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{{Era|ACU|ACS|ACO|UW}}
{{Era|Organizations}}{{WP-REAL}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{Update|''[[Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization]]'' and ''[[Echoes of History]]''}}
{{Imageneed}}
[[File:ACS DB Police.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Metropolitan Police Service officers]]
{{Update|[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]}}
A '''police''' force is any organized body of [[civilian]]s directed by a government to maintain law enforcement and public order. While they often undergo combat training and are legally authorized to employ violence as necessary, they are distinct from the military in being a civil body entrusted only with domestic security.
{{Stub}}
The '''police''' is the [[civilians|civil]] force organized by a government for law enforcement and the maintenance of public order. While they undergo combat training and are legally authorized to employ violence if necessary, they are distinct from the military in being a civil body entrusted only with domestic security.


Historically, this role was generally served by [[guards]], soldiers that garrisoned within a city for its defense.<ref name="AC">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref><ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref><ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref><ref name="AC3">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> Police, as a full-time civilian profession did not arise in the [[Earth|world]] until 1829, when necessity drove the [[United Kingdom]] to establish the [[Metropolitan Police Service]].<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref> Nevertheless, by the [[French Revolution]], [[France]] already had a force dedicated to the prevention and investigation of crimes whose development flourished under criminalist [[Eugène François Vidocq]].<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref>  
==History==
Historically, the role of law enforcement was generally served by [[Soldiers|guards]], soldiers who were garrisoned within a city for its defence.<ref name="AC">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref><ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref><ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref><ref name="AC3">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> The existence of the police as a distinct body independent of the military is a relatively recent development. In ancient times, the responsibility of law enforcement was often bestowed upon specific arms of a military, such as the [[Medjay]] and [[Phylakitai]] of [[Egypt]],<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref> or the [[Jinyiwei]] of [[Ming dynasty]] [[China]], a secret police which enforced the emperor's will against judicial rulings and purged dissenters under the pretense of preserving societal harmony.<ref name="ACCC">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[Database: The Jinyiwei]]</ref> In the [[Arabia|Arab]] world, the police were known as ''{{Wiki|shurta}}'' and were employed by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid Empire]] in [[Baghdad]], where their [[Shurta Headquarters|headquarters]] were located in the [[Round City]].<ref name="ACM">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]''</ref>


Civilizations throughout history also at times employed military forces whose mission revolved more around safeguarding the public peace or serving the common people. This included the [[Medjay]] of [[Egypt|ancient Egypt]],<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref> but a more draconian example was that of the [[Jinyiwei]], secret police operated by the [[Ming dynasty]] of [[China]] which enforced the emperor's will against judicial rulings and purged dissenters under the pretense of preserving societal harmony.<ref name="ACCC">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''</ref>
The concept of the police as a professional, civilian organization did not develop until the late 18th to early 19th century. The [[United Kingdom]] did not have a unified force which specialized in the prevention and investigation of crime until they founded the [[Metropolitan Police Service]] in 1829,<ref name="Police">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Database: Police]]</ref> and this is sometimes regarded as the first modern police force because it was decidedly intended to be civilian.{{Fact|22 December 2019}} By the time of the [[French Revolution]], however, a force dedicated to criminal investigation had already been operating in [[Paris]].<ref name="Murder Foretold">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[Murder Foretold]]</ref> Its development subsequently flourished under [[Eugène François Vidocq]], a former criminal who pioneered the deductive method of detective work and founded the France's premier crime-fighting body, the ''{{wiki|Sûreté}}''.<ref name="Eugène François Vidocq">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[Database: Eugène François Vidocq]]</ref> Apart from this, the [[National Guard]] established by the French revolutionaries to protect themselves was also intended to be independent of the [[French Army]].{{Fact|22 December 2019}}


The relationship between police and the [[Assassins]] can be complicated by the tendency of the latter to operate like [[vigilantes]] outside of the law in their quest to save humanity from the [[Templars]]. In one notable example, British police sergeant [[Frederick Abberline]] worked closely with Assassin twins [[Jacob Frye|Jacob]] and [[Evie Frye]] throughout 1868 in solving crimes and toppling the control of Templar [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] [[Crawford Starrick]] over [[London]]. However, the twins also founded a [[gangs|gang]] of their own, the [[Rooks]], in their fight against Starrick's syndicate, the [[Blighters]] and were by all means an extrajudicial party.<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref>
==Police and the Assassins==
[[File:ACS S6 A Bad Penny 1.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Frederick Abberline and Jacob Frye discussing the Templars]]
The relationship between police and the [[Assassins]] can be complicated by the tendency of the latter to operate like [[vigilantes]] outside of the law in their [[Assassin-Templar War|quest]] to save [[human]]ity from the [[Templars]]. In one notable example, British police sergeant [[Frederick Abberline]] worked closely with Assassin twins [[Jacob Frye|Jacob]] and [[Evie Frye]] throughout 1868 in solving crimes and [[Liberation of London|toppling]] the control of Templar [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] [[Crawford Starrick]] over [[London]]. However, the twins also founded a [[gang]] of their own, the [[Rooks]], in their fight against Starrick's syndicate, the [[Blighters]], and were by all means an extrajudicial party.<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref>


In later years, Abberline felt morally conflicted over his past partnership with the Assassins, but in 1888, he enlisted the aid of Evie Frye once again to stop the serial killer and rogue Assassin [[Jack the Ripper]]. Ultimately after Evie killed the Ripper, in spite of his misgivings, he agreed to her request to safeguard the mass murderer's fate and identity so as to protect the Assassins as a friend.<ref name="Jack the Ripper">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – ''[[Jack the Ripper (DLC)|Jack the Ripper]]''</ref>
In later years, Abberline felt morally conflicted over his past partnership with the Assassins, but two decades later in 1888, he enlisted Evie's aid once again to stop the serial killer and rogue Assassin [[Jack the Ripper]].<ref name="Jack the Ripper">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]] – [[Jack the Ripper (DLC)|Jack the Ripper]]'' – [[Autumn of Terror]]</ref> Ultimately, Evie killed the Ripper, but in spite of Abberline's misgivings, he agreed to her request to safeguard the mass murderer's fate and identity so as to protect the Assassins as a friend.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]] – [[Jack the Ripper (DLC)|Jack the Ripper]]'' – [[Live by the Creed, Die by the Creed]]</ref>


==Trivia==
==Police and the Templars==
*Though [[Arno Dorian]] helps police chief [[Charles Cochon de Lapparent]] solve crimes in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'', police do not appear as a distinct gameplay faction until ''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''. There, they are color-coded blue on the mini-map. Although players are not penalized for killing them in free-roam, in various story memories, doing so costs full synchronization.
Because the police were susceptible to corruption, they occasionally found themselves an unknowing pawn in the Assassins and Templars' age-old struggle, being bribed by one faction to deliberately target members of the other or turn a blind eye to their own criminal activities. In 1862, the Templar [[Cavanagh]] bribed police officers to keep people away from his construction site in London, where he secretly searched for an [[Apple of Eden 7|Apple of Eden]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Underworld]]''</ref> Other times, the police were simply manipulated into helping either one of the two factions, as was the case during the [[Russian Revolution]], when both the [[NKVD]] and [[Cheka]] targeted the Assassin [[Nikolai Orelov]] after he was framed as a criminal and member of the {{Wiki|White Army}} by the Templars.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia]]'' – [[Database: Nikolaï's Memories, Part 4]]</ref>
 
In [[modern times]], thanks to the establishment of [[Abstergo Industries]] as a legitimate front company, the Templars have outgrown the need to bribe or manipulate the police due to operating publicly within the confines of the law. Still, there have been occasions when Abstergo enlisted the services of the police, such as in 2017, when they bribed the [[Hong Kong]] police to leave a damaged [[Abstergo Industries Hong Kong facility|skyscraper office]] untouched.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Uprising]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Uprising 1|Issue #01]]</ref> In 2023, the police in [[Cebu]] were also contacted by Abstergo after a convoy containing Doctor [[Shimazu Sei]], her bodyguard [[Yuki]], and test subject [[Noa Kim]] was attacked by the [[Doom Eagle]] criminal organization, though the police were ambushed before they could arrive on the scene, leaving Abstergo's [[Sigma Team]] to deal with the assailants alone.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple Episode 44|Episode 44]]</ref>
 
==Behind the scenes==
While [[Arno Dorian]] helps police chief [[Charles Cochon de Lapparent]] solve crimes in the 2014 video game ''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'', the police do not appear as a distinct gameplay faction until the 2015 game ''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''. There, they are color-coded blue on the mini-map. Although players are not penalized for killing them in free-roam, doing so in various story [[Genetic memory|memories]] costs full [[synchronization]].
 
The ''de facto'' police in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' are referred to as ''phylakitai'', both collectively and singularly, but the correct singular form is ''phylax''. Even more confusingly, there is also a group of enemies called the [[phylakes]] which act like [[bounty hunter]]s, but they are erroneously referred to as ''phylake'' in the singular rather than ''phylax''.


==Appearances==
==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' {{1stm}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Memories]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' {{C|Mentioned only}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''
**''[[Jack the Ripper (DLC)|Jack the Ripper]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Underworld]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Uprising]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''
*''[[Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece]]'' {{Mo|''astynomoi''}}
*''[[Echoes of History]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]'' {{c|as Shurta}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Visionaries]]'' {{Nc}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Occupations]]
[[Category:Occupations]]
[[Category:Police forces]]
[[Category:Assassin-affiliated groups]]
[[Category:Assassin-affiliated groups]]
[[Category:Templar-affiliated groups]]
[[Category:Templar-affiliated groups]]

Latest revision as of 22:00, 4 July 2025

Patience, brothers. Soon we will reveal the secrets of Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization and Echoes of History.

This article has been identified as being out of date. Please update the article to reflect recent releases and then remove this template once done.

Metropolitan Police Service officers

A police force is any organized body of civilians directed by a government to maintain law enforcement and public order. While they often undergo combat training and are legally authorized to employ violence as necessary, they are distinct from the military in being a civil body entrusted only with domestic security.

History[edit | edit source]

Historically, the role of law enforcement was generally served by guards, soldiers who were garrisoned within a city for its defence.[1][2][3][4] The existence of the police as a distinct body independent of the military is a relatively recent development. In ancient times, the responsibility of law enforcement was often bestowed upon specific arms of a military, such as the Medjay and Phylakitai of Egypt,[5] or the Jinyiwei of Ming dynasty China, a secret police which enforced the emperor's will against judicial rulings and purged dissenters under the pretense of preserving societal harmony.[6] In the Arab world, the police were known as shurta and were employed by the Abbasid Empire in Baghdad, where their headquarters were located in the Round City.[7]

The concept of the police as a professional, civilian organization did not develop until the late 18th to early 19th century. The United Kingdom did not have a unified force which specialized in the prevention and investigation of crime until they founded the Metropolitan Police Service in 1829,[8] and this is sometimes regarded as the first modern police force because it was decidedly intended to be civilian. [citation needed] By the time of the French Revolution, however, a force dedicated to criminal investigation had already been operating in Paris.[9] Its development subsequently flourished under Eugène François Vidocq, a former criminal who pioneered the deductive method of detective work and founded the France's premier crime-fighting body, the Sûreté.[10] Apart from this, the National Guard established by the French revolutionaries to protect themselves was also intended to be independent of the French Army. [citation needed]

Police and the Assassins[edit | edit source]

Frederick Abberline and Jacob Frye discussing the Templars

The relationship between police and the Assassins can be complicated by the tendency of the latter to operate like vigilantes outside of the law in their quest to save humanity from the Templars. In one notable example, British police sergeant Frederick Abberline worked closely with Assassin twins Jacob and Evie Frye throughout 1868 in solving crimes and toppling the control of Templar Grand Master Crawford Starrick over London. However, the twins also founded a gang of their own, the Rooks, in their fight against Starrick's syndicate, the Blighters, and were by all means an extrajudicial party.[11]

In later years, Abberline felt morally conflicted over his past partnership with the Assassins, but two decades later in 1888, he enlisted Evie's aid once again to stop the serial killer and rogue Assassin Jack the Ripper.[12] Ultimately, Evie killed the Ripper, but in spite of Abberline's misgivings, he agreed to her request to safeguard the mass murderer's fate and identity so as to protect the Assassins as a friend.[13]

Police and the Templars[edit | edit source]

Because the police were susceptible to corruption, they occasionally found themselves an unknowing pawn in the Assassins and Templars' age-old struggle, being bribed by one faction to deliberately target members of the other or turn a blind eye to their own criminal activities. In 1862, the Templar Cavanagh bribed police officers to keep people away from his construction site in London, where he secretly searched for an Apple of Eden.[14] Other times, the police were simply manipulated into helping either one of the two factions, as was the case during the Russian Revolution, when both the NKVD and Cheka targeted the Assassin Nikolai Orelov after he was framed as a criminal and member of the White Army by the Templars.[15]

In modern times, thanks to the establishment of Abstergo Industries as a legitimate front company, the Templars have outgrown the need to bribe or manipulate the police due to operating publicly within the confines of the law. Still, there have been occasions when Abstergo enlisted the services of the police, such as in 2017, when they bribed the Hong Kong police to leave a damaged skyscraper office untouched.[16] In 2023, the police in Cebu were also contacted by Abstergo after a convoy containing Doctor Shimazu Sei, her bodyguard Yuki, and test subject Noa Kim was attacked by the Doom Eagle criminal organization, though the police were ambushed before they could arrive on the scene, leaving Abstergo's Sigma Team to deal with the assailants alone.[17]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

While Arno Dorian helps police chief Charles Cochon de Lapparent solve crimes in the 2014 video game Assassin's Creed: Unity, the police do not appear as a distinct gameplay faction until the 2015 game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. There, they are color-coded blue on the mini-map. Although players are not penalized for killing them in free-roam, doing so in various story memories costs full synchronization.

The de facto police in Assassin's Creed: Origins are referred to as phylakitai, both collectively and singularly, but the correct singular form is phylax. Even more confusingly, there is also a group of enemies called the phylakes which act like bounty hunters, but they are erroneously referred to as phylake in the singular rather than phylax.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Assassin's Creed
  2. ↑ Assassin's Creed II
  3. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed III
  5. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins
  6. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: The Jinyiwei
  7. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage
  8. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Database: Police
  9. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Unity – Murder Foretold
  10. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Unity – Database: Eugène François Vidocq
  11. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
  12. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Jack the Ripper – Autumn of Terror
  13. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Jack the Ripper – Live by the Creed, Die by the Creed
  14. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Underworld
  15. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia – Database: Nikolaï's Memories, Part 4
  16. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Uprising – Issue #01
  17. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 44
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