Reálie Melzy: Mestská stráž

Mestská stráž Melzy (hovorovo "Stráž") je inštitúciu na udržiavanie zákona a poriadku, orgán činný v trestnom konaní, a slúži ako obdoba mestskej/metropolitnej polície v meste Melza.

 

Stráženie zákona a poriadku v Melze spadá pod viacero odlišných organizácií, z ktorých má každá vlastného vedúceho. Nespornou hlavou všetkých týchto inštitúcií je Lord Mayor, a v poradných rolách jeho ministri pre bezpečnosť.

Organizácie pre ochranu poriadku v Melze majú slušné inventáre výbavy, no nie sú vystrojené ťažkou výzbrojou, nemajú lietajúce stroje a vlastnia iba pár menších pomocných člnov, popri suchozemských vozidlách. Veľká časť policajného výstroja zahŕňa špeciálne nástroje a omračovanie zbrane s nižším rizikom zabitia.

Tak Mestská stráž ako i Pohraničiarsky zbor majú svoju ústrednú centrálu v Krídle Stráže v Domoch vlády.

Erb Mestskej stráže v meste Melza, z môjho fantazijného sveta Orbis Furum (Príležitosť robí zlodeja).

Vychádza z erbu Melzy. Z erbového štítu je odstránený motív rieky, no ponechaná je mestská brána s vlajkami, a pridané je or/argent (zlaté/strieborné) oko nad bránou, symbolizujúce vševidiace oko zákona a spravodlivosti. Taktiež je nad tým pridané or (zlaté) slnko na heraldickej pravej strane a argent (strieborný) mesiac-polmesiac na heraldickej ľavej strane. Slnko a mesiac symbolizujú udržiavanie pokoja Mestskou strážnou tak vo dne, ako i v noci.

Za štítom sú prítomné dva skrížené argent (strieborné) jednoručné dvojsečné meče. Tak ako erb Melzy, aj erb Mestskej stráže nesie vo svojej vrchnej časti ako klenot barónsku korunu melzanskej monarchie.

Organizačná štruktúra Mestskej stráže

The City Watch conducts most of its activities only in the city proper, though they will occassionally venture out into the city state's outer, rural areas and investigate criminal activities over there as well. They are the biggest and main law enforcement agency of the Melzan polity.

The head figure of the City Watch is the "Chief-o'-the-Watch", also known colloquially as the Chieftain or simply the Chief. He is subordinate to the Lord Mayor and all members of the City Watch are in turn subordinate to him.

Currently, the City Watch operates seven service branches (six of them "bureaus" and one a special branch). Most of these also have their own, further specialised investigation departments.

Oddelenie obecného hliadkovania a bezpečnosti - This is the most populous and easily recognisable service branch of the Melzan police force. Ah, the good old patrolmen and patrolwomen of the Watch ! The true foot soldiers of The City's police. Whether you like it or not, as a thief, these men and women serving on the force will be the policemen and guards you'll be encountering most frequently (outside of private security guards). The equipment and uniforms of the Patrolmen, while unified, can have slight variations depending on their rank and the location they're serving in. Arms-wise, they tend to wear no armour or only lighter armour (e.g. padded armour, brigandine, etc.) and generally wield one-handed swords, clubs, shortbows, certain types of crossbows and pistols. Some of them occassionally carry a stun bomb, so it's not wise to rely too much on the notion that you can always outfool them and their weaponry while making your escape. Patrolmen can be dangerous and deadly to you due to their sheer numbers, and the fact that they often cooperate with colleagues from other Watch branches or with random citizens-bystanders that call on them for help. In short, don't underestimate the bobbies…

Oddelenie vyšetrovania vlamačstva a krádeží - One of the two bigger "plainclothes" branches of the Watch. This is the bureau most dreaded by the professional thieves of Melza, for obvious reasons. When you're a thief, it doesn't pay off to leave much evidence behind, as this particular bureau of the The Watch has been becoming increasingly professional and scientific in its examination methods as of late. The “B&T” or "BTI", as people on the Watch like to call it, is staffed by civilian-clad detectives, crime scene investigators, experts on assessing the burglary methods used, and experts on assessing property damages. The bureau has its own minority of armed officers to accompany the detectives, and they can be every bit as risky to run into as the regular Patrolmen. Armaments of these individual armed officers are highly similar to those of their aforementioned colleagues. Due to the nature of burglary investigation, even the detectives tend to carry small personal defence weaponry from time to time.

Oddelenie vyšetrovania vrážd - One of the two bigger "plainclothes" branches of the Watch. It's staffed by the aforementioned civilian-clad detectives, coroners, murder scene investigators, medical examiners, and several groups of lab rats focusing on particular areas of (primitive) forensic research. The bureau has its own minority of armed officers to accompany the detectives, and they can be every bit as risky to run into as the regular Patrolmen. Armaments of these individual armed officers are highly similar to those of their aforementioned colleagues. Due to the nature of homicide investigation, even the detectives tend to carry small personal defence weaponry from time to time. In recent years, the bureau has started using increasingly modern methods of murder investigation. Unless you've decided to become a killer and you were foolish enough to leave plenty of traces behind, you needn't worry too much about the homicide investigators. Unless you provoke the armed officers or even detectives to chase you or get into a scrap with you, you should be fine.

Oddelenie obchodnej inšpekcie a prevencie pašeráctva - One of the three smaller "plainclothes" branches of the Watch. The “CISP” is the bureau that specialises in dealing with economic criminality, from anything smuggling-related to “white collar” crime. (Not that they're all that successful combating the latter in particular, with corruption and cronyism being what it is.) Outside of investigating, the employees also engage in customs work, though in an amount that is secondary to the customs policemen working for Melza's gendarmerie, the Frontiersmen Corps. Due to the frequent overlap of cases between the CISP bureau and the customs employees of the gendarmerie, of the seven City Watch branches, the CISP bureau cooperates the most with said other law enforcement service. Thieves dabbling in smuggling, fencing loot, the running of front companies, etc., should be on the lookout from the CISP investigators and the watchmen assigned to accompany them. Along with the burglary bureau, this is possibly the branch one can anger the easiest if he or she is not careful.

Oddelenie dopravy a premávky - One of the three smaller, mostly "plainclothes" branches of the Watch. Its employees oversee the transport safety and abiding of transport regulations within the state and The City in particular. In one of the few examples of The Watch having jurisdiction outside of Melza, instead of The Frontiersmen Corps, there is Railway Policing Department within the bureau. All trains within the Barony's borders, whether the national train franchise or privately operated companies, are staffed by uniformed coppers of the department, acting as railway policemen. Reflecting some interservice rivalry, the “T&T Bureau” is often mocked by the other branches of The Watch for supposedly being “the place with the easy jobs”. Naturally, Traffic Watchmen get annoyed by the old cliché and will spare no time in trying to set the record straight in front of civilian strangers. The branch of The Watch that the “T&T”-s cooperate the most with (and generally get along the best with) is the CISP Bureau. Though some of the old jokes about “T&T-s having it easy” still abound, there is a sense of camaraderie between their employees. Armaments of individual T&T watchmen are highly similar to those of the average Patrolmen.

Oddelenie etnických a druhových vzťahov - One of the three smaller "plainclothes" branches of the Watch. It is the youngest, newest branch of Melzan police. After a decades and centuries long history of recurring rioting and squabbles among specific groups of a species, racial, ethnic or religious nature (especially in some notorious or troubled parts of Melza), City Hall decided it's high time to form a specially trained branch of The Watch for the sake of mitigating and preventing such occurences. The “ESR Bureau” and its “Essers” were born. Of all the policemen serving in The Watch, the Essers are arguably the most plainclothes of all, given their role as negotiators and semi-psychologists. They are deeply knowledgeable about local issues and how to diffuse them (usually peacefully, if possible). You can count on them to “know the lay of the land” in terms of social and cultural contexts.

Špeciáli Stráže - Not a bureau of the Watch in the classic sense, but they are run quite similarly. In terms of duties, they are the most varied of all seven of the Watch’s services. These policemen and detectives are called upon whenever there is a need for more out-of-the-ordinary missions and procedures. Anything from resolving riots and kidnappings, sniffing out criminals on the run, or even thwarting the abuse of the latest technologies for criminal purposes. The departments (or more precisely, units) of the The Watch Specials are:

a.) Lietajúca čata - They're a form of up-gunned policemen, created to deal with crime scenarios requiring rapid crisis response. “The Squaddies” were originally organised as a slightly better armed group of plainclothes detectives, sent out to investigate higher risk warrant services or conduct police raids. Over a number of years, it became increasingly obvious to the municipal government and the leadership of the City Watch that the average death toll of a Flying Squad employee is ridiculously high. Thus, it was decided that the department's employees will be greatly re-equipped and retrained, in order to better handle armed scuffles with particularly dangerous criminals. Unlike their Patrolmen counterparts, the Squaddies are quite armour-clad (usually in medium armour) a skutočne "vyťahujú ťažšie kalibre". They are the most heavily armed policemen in the Watch, toting civilian versions of military-grade firearms, bladed weapons and polearms. They also carry stun bombs and stun mines as standard issue. From a thief's perspective, though there is generally little reason to worry about them being called in, it is nevertheless a possible outcome - especially if you blow a heist attempt in a high-security public institution. Beware, Squaddies have a tendency of following a "shoot to kill” policy. Flying Squad members occassionally include dog handlers, adding to a pilferer's plight if he underestimates the situation.

b.) Tlmiči nepokojov - Populárne pomenovanie for what amounts to the City Watch's riot police squads. Part of “The Watch Specials” branch, where they form their own department. Melzan society tends to be generally quiet all year round, but from time to time, a good old bit of riot or public unrest erupts. The City Watch usually responds in kind. As one would expect, the gear of the average Queller consists of fairly heavy protective armour (the heaviest in the Watch, in fact), riot shields and various melee weaponry (clubs, batons and even maces being the most common, polearms a close second). While the Quellers are no strangers to a ruthless baton charge if one is required and ordered, to their credit, they usually try to focus on merely breaking up a riot or pushing the least reasonable group of rioters aside of the rest of the crowds. Some of Melza's humanitarian-minded personalities have been campaigning as of late to have the old-fashioned batons of the Quellers replaced with ones made of rubber (a recently discovered technological marvel). However, the municipal government and Watch leadership have ignored the proposal for now. Unless you're the type of thief that likes partaking in street unrest or angry public protests, you don't need to worry about these particular policemen.

c.) Psovodská jednotka a d.) Sokoliarska jednotka, atď. - Various animal-handling departments of “The Watch Specials”. Simply put, policemen with sniffer dogs, guard dogs and trained pigeon-intercepting or gull-intercepting falcons. They have quite a bit of history in The Watch, surprisingly enough.

e.) Jednotka väzenskej bezpečnosti a stráženia - Overseen by Prison Wardens, this more heavily armed service focuses on guarding prisons and jails in Melza, and escorting suspects and prisoners between prison and a judicial court. They also guard the courts. Occassionally, they serve as guards at executions of criminals, some of them public.

f.) Tím prevencie kalkových zločinov a dohľadu nad nimi - Novinka, ktorá sa v rámci Stráže objavila iba v uplynulých pár rokoch. So vzostupom najskorších kalkových komunikačných sústav v Melze prišiel aj vzostup najranejších kalkových kriminálnikov, alebo "kleperov", ako sa im začalo hovoriť. Hoci si vláda o tejto záležitosti sprvu uvažovala ako o hrozbe, ktorá sa vyskytne len raz za čas, hrozbe, ktorej sa treba venovať len prípad od prípadu, onedlho si uvedomili, že nelegálne zasahovanie do novopečených komunikačných systémov sa stáva čoraz viac opakovaným a čoraz rozšírenejším javom. Nakoniec váhavo dali zelenú pre utvorenie nového úseku v rámci "Špeciálov Stráže". Zamestnaní sú tu teraz najlepší proti-kleperi, ktorí sa v Melze dajú zohnať, a celá jednotka funguje na polo-experimentálnej báze. Čím však narastá životnosť celého projektu, začínajú sa šíriť úvahy o neskoršom presune tímu pod Oddelenie dopravy a premávky. Tak či onak, Radnici ešte môže chvíľu trvať, kým príde s definitívnym záverom ohľadom tohto konkrétneho rozhodnutia. V súčasnosti rozbehol tento najmladší tím Stráže určitú osvetovú kampaň pre verejnosť, na miestach, ktorú už sú vybavené kalkmi a spojeniami kalkovej siete. Slogan znie "Ak narušíte sieť, väzenie vás neminie !"

Krátke dejiny Mestskej stráže

Vývoj Mestskej stráže začal s pôvodnou posádkou, meštianskou milíciou Melzy, a s vtedajšími lapačmi zlodejov, ktorých zamestnávala mestská samospráva. Čím viac narastala potreba riadnych strážcov zákona, tým viac narastala aj profesionalizácia budúcej inštitúcie, a počet zamestnancov v jej radoch. Jej technologické vybavenie bolo taktiež postupne vylepšované. Keď štát nakoniec rozdelil zastaranú meštiansku milíciu do úsekov začlenených do stáleho vojska Melzy a do úsekov určených len pre stráženie zákona a poriadku, boli položené základy Stráže v jej dnešnej podobe.

Zamestnanci Pouličnej služby Stráže vznikli vývojovo z lapačov zlodejov zo starších čias, zatiaľ čo Strážna služba pochádza vývojovo z tých častí niekedajšej meštianskej milície (mestskej posádky-domobrany), ktoré mali za povinnosť brániť mestské hradby, brány, dobre brániteľné úžiny a dôležité inštitúcie. Pouličná služba poskytuje hliadkovanie (spravidla ľahšie ozbrojeným personálom), Strážna služba je statickejšej povahy, zameraná viac na stráženie konkrétnych lokalít (spravidla s ťažšie ozbrojeným personálom). Vyšetrovacia služba je v rámci Mestskej stráže najnovšia. Svoju súčasnú podobu získala vďaka pokroku v kriminologických a zdravotných vedách, a pokroku v technikách kriminálneho vyšetrovania celkove.

Jedno konkrétne oddelenie Mestskej stráže môže mať zmes zamestnancov zo všetkých troch služieb, v závislosti od jeho potrieb. Súčasné oddelenia patria Oddelenie obeckého hliadkovania a bezpečnosti, Oddelenie vyšetrovania vlamačstva a krádeží, Odeeleneie vyšetrovania vrážd, Oddelenie obchodnej inšpekcie a prevencie pašeráctva, Oddelenie dopravy a premávky, Oddelenie etnických a druhových vzťahov* a Špeciáli Stráže.

(* - Áno, druhových. Koniec koncov, je to fantazijný svet.)

Insígnie a odznaky Mestskej stráže

Odznaky strážcov poriadku používané v mestskom štáte a malej monarchii Melza, from my Orbis Furum fantasy setting.

Toto sú jediné insígnie hodností, pretože nie všetci strážcovia zákona majú štandardizovaný odev. Dodatočne môžu byť na čiapke, prilbe alebo hornom odeve personálu jednej z dvoch hlavných vetiev strážcov zákona (Mestská stráž, Pohraničiarsky zbor) nosené insígnie konkrétnej vetvy.

Pouličná práca (prvý rad, zľava doprava): Obchôdzkár, Seržant, Dôstojník, Kapitán, Komisár
Stráženie (druhý rad, zľava doprava): Hliadkár, Strážnik, Strážmajster, Vartáš, Dozorca
Vyšetrovanie (tretí rad, zľava doprava): Detektív, Vedúci detektív, Inšpektor, Vedúci inšpektor, Šéfinšpektor

Hlava inštitúcie: Náčelník Stráže (Chief-o'-the-Watch)

Služba, v ktorej slúži Vartáš (policajt), je znázornená v hornej tretine odznaku. Lampáš označuje po uliciach hliadkujúcich policajtov, brána označuje policajtov vykonávajúcich strážnu službu a (starožitná) lupa označuje policajných detektívov a súvisiacich vyšetrovateľov.
Hodnosť je naznačená policajnou píšťalkou, pričom najnižšiu hodnosť označuje jedna píšťalka a najvyššiu hodnosť označuje päť píšťaliek. Pre jednoduchšiu čitateľnosť počtu figúr sú jednotlivé píšťalky zobrazované v dvoch rôznych prevedeniach.

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