Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 417 Public Security Management
Several remaining crime bosses are plotting in the shadows, offering a large reward for Paul's life.

However, their strength was clearly insufficient to challenge a Star Guardian officer who had served for ten years and retired with honors.

Paul had faced situations a hundred times more dangerous than this on the battlefield, and the threat of these street thugs was nothing but child's play to him.

The attacks only added to Paul's list of achievements.

In the worst incident, five desperate men ambushed him with machetes and homemade Molotov cocktails, but within thirty seconds they were all broken in the arms and legs and hung from a street lamp.

Paul didn't even use his laser pistol; he finished the fight with just his prosthetic limbs and mechanical mastiffs.

This scene made the remaining criminals realize exactly what a ruthless character they had provoked.

However, Paul knew that he couldn't fight against so many people in the community.

As a veteran who had experienced the brutality of war, he understood the limitations of fighting alone better than anyone else.

In addition to submitting personnel requests to his superiors—though he knew perfectly well that such requests would likely just pile up on some bureaucrat's desk in the context of full-scale military mobilization—the veteran decided to take more practical action.

Drawing on his extensive experience in militia training camps, he began recruiting teenagers aged twelve and above in the community.

These teenagers, who were not quite grown up, were quickly organized under strict military-style management.

Every day at dawn, they gather in the community square to receive systematic training.

From the most basic standing at attention and at ease to complex urban warfare formation changes; from the essentials of weapon disassembly and maintenance to precautions for night patrols, this experienced instructor imparted everything he knew to them without reservation.

In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of this special team, he used his connections in the military to obtain a batch of modified police equipment.

Although these weapons were all second-hand items discarded by regular troops, they were still able to play their due role after careful adjustment.

Armed with these weapons, the teenagers, their faces displaying a maturity and determination beyond their years, began patrolling every corner of the community.

Despite their lack of combat experience, these young people are just as determined to defend their homeland as the regular army.

They quickly proved their worth: during a night patrol, they successfully apprehended several criminals in the act of stealing.

According to the rules set by the instructors, these criminals were tied up and hung on the most conspicuous lamppost in the community for public display.

In the biting night wind, the thieves' cries echoed throughout the neighborhood, serving as the best warning to deter other criminals.

The following morning, these tortured criminals were taken to the nearest conscription station.

Under special wartime policies, they were directly assigned to penal battalions—an outcome more deterrent than any court ruling.

After the news spread, the crime rate in the community dropped significantly, and residents were finally able to walk on the streets with peace of mind.

This special security force, composed of teenagers, has won the community's recognition with its practical results.

The crime rate on the streets has dropped significantly, and residents have begun to provide food and water for these young patrol members. Some elderly people even mend their worn-out uniforms.

Even though they are all family members, these small acts of kindness are still the best affirmation for this special team.

Paul knew that these criminals could never be completely apprehended, but not catching them was also impossible.

Every night, as he stood at the window on the second floor of the police station, watching the young patrol members carrying torches through the streets and alleys, a complex mix of emotions welled up inside him.

While it's somewhat inappropriate to train children to do this kind of work, there's simply no one else available right now.

These children should be learning in bright classrooms and playing on open sports fields, not navigating dangerous streets and battling criminals. Even so, under the empire's harsh survival rules, such awareness of child protection was a luxury in itself.

Paul knew better than anyone that, according to the standard life cycle of the lower classes in the empire, most of these children would have to start shouldering the burden of life by the age of fourteen, being driven out of their homes to fend for themselves.

They would marry young, between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, then have children, raise them to the age of fourteen, and then repeat their life trajectory, eventually dying peacefully in their forties or from various accidents—this was the inescapable cycle of fate for most commoners in the empire.

Now, these children have embarked on a completely different path in life.

And these children have indeed come in very handy.

Their quick wit and familiarity with the terrain compensated for their lack of experience; those hidden corners and alleys that adults could hardly notice were well known to these children who grew up in the neighborhood.

They effectively supplemented the manpower shortage of the community police station and became an important help to Paul in maintaining public order.

Whenever Paul saw them diligently carrying out their patrol duties, he would recall the first time he picked up a weapon—perhaps this was the survival strategy passed down through generations among the lower classes of the empire.

Their current experience in militia training and maintaining order will make them qualified members of the defense force in the future.

During the training, Paul imparted not only combat skills but also the wisdom of battlefield survival—knowledge that might save their lives someday.

In a sense, this may be an unexpected opportunity that fate has given to these children.

However, these are all things for the future. Right now, Paul still needs to figure out how to keep the police station in his community running.

Every morning, as he stands at the entrance of the police station watching the increasing number of pedestrians on the street, he feels a heavy burden on his shoulders.

This community of 100,000 people is like a huge machine, and he is the only bailiff responsible for maintaining order.

After all, a police station that manages a community of 100,000 people only has one female clerk besides Chief Paul.

She was also responsible for file management and material distribution, and was extremely busy every day among mountains of documents and data boards.

Apart from that, the police station only had one valet responsible for reception.

This old machine can only execute the most basic response commands; it gets stuck in a logical loop when faced with slightly more complex problems.

Along with Paul's mechanical mastiff, that's all the "manpower" the entire police station has.

There is a serious shortage of manpower.

Paul often had to handle multiple cases at the same time. Sometimes, he would finish dealing with a theft case and then have to rush to stop an impending gang fight.

While the juvenile patrol team was a great help, it could not ultimately replace regular police officers.

These children are enthusiastic but inexperienced, and Paul still needs to step in when faced with complex situations.

Moreover, for safety reasons, he dared not allow these minors to participate in overly dangerous tasks.

Fortunately, his superiors were aware of the situation, and Paul soon received help from four veterans like himself.

With the vigilance and fighting instincts they had developed on the battlefield, they quickly adapted to the police station's work rhythm.

Although manpower is still tight, at least relatively speaking, this small police station has gradually been able to operate normally.

This, like the entire Rostov subsector, is recovering from the effects of the ten-year expedition.

(End of this chapter)