Criminal activity in the planiverse, while on the rise, is on the whole a less common occurrence than we might expect from our understanding. This is not due to any unusual moral fiber of the Ardean character, but rather the overwhelming surety with which justice is executed on Arde.

It is almost impossible for an Ardean to avoid capture. Because of the low population density, one must travel very far in order to find a community in which one is not recognized, and if identified, capture is almost certain because the Punizlan police are empowered to search the entire length of Arde, house by house if necessary. Residents of three space would probably find it hard to imagine such a sweeping power ever being necessary, but it is in fact reasonable for police to simply walk from house to house in search of a fugitive, and literally comb the planet, with relative ease. It is in fact quite common for the police to apprehend a subject by searching every building in a given stretch of land, and in unusual cases the police will not hesitate to search Punizla edifice by edifice. The only recourse for a hopeful criminal is escape to Vanizla, which still has sufficiently poor relations with its neighbor to prevent agreements on what to do with criminals. This is an extremely unlikely escape, however; the foot of Dal Radam is carefully patrolled, and it is unlikely one could make an aerial escape without being recognized by pilots or passengers. On capture, a criminal faces enormously unpleasant circumstances.

Also affecting the paucity of crime in Arde is the extreme latitude granted police in performing their job. Because of the obvious ease of concealing a weapon (one must only interpose one's body between the weapon adn any observer), police reserve the right to ask any citizen to lie down on his side for inspection, at any time or place. This includes one's own home, during dinner, and the like. Also, it is realistically possible for the police to use deadly force in any situation, since it can always be justified by the fear that the victim might have been carrying a concealed weapon.

Ardeans are of divided mind regarding their system of law. Some say that it is undeniably effective, and that if it ever became easy to steal, everyone would steal. Others say that they wouldn't mind the loss of safety nearly as much as they mind the current loss of freedom. These Ardeans are commonly regarded with more than a little suspicion.

Keith_Adams@brown.edu