The Sarkite Patrol is a police force in Isaac Asimov's Empire series.
About the Sarkite Patrol[]
The Sarkite Patrol is the primary planetary police force responsible for maintaining order on Florina. Composed of non-Sarkite mercenaries to ensure a lack of sympathy for the native population, the Patrol was a feared and ubiquitous presence. Patrollers were large, physically imposing men with broad faces, straight black hair, and light brown complexities, their individual features often obscured by their distinctive uniforms of glossy black with silver buckles and ornaments.
They were armed with neuronic whips and needle-guns. Their duties involved constant, visible patrols through the streets of the Lower City, both on foot and in armed ground-cars, to enforce Sarkite rule through intimidation. The killing of a patroller was considered the ultimate crime on Florina, triggering massive, relentless manhunts. The force's effectiveness, however, was hampered by generations of relatively peaceful conditions, leading to a certain rustiness in procedures for dealing with a determined and intelligent fugitive like the Townman, Myrlyn Terens.