Beat Cops in Vekllei

This article is archived, and is no longer part of Vekllei canon.

It was just like any other evening in Monouiz; a no-good view of one part concrete, one part fescue, and a whole lotta quiet. He knew the broad from his days hunting smuggler types in jazz bars and street cars, a gig not worth gigging now that prohibition was over. She was a pretty little chickadee attached to a big guy of bad temper, and he guessed one night he took it too far. The girl swung her frypan into him, and on the way down he hit his head. Hard. Another sob story from the city of silence. He took another drag and breathed out, smoke filling his dingy apartment. The girl was only nineteen.

With that bullshit out of the way, let’s talk business. Lila Ouilanan, 19, is being led away by two Vekllei cops from the home where she lived with her fiance.

• Almost all crime in Vekllei, in an absence of currency and any real material value, is domestic. Police here are as much negotiators and therapists as they are detectives. Lila was engaged to her boyfriend, who beat her, when she hit him with a frying pan. He hit his head on a countertop, which killed him. She was later acquitted.
• The policewoman is wearing a summer uniform. The winter uniform is similar, but they wear a blouse and can also choose to wear navy wool stockings. Female firearms officers, who are trained with heavy and automatic weapons, wear trousers and boots.
• The policeman is wearing an all-season uniform with navy coat. The summer uniform looks similar to the female variant, except with a cap and trousers.
• Firearms officers make up one in every four officers, and operate anti terrorist and militia duties. They are not necessarily senior to regular officers, but instead have military training and act as a form of civil defense in the event of an invasion or following a nuclear attack. They are trained to direct civilian partisans and recruit resistance movements, rendering them partially paramilitary.
• All officers carry a pistol, usually a revolver, and a variant of truncheon suited to the specific officer. Mobile units, which use vehicles to patrol, carry a heavier tactical weapon, like a shotgun, in the vehicle.
• Except in specific units designed for a special purpose, all officers patrol and enforce law in the district they live in. Most officers know most civilians living in an area, and they regularly drop by apartments to meet and communicate with the local population.

Forgive the sketch. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them.