National Police

Policía Nacional de la República
Foundation	1914
Type	Police force
Jurisdiction	Republic of Tropico
	No information

The National Police is the public institution that serves as law enforcement in Tropico, founded as early as in the World Wars Era. They are tasked with crime prevention, maintaining public order, the security of the Tropican citizens though the Monopoly of Force and the arrest of suspects. Due to the relatively small size of Tropico, the Force can afford to be a centralized institution, a single police department with its jurisdiction inside the whole territory. To execute its function properly the Police has its own Intelligence Agency to investigate suspects of subversion and crime activity.

The Police has a sub-division of Firemen, dedicated to the prevention and fast response to accidents and local disasters, and a SWAT team division, tasked with special high-risk operations out of the league of normal officers.

Precursors

Colonial Officer

In Colonial Times, before the foundation of the National Police, security duties were under the direct organization of the government, its headquarters were located inside the Palace. The settlement was small enough to not need separate institutions. Military officers doubled as law enforcers and took Criminals to local Dungeons, which they patrolled. In some cases the Ranger Corps assisted with the maintenance of public order.

Colonial officers were outfitted in dark sky blue jacket and tropical orange pants under a long and red coat with blue epaulettes, black colonial heavy boots and a red three pointed hat. They were armed with a colonial sabre.

Intelligence duties were, amusingly enough, responsibility of the Tropican Inquisition, a separate institution.

History

In the dawn of the twentieth century the rapid growth, thanks to the combination of immigration and natural growth, forced the Tropican government to bureaucratize and create institutions to relegate some of its duties. One of its duties to relegate was security and law enforcement, with the creation of the Tropican National Police.

At the beginning the Force counted with Police Stations dotted around the island in residential areas, property of existing dungeons from colonial times were transferred over to the institution and Security Checkpoints were established in key spots where it was necessary to check who passed through certain areas. Along with the main force a Firemen division was created to deal with isolated disasters like building fires and the like.

Foot agents did not work alone, though, as the State was capable of supplying police cars for fast movement and effective patrolling, and the force also counted with its very own Police Intelligence Division, which was used for investigation, infiltration and uncoverage of criminal organizations and to keep tabs on the security of important people, like political leaders.

During the times of the Cold War the effectiveness of the aging dungeons was proving insufficient, so plans for full-fledged panopticon prisons were made and proceeded with, allowing for proper detainment and vigilance of criminals and subversives. Police Blimp bases were also constructed to deploy said vehicles in particularly bad areas where the influence of foot agents was either non-sufficient or could not reach properly.

In the early nineties innovation struck in the Police Force in the form of the creation of a Special Operations division, with its priorities being dealing with heavily armed criminals, heavy raids in illegal activities, among others roles and activities.

Years later another addition was made Drone technology was introduced. Police drones were deployed in limited numbers to keep a more specific aerial advantage for security. Its proper operation required a Central Drone Command building to be made.

There are plans to modernize the mid-century police cars into modern variants, but no official comment or advancement is known to the public.

Aesthetics

Since foundation police officers are outfitted in short sleeved olive-green shirts with a plate badge on the left side, dark (almost black) sky blue pants and beret, black shoes and sunglasses. They are armed with a sidearm, nightstick and handcuffs.

Their squad cars are police variants of civilian four-door cars with blue and red hooters, painted in white with dark blue doors and hoods. The word "POLICE" is written in white on the nose, tail and both front doors, and the police insignia in both hoods.

The Firemen division trucks are light duty two-seat trucks painted a brilliant red, with red rimmed tires. They have a single blue police siren on the roof, black ladders strapped on one side, blue rear lights and a red water cannon, used to put out fires.

SWAT operatives are outfitted with dark green uniforms with the Tropican Coat of Arms sewn into the right shoulder, a dark gray tactical vest with a police tag on the right breast and a big SWAT tag on the back. They wear a black balaclava with tactical googles and helmet, and use black kneepads, along with a sidearm holster, and black combat boots.

Controversy

The National Police, like any police force in the world, is not exempt of criticism. Cases of police brutality, corruption, kidnappings for political reasons and torture have been reported throughout the history of the institution. More recently, the presence of drones did nothing to deter abuse of authority, as cold-blooded drone attacks have been sighted on suspected criminals and subversives.

Trivia

• The emblem of the Tropican National Police appears to be based on that of the Dominican Republic National Police.

Gallery

Colonial officer

Police station

Modern officer

Squad car

Ditto, rear

Fire truck

Ditto, rear

SWAT operative