The Mechanical Era

"Sire I do not think that would be effective."

"Why not?"

"Because the knights are much stronger than that the commoners, they can easily take down any criminal who will harm."

"But aren't most arrests consisting of petty crimes? It says here in the report." Kristina looked at the statistic Kant was pointing out.

"It appears so."

"Since most of them are... minor crimes, they can get away with paying a fine and such. No need for brute force. So strength won't come into play all that much."

"Do you think they would listen to them?" she asked.

"Yes. I do. They are similar to the knights in that regard." Kristina clenched her fist.

"How are knights and policemen operated by commoners any similar?" she asked.

"Because the knight and the theoretical police force will both be a government institution, supported by the royal family and knight hall for its legitimacy.

The reason they won't go resists the knights is that even if they are stronger in their case, they know they will be hunted by both the royal family and the knight hall.

Considering most situations feature these minor crimes, the cost of resisting would not be worth getting either detained, exiled, or executed. That is why they would listen."

Kristina calmed down and digested his words for a minute.

"Yes sire, I am sorry sire. You are correct," she said, slightly disappointed in herself.

"But what if they do not comply?"

"Then that is where the... knights do get to come in. They take down the ones who don't follow through."

"What if they get away?"

"Get in a detective work to narrow down the suspects into one."

"...Detective...?"

"A person who investigates and solves crimes."

"Well... how would they go on doing so?"

"They can use the process of elimination. Take in clues, witness reports, the time it took place, where it took place, and so on. Eventually, you will be able to cut it down to a few suspects at the least."

"...How would we differentiate them from normal knights?"

"We can give them a different uniform. Make it very distinctive. Probably black and white wool, it's cheap relative to dyed uniforms.

"What about money?"

"A normal wage would do. Not as high as the knights though."

"Can the citizens file in cases to be solved?"

"Definitely, but no knight hall reward system. Though the citizens can file a case, they don't have to pay for it with their own money. It is their job after all."

"Well sire, won't all this mean that you would have to establish a new institution?"

"I am well aware of that fact. Don't worry, I can manage. I just need a bit of time to write a form of a bill, a structure of power, and how everything will work. Give me some time."

"How long will it take?"

"To come up with a basic structure of it, I can probably handle you one tomorrow evening. In terms of fully assembling a working team, it could take two months. I assume that commoners cannot read or write. Correct?"

"Yes, sire. That is correct."

"It will take some time for them to learn, it would be of vital importance for them to do so. To file reports and so."

"What do think his majesty would think of this? Don't you think that he will have any objections?"

"Well, I hope to reduce the burden on the knight's shoulders with the police force. The knight hall can then concentrate more on the demons instead of policing. His Majesty will consider it a long-term investment."

"When should we inform his majesty?"

"We can then inform King Danial about the plan after. If all is good, we continue."

"...Alright sire. Is there anything else for you to inform me?"

"Yes, I will be heading off to the factory the day after tomorrow. Other than that, no. Just keep the papers with me for now. I want to read more of it." With that Kristina dismissed herself and left the room. Kant took the papers back and reread them all that instant. There was some information on there that caught his eye.

He flickered through them more closely. It mentions that only about 1680 knights are working for the monarchy in total, with only 237 of them being registered in the knight hall.

However, the reports were suspicious. Though the reports have been on the rise overall, the problems themselves have hinted to be dated back at least a few weeks, some even a few months. Kant did have a hypothesis as to why.

With the limited supply of knights available, yet the demand being extremely high, many of the rewards are set out to be pretty exorbitant for the common man. Although there is a surplus in demand for people who require their services, the prices keep them away from reporting and putting up a bounty.

Considering the knights will take care of a problem when the same problem reaches a certain limit, it would be economical for everyone to wait until the problem will be solved for free.

'I could be wrong though. I should investigate this further. Maybe on a later date.' Kant thought to himself.

Kant leaned back on his chair. For now, he just wants to improve the city in any way he can. Deciding to focus on the police, he takes out some maps of the city along with some paper sheets for him to write.

'I need to build an institution the people can trust. Any mismanagement could damage its reputation as well as mine. I need to be careful about this, think all of it though, then talk with Kristina and the others to find and patch up flaws.'

...

It had been a day since the discussion with Kristina. The sun had just started to hue an orange, as it had begun to set once more. Kant's desk was oddly clean, with the paper detailing everything about the police neatly organized in two files stacked on top of one another.

He had been talking to Arjun for the past couple of minutes. Kant had been informed that the factory equipment is ready, with 31 workers being hired to come tomorrow.

"Have you learned anything"

At the moment when their discussion ended, a knock came on the door.

"That must be Kristina. I think you should leave Arjun."

"Alright sire..."With that Arjun left the room and Kristina walked in.

"Well sire, have you made up the structure."

"Indeed I have."

"I have decided the police to be a hierarchical organization with a Chief of Police as its executive leader. The departments will be separated into the districts of the city, which will be subdivided further to better effectively cover the city. Of these departments, they will be separated into two sections, a patrol side, and an investigations side.

In terms of hiring, anyone who is about or over the age of 21 in good health with no prior relation to crime, and with a stable financial position will be qualified for being recruited.

In terms of training, not only they will be taught to read and write, they will go through a program, as well as a period of field training before becoming fully certified officers. The details of which I have written on the papers." he gives her the files. She opens them up and begins to read them.

"Officer Accountability... Standards of Suspicion..." she murmurs the further deep she goes. After Kristina finished, she closed the file and lay it back on the table.

"Well sire, you seem to have gone through a lot. But what about their uniforms, their weapons? Have you thought about it?"

"Yes, I have thought through that as well. For a weapon, they are authorized to use a nightstick as their main weapon. They are also required to carry one set of handcuffs, a small notebook with a pencil to write fines, and a whistle.

The uniform would be made of wool, comprised of a black shirt with a white armband on the left sleeve. To go along with the black shirt, I recommend using black pants along with black calfskin shoes." Kant gave her the other file.

"Everything you need is in there. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes sire, only two. First of all, what is this weapon you are giving them?"

"A nightstick can cause high amounts of physical pain without being very lethal overall. I want to have the public accept the police officers, and having them carry anything lethal could damage the public's trust."

"And the uniform?"

"The uniform is cheap to produce while also helping separate the police from the knights, who wear mostly white and metal armor."

"Alright sire, I will need to read these in my spare time. I inform back to you of any objections I have with it."

"Please do take your time. No need to rush."

With that, Kristina was dismissed. Kant, having a few hours left, got up and went over to the library. There he grabbed a book, a history book.