[Kitten4u Only With A Long Name]

This thread details how the government works, how law enforcement works, and what happens to criminals if they get caught. There's some additional information on the organized crime in New Sumatra, and some of the other functions of the police.

Table of Contents
Government Structure (talks about the structure of the government, the reason for it, and some of the effects)
Law Enforcement and Security (talks about the role of the police in society and what they do)
Media (talks about government media control and the extent of it)
Punishment (talks about what happens when people break the law, from minor crimes to major ones)
Organized Crime (talks about the structures behind the organized crime groups in the city)

[Kitten4u Only With A Long Name]

Government Structure

The overall structure and the basic info regarding the government is found in the Organization thread, and because it's a required read, it will not be repeated here. That thread should be read before this one. This post will focus more on the specifics and the overall philosophy behind the structure.

A lot of the reason for the initial three branch structure was because that's how it's always worked, and it's likely that's how it was structured before the formation of the wasteland. The idea was then adapted for the needs of New Sumatra, and the smaller area it covered. The reason behind the basic structure is largely the same: keeping a balance of power and making it it difficult to make anything actually change.

The legislative branch focuses on creating new laws, but is also supposed to prune laws that no longer apply and tweak laws that may still apply, but need a few changes. They tend to be really good about creation, filling in legal loopholes (typically when it doesn't apply to them, they're a lot more content to leave them if it does), and expanding the reach of government, but not so much the other two. The only time laws tend to be tweaked is there is some scandal about them or they're just really bad, or if a loophole (that's not convenient for the politicians) needs to be patched out. It's about the same with removing laws. This is why it's still technically illegal to venture into Twilight Jungle, but everyone ignores it. Though, the example the rare government detractor uses to show how absurd this is, is that it's currently illegal to milk someone else's cow. People haven't owned cows in quite some time given how much space is needed to raise livestock, but on top of that, ever since scientists developed the ability to cultivate meat in a lab, cows have gone extinct. Most people don't even know what a cow is. However, that law is still there and shows no signs of going away. After all, there's so much to do, what's the point in looking at old laws to see if they're still relevant? What's the point in lessening the government's power when the people deciding to do so are part of the government? And if a pasture of cows is discovered or alien cows from space invade, New Sumatra will be ready with its milking laws.

In New Sumatra, the legislative branch isn't divided, so rather than having a House of Representatives and a Senate, there is only a Senate. The city-wide Senate consists of 50 individuals, and they meet in a large conference room at the top of one of the skyscrapers in the government district. The view is nice, the building is heavily guarded, and there's an escape helicopter parked on the top of the skyscraper for emergencies. District-wide senators meet in their respective districts, also typically in fancy conference rooms on high floors with nice views. In order for a proposed law to get to the next stage, it requires a majority vote of yes in the Senate. Even if there's a 25/25 split, it fails. It's common for them to listen to people representing citizens, though it's rare for them to talk to ordinary people. Most of the people they talk to are either representatives in the lower tiers (for people in the city-wide Senate) or Unions (for people in the district-wide Senate). This is so that they can hopefully get a better perspective of what's going on.

The executive branch focuses on the implementation of the law and overall city function. The laws proposed by the Senate go to the Governor and they decide whether they should be signed into law or not. If the Governor decides not to sign it into law, the Senate can override that decision if they have a 2/3 (33 people) majority vote. Other than that, they spend their time overseeing things. They're in charge of the budget, deciding tax rates, and are supposed to make sure everyone else in the government is doing their job. Their main duty is to keep everything running smoothly, to manage outstanding threats and help manage security, and to make sure benefits are good and people are living comfortably. This also means that for the average Governor, that something going wrong just means they need to stick their fingers in more places to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's made a government presence a normal part of daily life, whether it be because of the cameras on every corner to watch for suspicious activity, or the constant monitoring of purchases so no one buys things fraudulently, it's hard to think of a single area of life that doesn't have some government intervention in it. The Governor focuses mostly on the big city-wide things, whereas district-level overseers handle the specific functions of each district.

The judicial branch is the only reason any laws get pruned at all. Their job is to look at whether a particular law, or an action taken by the executive branch, is just. At the city level, the court is called the Supreme Court. At the district level, they're called District Courts. The courts below that are more for criminal trials, and thus serve a different purpose and are actually under the executive branch's jurisdiction. Each of them has 9 judges, so that there will be no ties. These courts won't send anyone to jail, they only look at the law itself. If they decide the law is just, it stands. If they decide it's not it's removed, though it'll often go back through the legislative branch for a rework rather than outright removal. The same goes for executive decisions, and is one of the only reasons there aren't security cameras in every house yet. They typically only look at laws when a legal case blows up, or there's sufficient protest from the population. This rarely happens, so most of their work is around looking at executive decisions. They receive all non-budget related actions and need to sign off on them before they can be implemented. The budget and management of implemented plans are both still fully under executive control.

[Kitten4u Only With A Long Name]

Law Enforcement and Security

Crime is taken very seriously in New Sumatra, and is one of the major reasons there's such a high baseline quality of life for everyone. That baseline means that there's less reason for anyone to turn to crime. They won't go hungry, they won't be homeless, their families will be safe, these factors has made the crime rate in New Sumatra low. However, it still happens and the city still has to be ready for it.

That first line of defense is New Sumatra's police force. The skillset of people chosen for the force varies a lot, as the duties of the police force are also quite diverse. They do more than just hunt down criminals, they also field complaints and help with overall city safety. Many people want to join the police force with dreams of exciting chases and taking down bad guys, only to have to wander around the city making sure no one fell asleep outside their apartment, or end up filing paperwork. All of the tasks are considered important, but life in the force is perhaps generally less exciting than people expect.

Handling criminals is still considered the police force's primary duty. However, given there's very little petty crime, and the tools they have access to make finding them a non-issue, most of their investigations are against very intelligent groups that know their way around the system. It makes investigation slow and methodical and thus nothing like it is in the movies. One wrong move can make the bad guys realize the police are onto them and change how they act. One wrong move can result in dead cops. So the danger is more of a constant pressure instead of chases and gunfights.

But that's only for the ones that actually track down criminals. Most of the force will never see a criminal investigation. Some will only file that information. Some will only manage files of normal citizens. Some will hang around tram stations to give people directions. Some will fine people for littering, loitering, vandalism, and such things. Some will help people find lost wallets, dropped possessions, or help lost children find their parents. Their purpose is to keep people safe and happy, and a lot of those duties tend to be more on the boring end of things.

The other big branch of law enforcement is intelligence. The city is under heavy surveillance at all times. There are security cameras every few feet in most buildings, pointing at strategic locations. Stores are required to have cameras pointed so every customer that makes a purchase can be seen. Even bathrooms have cameras monitoring every area except inside the toilet and shower stalls. The only places that don't have any cameras are the inside of peoples' apartments, and even then many people elect to install them anyway. The cameras have full color pictures, heat information, and sound. In addition, since physical currency was abolished in favor of a digital currency, every transaction is monitored. Between that and the cameras at every store, it's easy to tell when someone's using a stolen credit card. It means that criminals have to be a bit more clever to get away with what they do.

Managing this information is also part of the police's duties. As a result, they have files on every citizen that goes beyond their birth certificate and what's on their personal IDs. They keep records on where everyone goes and the people they talk to regularly. They keep tabs on their hobbies and job performance. If anything looks the slightest bit suspicious, they could easily disappear for a few days just to see what happens. Crime is taken very seriously. So much so that regular citizens can get caught in the crossfire. It doesn't happen so often that people would start complaining, most people don't even know, but if someone's in the wrong place at the wrong time they can get arrested.

[Kitten4u Only With A Long Name]

Media

The media and news outlets are not thought of as government institutions, but they ultimately are. Most people are not aware of this and assume that they're independently run. The fact that there's two major channels obfuscates this, but in the end they tend to say about the same thing just with different spins on it, and during elections seasons they'll fight and call certain candidate options bad until after the election where they'll be mostly behind whoever is picked. Even most people in the media aren't aware of this, only the few people at the very top. Thus, in New Sumatra, the media is less about presenting information, and more about controlling information and public opinion.

The same is also true of popular media, such as movies, books, and video games. Some of the people that get hired for these things are genuinely good at what they do. Others are picked because they want to write stories about things the government wants them to write stories about. As long as the government controls who does what job, they're easily able to control what narratives are pushed. As a result, the best way to become a reporter or a writer isn't being a great investigator or being really great with words, rather it's being good at doing what they're told and happening to be very pro-government.

The rise of the internet interfered with the government's perfect control over the media, but not so much so that it's been much of a problem for them. It's easy to imitate popular bloggers, and it's easy to influence search engines to favor their content over others. Further, with as controlled as information is, most people don't know that much about what's going on so there's only so much they can actually say and only so many opinions can be formed. In order to keep the illusion of independent media like this, the government will sometimes even let blogging be someone's job if they have agreeable opinions and are sufficiently popular. They also take the time to look at forum and other social media comments and try to promote their own if such a system exists in that outlet.

Between this and that people are generally free to live their lives, people have a very positive opinion of the government. They use these outlets to help keep it that way.

[Kitten4u Only With A Long Name]

Punishment

Most people aren't going to experience any of the severe punishments because crime is low and morale is high. Sometimes people might accidentally litter when they miss the rim of the trash can, or walk on the wrong side of the walkway. As long as it doesn't happen too often, the individual is let off with a warning. If it keeps happening, they'll receive a note in the mail informing them that their wages are being garnished because they're being fined for their misbehavior. The amounts start small, no more than the equivalent of 10 USD, and gradually get higher if the person continues put graffiti on the walls or whatever bad behavior they're doing. Rather than send the perpetrator a bill, the money is just taken from their wages. It's easier for all involved and still makes the point that the person should not be doing terrible things.

That's for minor crimes like playing loud music too late at night or paying their taxes late. Things like theft, property damage, assault, or murder are punished much more harshly and taken much more seriously. It's rare for people that commit more severe crimes to avoid jail time, and the sentences tend to be longer than they would be in the real world. On murder is more than enough to land someone in prison for life, and even severely beating someone will have similar results even if the victim doesn't die. Such people threaten the comfort and safety of the rest of the people in the city and thus need to be removed from society completely according to most people. Thus, law enforcement isn't afraid to inflate the numbers a little bit. After all, in order to be convicted of a crime in the first place they have to be judged by a jury of their peers. It's the will if the people in general that this happen.

The major exception to that are jungle surveyors. They couldn't get away with killing someone, or seriously hurting someone, but if their powers just happened to maybe accidentally (or at least could be said to be an accident even if it's not) set someone on fire then maybe it's less bad. They're also providing an extremely valuable service to society by venturing into Twilight Jungle to get all the resources there and it'd be a shame to lose them like that. They're not immune to the law, but they can often get away with things that people without magic couldn't.

Fines and jail time are the only two things that happen to criminals. There's no options for community service or anything similar because there's not normally enough for them to do. Since everyone has a job, even the simple tasks, like picking trash up in the park, are typically done by someone else. It's also rare for anyone to be released early for good behavior. If they had good behavior, then they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. The only thing that'll get people released early is if new evidence comes along and proves that they didn't commit the crime they were convicted of. Then they are released and monetarily compensated based on the amount of time they were wrongly imprisoned.

Prisons in New Sumatra are small and not very comfortable. They look like any other skyscraper from the outside, but the inside is generally hot from lack of proper cooling, and a bit run down. Cells are meant to hold 4 inmates, with the exception of certain ones that only hold one or two. Those ones are normally reserved for the magic users that do something bad enough to get arrested. Cells really only have enough room for the beds and a toilet. There are some recreational areas: a small library, some tools for art and writing, and a place to work out. Each inmate is required to see a psychologist to help them through their issues, so that maybe they can be a productive member of society again once they're released.