The Secret Police

No one knows which citizens of New Dunston form the government-sponsored Secret Police. Commonly known as "the Hoods" (a reference to the hoods they wear to guard their identities), the Secret Police are distrusted and feared, especially by those with power in the city, since they represent an internal threat that they don't understand.

History

During the negotiations surrounding the signing of the Tripartite Agreement of 1899, an autonomous secret police force was established in order to prevent any one faction or member of the Commonwealth from having too much power over the people. A new military was enlisted to serve the day-to-day policing needs of the citizens, while the Secret Police were asked to oversee the more complex investigations. (They are to New Dunston what the FBI is to the US.) They leave most conflict resolution and any internal investigations to the factions.

Suspicious and rumors

During the first few years of their existence, the hoods aided the Commonwealth in its struggle against Upper Johnstown. As soon as the conflict was resolved, they disappeared and were heard from only when an investigation was necessary. When they're needed, their hidden members don their hoods and appear at the scene. Their ability to show up so quickly makes many citizens of New Dunston suspicious of their methods. Perhaps they employ spies who alert them whenever a crime worthy of their attention is committed. Maybe they can read minds. Or they might just hide in the shadows, watching and waiting. No one knows how they appear so quickly. It is unwise to attempt to flee a crime scene: since the establishment of the Secret Police, they have lost three suspects out of thousands of investigations, and most of those who attempted to escape custody regretted it but wouldn't talk about why.

No one is quite sure what the Secret Police's agenda is. They don't seem to want to hurt the city, and they provided aid during the recent war. But whatever their goals are, they haven't shared them with the government.

Only one member can actually be identified: Joseph Richardson, who serves as the public representative. Every few months, he'll make some demand of the government, or collect the police funding from them. So far, the government has always been sufficiently afraid of him and his predecessors to give them what they ask for.

Rumors suggest that police may have ties to some branch of the US government, that they're plotting to take down (or take over) the Chamber of Lords, or that they're a religious cult dedicated to the idea of order.

How They Operate

The Secret Police are known for responding quickly. They arrive at scenes any time from before a crime takes place to within two minutes of the crime's commission, but only when the crime, is—or would be—particularly heinous or a significant threat to public safety. They appear, seemingly out of nowhere, wearing dark hoods over their faces. Attempts to remove these hoods have never been successful. Those who have had any experience with the Hoods suspect that magic protects their identities and their bodies.

They collect evidence quickly, interrogate suspects nearby, and disappear as quickly as they came. Hours to days later, they come back with their judgment of what happened, and they leave the government to dole out appropriate punishments.