arbor Felix are the same as those enforced by an Imperial Officer in Julium.