The Dragon-Watch

[lithle]

The dragon-watch serves as Pern's primary criminal justice system. They do not handle all crime, focusing primarily on violent crime, dust related offences, and those thieves brought to their attention by the Lord Holders or Weyrleaders. Stealing a few marks is unlikely to get someone brought to their attention, but doing so often enough may. Oh, and stealing from an actual dragon-watchman is never a good idea.

The dragon-watch has small 'stations' at every Weyr, responsible for roughly the same area that they'd previously have flown over during threadfall. Their main HQ is at Igen, and that is where the Captain of the dragon-watch is stationed. There's been talk, off an on, of opening a 'Watch Weyr' but as of yet, it has not happened.

Any dragonrider can join the the dragon-watch, though they must be approved by the Captain. However, they do tend to be rather traditional. Rising to a position of authority requires a bronze dragon. Women are permitted, but the attitude is much like it is in many militaries. Women are usually tolerated at best, often condescended to, and sexual harassment isn't unusual. It's very much a boys club, overall.

Dragon-watchers have a distinct uniform of black and blue leather, accentuated with the color of their particular dragon. They also have distinct knots. However, they often find reason to go 'plain-clothes' either as ordinary dragonriders, or as non-riders. Corruption is not unheard of in the watch, but it it's generally on a fairly mild level. The Captain is an extremely honorable man, if a hard one. Bribes, sure. But they're not going around murdering people in back alleys.

[lithle]

Dragon-watchmen fall into two different categories. The more numerous of these are the 'police force' so to speak. These are the men (and occasionally women) who actually hunt down criminals, bust Dust rings, and investigate crimes. Everyone who joins the dragon-watch begins in this category.

The second group handle the actual decisions regarding guilt or innocence. This isn't a 'court' in the traditional sense. They're presented with the evidence, allowed to interview the suspected criminal and any witnesses and decide, based on the information they have, whether the suspect is guilty or innocent. This actually leads to fewer prosecutions than one might think. Upkeep of criminals is expensive, and the Dragon-Watch handles a lot of the financial wrangling necessary to keep Warden's Weyr afloat. They don't like to send people there needlessly. That said, innocents do get sent to prison, and guilty men do walk free. It's far from a perfect set-up.

There is, in fact, a third group. They're in charge of policing the dragon-watch itself and dragonriders in general. No one ever talks about them, though, and very few people know about their existence. They are, more or less, a rumor.

[lithle]

On Sentencing

The criminals sent to Warden's Weyr were never 'sentenced' so to speak. They were found guilty, and sent to the Weyr mostly because there was nowhere else to put them and no one knew what else to do. For the few turns that it's been open, this has been the system.

However, it has become clear, with the passing of turns, that simply locking people away forever is not actually a good plan. The freeing of criminals through impression led to discussion on when, and how, criminals were to be freed.

This has led to the very recent decision (made during the third turn of Warden's existence) to hold 'progress meetings' with prisoners regarding the possibility of freeing them.

Every five turns, those prisoners who aren't considered too dangerous to re-enter society (rapists, murderers, dragon-harmers and the like would fall under 'too dangerous') are allowed an audience with a group of dragon-watchmen. Their crimes are reviewed, their behavior since imprisonment is discussed, and the guards who know them are interviewed, as well as any victims who wish to have a voice in the proceedings. The Warden, of course, is also allowed a say.

Depending on the severity of the crime and the progress they've made, a criminal might be released at this point. If it's felt the punishment has not been for long enough, or if the criminal has shown signs of further criminal behavior, they probably won't be. But they will have a chance for another meeting after another five turns.