Does the Federation have a police force?

[Timo]

But we've never seen Starfleet act as regular law enforcement, and, indeed, DS9's "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" makes it clear that the idea of Starfleet serving in such a capacity is the sort of thing that only happens when there's been a declaration of martial law.

Actually, Starfleet seemed to serve as the equivalent of the British Local Defence Volunteers / Home Guard in those episodes. The explicit threat was one of a surprise Jem'Hadar invasion while Earth's high-tech defenses were down, so there was a sudden need for rough-and-tumble infantry on the surface. The forces were not deployed for police action - say, hunting down of the saboteurs. Their stated job was to stop an invasion. (Their unvoiced job of course was to facilitate a military coup, but that's a bit beside the point.)

As for regular law enforcement, that's something one would rarely see in a future where crime has been drastically curtailed. The big crooks are all out there on the final frontier where there is less control, where Starfleet in fact is the natural choice for control no matter what. But it is still noteworthy that not a single arrest has been credited to a separate police force of a Federation member world, nor have we seen such officials in action or even in readiness. "National" and "Federal" intelligence agencies, yes (the V'Shar and Federation Security, respectively), but not regular police. Now, do we explain this by saying that there's so little crime we never need see the police - or by saying that the arrests we do see are good enough to set a pattern, pegging Starfleet as the beat cops of the time?

I'm hesistant to use real world precedent for settling this issue, because such precedent doesn't help with most Trek matters... Rather, I'm interested in accepting the six impossible things before breakfast that the show seems to present to me, exactly because that is interesting. But certainly there is room there to postulate a more conventional police setup, and generally to assume conventional solutions where there isn't explicit mention of unconventional ones.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[matthunter]

The thing is, onscreen we have never seen any sort of a local police force on any known UFP member world.

Vulcan Security were seen in TNG's Gambit.

 

[James Wright]

Was "Gambit" the episode in which Picard was supposedly "killed" by smugglers looking for an artifact or was that the episode about the Romulan invasion, the episode with Spock?

JDW

 

[Good Will Riker]

I personally consider the Starfleet officer who arrested Leonard McCoy in the bar in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, as well as the security guard who called Hikaru Sulu "tiny" to be police officers.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

I personally consider the Starfleet officer who arrested Leonard McCoy in the bar in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, as well as the security guard who called Hikaru Sulu "tiny" to be police officers.

But were they Starfleet personnel? The man who arrested McCoy Identified himself as "Federation Security." I always assumed him to be part of a civilian police force/intelligence agency. Perhaps the Federation version of the FBI or CIA.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Was "Gambit" the episode in which Picard was supposedly "killed" by smugglers looking for an artifact or was that the episode about the Romulan invasion, the episode with Spock?

JDW

The first one. The latter was Unification

 

[Sci]

I personally consider the Starfleet officer who arrested Leonard McCoy in the bar in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, as well as the security guard who called Hikaru Sulu "tiny" to be police officers.

But were they Starfleet personnel? The man who arrested McCoy Identified himself as "Federation Security." I always assumed him to be part of a civilian police force/intelligence agency. Perhaps the Federation version of the FBI or CIA.

Well, as far as we know, there is no Federation equivalent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency -- that is, no independent civilian intelligence agency within the executive branch that's not part of the military or of any executive department. (We've certainly never heard of anything in the UFP equivalent to CIA analysts, for instance.) We do know that most of the Federation's intelligence-gathering is done by Starfleet Intelligence, a branch of the Federation Starfleet, but Starfleet Intelligence would be more accurately equated to something like the United States Navy Office of Naval Intelligence or the United States Air Force Intelligence, Surveilance, and Reconnaissance Agency, as SI is part of the Federation's military.

Since the person who arrested McCoy was a civilian who was enforcing a law against traveling to the Mutara Sector, I'd presume that Federation Security is the equivalent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Since the person who arrested McCoy was a civilian who was enforcing a law against traveling to the Mutara Sector, I'd presume that Federation Security is the equivalent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

That makes sense.

Personally, I always thought it was a shame we never saw more non-Starfleet Federation agencies, such as Federation Security. It would make logical sense for them to exist. Apart from the Department of Temporal Investigations, which seemed to be a non-Starfleet agency, I don't think we've really seen anything like this.

 

[Timo]

Then again, our heroes or their colleagues usually investigate crimes performed in outer space, or by or against Starfleet personnel.

Even in the single known "civilian" case where the "Federation Security" man arrested McCoy, the perp was delivered to the hands of people in Starfleet uniforms, albeit rarely seen ones. The gaol in which McCoy languished was guarded by men wearing Starfleet insignia; these men seemed to recognize Kirk by looks, and accepted his authority for visiting the captive. They let in further Starfleet personnel, and when these folks attacked and overpowered them, personnel in standard Starfleet armor barged in to help in a matter of seconds.

This particular case is a muddy one in too many ways to tell us much about Federation police or civilian law anyway. It's not a typical arrest of a person violating travel regulations - it's more like a case straight from the X-Files, of grabbing a guy who knows too much, spiriting him away in a black helicopter, and delivering him to the armed forces for the shady purposes of a giant cover-up.

We might see future civilian law enforcement if we followed future civilians more closely. But in the only show where we do so, DS9, the local law enforcement at Bajor is a militia setup apparently governed by the Ministry of Defense, not Interior... And all the "guest" police organizations come from outside the Federation, too.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Given the blatant lack of references to civilian police, I'd tend to think that Starfleet indeed is the Federation police, and possbily also that there is no local police as such.
Timo Saloniemi

Sorry, wrong. There are multiple references to "local authorities", the V'Shar (Vulcan security) being one example by name.

 

[Timo]

Actually, that's the only Federation "authority" ever mentioned (apart from the "Federation Security" thing in ST3), and its quoted role as "Vulcan security" might just as well indicate counterespionage as law enforcement. Indeed, the person who falsely claims to be a V'Shar agent also claims to be on exactly such a counterespionage mission, something that would never be burdened on regular police forces today. In sharp contrast, Starfleet noses in on ordinary police business more often than not, such as in "Honor Among Thieves". Worf seems to automatically think of himself as a police officer in "Hippocratic Oath", at least...

There are police forces in evidence on a number of alien worlds, but none on Federation ones. Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians certainly seem to leave law enforcement to the capable hands of the military, in good old totalitarian tradition. The Federation military law enforcement might be of a more benign sort, though. Or then not - we have little idea how things work in this respect, but we do hear of childhood screenings against criminal tendencies, of mental reprogramming, of treating every offender as a case of mental illness, of locking up the "incurable" ones for life. This might be a very enlightened and benign setup, or then simply such a horribly oppressive system that it has finally reached the goal that tyrants always aim for: total eradication of resistance, that is, crime.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[AlxxlA]

I thought Starfleet served as the Federation's police force?

There's no indication of that. We know that Starfleet serves as the Federation's exploratory and military force. We know that Starfleet officers are sometimes empowered to negotiate with foreign states, and we know from DS9's "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." that Starfleet officers may supplement local law enforcement. But we've never seen Starfleet act as regular law enforcement, and, indeed, DS9's "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" makes it clear that the idea of Starfleet serving in such a capacity is the sort of thing that only happens when there's been a declaration of martial law.

So, in other words, they function much like any present-day military police force.

 

[neozeks]

Then again, our heroes or their colleagues usually investigate crimes performed in outer space, or by or against Starfleet personnel.

Even in the single known "civilian" case where the "Federation Security" man arrested McCoy, the perp was delivered to the hands of people in Starfleet uniforms, albeit rarely seen ones. The gaol in which McCoy languished was guarded by men wearing Starfleet insignia; these men seemed to recognize Kirk by looks, and accepted his authority for visiting the captive. They let in further Starfleet personnel, and when these folks attacked and overpowered them, personnel in standard Starfleet armor barged in to help in a matter of seconds.

Like it's already been said, two words - military police; that is, a law enforcement part of the military that deals exactly with crimes commited by or against military personel, or on military installations (ie. a Starfleet ship or base) or related to military matters. Now, the exact mix of these jurisdictions is different from state to state here on Earth but I'm sure you can work out something applicable to Starfleet.

We might see future civilian law enforcement if we followed future civilians more closely. But in the only show where we do so, DS9, the local law enforcement at Bajor is a militia setup apparently governed by the Ministry of Defense, not Interior... And all the "guest" police organizations come from outside the Federation, too.

Well, there exists in some countries an organization known as a gendarmerie (like in France or Italy), which is organizationaly under the Ministry of Defense, is trained and run in a military fashion, but is essentialy operationaly under the Ministry of Interior. France for example has an interesting system. There's the National Police which operates in cities, andt there's the aforementioned Gendarmerie which operates in rural areas, in military matters and installations (DS9 was in essence a military installation) and in some other national matters. So, the Security part of the Bajoran Militia (of which Odo is a part) handles matters on DS9 and some other matters planetside (like for example in rural areas), while there is also a civilian police force (or forces) dealing with other matters. We simply haven't seen them.

 

[Star Wolf]

I don't quite see how these "a single organization can't handle the diversity" and "it's local so global or universal won't work" arguments can cut it.

Starfleet is not a "single" organization. It's a hierarchial organization, just as USS Excelsior points out. It's as local as it needs be, down to the level of individual employees. It's not as if police today would be any more local: the lowly constable at Upper Soggy Bottom still has to pay heed to the laws and regulations decreed by the suits in Washington.



Timo Saloniemi

Dude you might know more tons of Trekstory then most folks but here you are barking up the wrong tree. I invite you to look at the immigration debates in America where local cities have laws on their books forbidding their police from aiding federal agents in enforcement of those laws. California at this moment is fighting the feds to have marijuana distributed against the wishes of the suits in Washington. There is no US version of Scotland Yard where all cops get trained. Most states allow cops to go to cities inside of the state but outside, well they are guest not cops, especially in the western states.

Does it make make sense for any Andoran city to follow a Vulcan inspired law in order to be a good Federation member? The Federation more likely gave Andorans autonomy to make their own decisions on everthing except whatever is in the Federation's version of the US Bill of Rights.

 

[Sci]

I thought Starfleet served as the Federation's police force?

There's no indication of that. We know that Starfleet serves as the Federation's exploratory and military force. We know that Starfleet officers are sometimes empowered to negotiate with foreign states, and we know from DS9's "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." that Starfleet officers may supplement local law enforcement. But we've never seen Starfleet act as regular law enforcement, and, indeed, DS9's "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" makes it clear that the idea of Starfleet serving in such a capacity is the sort of thing that only happens when there's been a declaration of martial law.

So, in other words, they function much like any present-day military police force.

Yep!

 

[BrotherBenny]

Each planet has it's own police force and military force.

When Bajor joined the Federation in Unity, a number of the Bajoran Militia elected to join Starfleet, but the Militia was not rolled up into Starfleet. The Militia still maintains law and order on Bajor.

Starfleet maintains law and order on DS9 as it is now a Federation outpost.