Avatar:Law enforcement in the Earth Kingdom
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Imported: 2025-12-22
The Earth Kingdom lacks a unified legal code. As a result, the nation's law enforcement is highly decentralized, with several different police forces and other law enforcement agencies existing parallel to each other.
Background
The Earth Kingdom has no centralized legal system. Instead, regions and settlements around the kingdom usually have their own sets of laws, and the judicial system varies from one region to another, which is typically overseen by local officials or magistrates.[1][2] Despite this autonomy, there are some overriding elements in regards to law enforcement. Most importantly, the central government can outlaw individuals in the entire Earth Kingdom.[3][4] Following the Hundred Year War, Earth King Kuei initiated reforms which increased the number of nationwide laws and strengthened regular security forces.[5]
Traditionally, law enforcement has been weak in much of the Earth Kingdom.[6] Many remote regions were essentially dominated by powerful daofei crime groups[6][7] or were overseen by corrupt police forces that were basically only thugs.[8] The police in Ba Sing Se often made bad decisions in their handling of daofei, and it was not uncommon for civilians to suffer the consequences. Citizens of the Lower Ring were particularly vulnerable to both daofei and law enforcement as they were not prioritized by the Earth Kingdom government. The police were more likely to go after small daofei groups than bigger ones, as they were scared and the smaller groups were easier targets.[9]
In course of the Hundred Year War[8] and the anarchy in the Earth Kingdom, law enforcement broke down in most of the nation.[10]
Known law enforcement agencies
Earth Kingdom military
The Earth Kingdom military regionally operated as an ad hoc law enforcement force during the chaotic Hundred Year War.[8][11] Elite units were occasionally deployed to hunt down certain criminals.[5]
After the Hundred Year War's end, the military's legal power was reinforced by Earth King Kuei, and soldiers were deployed to hunt bounty hunters and illegal vigilantes. As a result, ex-bounty hunters like Yuze's mercenaries enlisted in the military to survive.[5]
Provincial police
By Avatar Kyoshi's time, regional governors raised their own police.[7] These were commonly known just as "lawmen".[7][12][13] It was not unusual for rich individuals to buy their family members officer commissions in the provincial law enforcement agencies.[7] Provincial police wore badges in a special "constabulary green",[12] were led by captains,[12][14] and included earthbenders as well as nonbending officers armed with broadswords.[12][14]
In Kyoshi's era, law enforcement force of Govenor Deng who oversaw Chameleon Bay among other locations also wore quilted armor and wore headbands with the prefectural badge. Deng's police captain used a truncheon with the Earth Monarch's seal to showcase his standing.[12] Lawmen in the Si Wong Desert are known to execute people even for minor crimes as warning to other criminals.[13]
By 171 AG, some Earth Kingdom states had police forces led by a sheriff and made up of deputies.[15]
Peace officers of Ba Sing Se
By Kyoshi's time, the lawmen of Ba Sing Se were known as the "peace officers". They were led by captains, uniformed, and all wore truncheons[16] in contrast to the more heavily armed provincial police.[12][14] Peace officers wore headbands with metal badges which carried both the Earth Monarch's seal as well as a specific identification number. Each number was tied to an officer, making it easy to identify them. The captains also wore caps.[16]
Many peace officers were corrupt and had little respect for poor residents of Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring, mishandling civilians and criminals alike.[16]
Known members
Anti-Corruption Task Force
The Anti-Corruption Task Force was founded by Avatar Kyoshi to arrest especially dangerous criminals in Ba Sing Se, operating with precision and consideration. Eventually, the unit was adopted by Earth King Yi Ming who used the Anti-Corruption Task Force to destroy any daofei groups which threatened the monarchy. The force subsequently became infamous for its sledgehammer-like methods, taking no heed of civilians in its pursuit of criminals.[17][18]
Dai Li
The Dai Li are the cultural enforcers of Ba Sing Se, created by Avatar Kyoshi after a peasant rebellion in the Earth Kingdom capital. They factually act as a secret police that suppresses unrest and seditious activities in the city. They are notable for their sophistication in carrying out tactical missions as well as their skilled usage of rock gloves and shoes.[19][20][21] Besides its regular secret agents and spies, the Dai Li also deployed inspectors who sought to root out subversive individuals.[22]
Though they allegedly serve the Earth Monarch, their loyalty shifted over time toward the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, especially when Long Feng was in power, and they functioned as his private security force, arresting and reeducating anyone who broke regulations concerning mention of the Hundred Year War.[20] They later betrayed the Earth Kingdom government in spring 100 AG and consequently secured Ba Sing Se on the Fire Nation's behalf[23][24] until the city's liberation a few months later.[25] By the time of Earth Queen Hou-Ting's rule, they still served as secret police.[26]
Known Dai Li inspectors
Debt collectors
By 100 AG, official debt collectors operated in Ba Sing Se. They held the rank of "officer" and were sent to collect money and collaterals of debtors on behalf of the authorities and businesses, including gambling dens.[27][28]
Known debt collectors
Local Ba Sing Se police forces
While the Dai Li were notorious as a secret police force primarily dealing with unrest, sedition, and treason, other local police forces continued to exist in Ba Sing Se. The localized police was known to operate in the capital during the Hundred Year War and the post-war period.[29] Known ranks among the local police included "detective" and "guard".[29][30] Guards usually wore green-brown uniforms and were armed with dual broadswords.[20][27]
With the Dai Li dealing with serious crimes and the military and Royal Earthbender Guards providing defense of the city, the localized police forces were left to deal with somewhat less severe issues such as missing persons cases.[29] In the Lower Ring, the police members were generally more occupied with keeping order than protecting civilians or preventing crimes.[30] Often, guards would not even intervene in feuds and clashes among civilians, dubbing these "interpersonal conflicts" and just letting them play out unless blood was spilled.[27] Accordingly, Lower Ring residents regarded them as fairly ineffective.[30][27]
Known members
- Detective Ziming (Middle Ring police)
Zaofu Guard
The Zaofu Guard is the primary law enforcement force of the autonomous city-state of Zaofu. It doubles as a police and the city's military. The guard is led by a captain and includes metalbending earthbenders and firebenders. All members wear dark green clothes with metal chestplates and helmets.[31][32][33]
Trivia
- According to developer interviews for Avatar: Generations, a vigilante-mercenary organization called the "Mogwai" existed by Avatar Kyoshi's time. This group recruited people whose lives had been negatively impacted by criminals, and brutally and ruthlessly dealt with any daofei, pirates, and other criminals they could find, sparing not even those who repented their actions or were no longer active outlaws. Despite their irregular operations and disregard for normal justice systems, authorities often found it convient to hire Mogwai to hunt down criminals, lending the vigilante-mercenaries a veneer of legitimacy. However, the canonicity of the Mogwai is unclear due to Avatar: Generations being shut down before they were included in the game.[34]
- Mogwai (ιι¬Ό
(MΓ³guΗ)) is a term for a demon, devil, monster, and evil spirit in Chinese culture.
- Mogwai (ιι¬Ό
References
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